While we are counting the days to Pluto’s historic flyby, NASA New Horizons is observing the natural satellites of this dwarf planet. All representatives of the Pluto system got into the field of view of the probe cameras. The device first photographed the smallest moons of Pluto, Kerber and Stix.
Kerber and Styx are the smallest of the five known satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. Kerber, first discovered with the Hubble space telescope in 2011, is believed to have a diameter of 10 to 32 kilometers and revolves around its planet for 32 days. Styx, opened in 2012 by the same telescope, bends around Pluto for 20 days and is 7-21 kilometers in diameter.
New photos complete the first series of images of Pluto and its moons, taken by the New Horizons spacecraft. In February of this year, after a 9.5-year journey, the probe first photographed Pluto and its largest satellite, Charon, for a high-resolution camera, LORRI. Then photographs of Nicta and Hydra were taken, and the first color image of Pluto was also taken.
Images were obtained by superimposing five frames with an exposure time of 10 seconds. To see the moon on them, the researchers had to reduce the brightness of Pluto and Charon, as shown in the photo above. After clearing the background, Kerber and Styx opened their gaze next to the larger Nikta and Hydra.
New Horizons is on the verge of discovery. The device can detect new satellites that no one has ever seen, ”said John Spencer, head of the mission’s research team, from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
In addition to finding new moons, New Horizons will trace unknown rings that may hinder its further movement. Flying through the Pluto system on July 14, the device will study the atmosphere of a dwarf planet. Cameras, spectrometers and other scientific instruments aboard the New Horizons will also help him establish whether Charon has his own atmosphere.
Then New Horizons will continue to explore the Kuiper belt.
The article is based on materials .
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