Which of Pluto’s moons is closest to Pluto?
In order of distance from Pluto, they are Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra.
How far are Pluto’s moons from Earth?
12,200 miles The little moon is so big that Pluto and Charon are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. The distance between them is 19,640 km (12,200 miles). The Hubble Space Telescope photographed Pluto and Charon in 1994 when Pluto was about 30 AU from Earth.
Are Pluto’s moons bigger than Pluto?
At half the size of Pluto, Charon is the largest of Pluto's moons and the largest known satellite relative to its parent body.
Are there moons around Pluto?
The Pluto system consists of four tiny satellites — Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx — orbiting a "binary planet" comprised of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, which, at 750 miles (1,207 kilometers) in diameter, is nearly half as wide as the dwarf planet itself.
What is Pluto’s moon?
Charon KerberosNixHydraStyx Pluto/Moons Pluto and three of its moons—Charon, Nix, and Hydra—as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
How did Pluto get 5 moons?
Collision debris Pluto's entire moon system is thought to have formed by a collision between Pluto and a similar-size body early in the history of the solar system. The collision threw out material that coalesced into the family of satellites orbiting Pluto.
Why is Pluto’s orbit elliptical?
It's highly elliptical, traveling around the Sun in a squashed circle. … Astronomers call this orbit eccentric because Pluto follows an orbit that traces out an elongated ellipse around the Sun. Pluto's orbit is also highly inclined. This means that it doesn't orbit within the same plane as the rest of the Solar System.
How far away is Styx from Pluto?
42,656 km Styx orbits the Pluto–Charon barycenter at a distance of 42,656 km, putting it between the orbits of Charon and Nix.