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A Pluto-Charon Sonata: Dynamical Limits on the Masses of the Small Satellites

Astronomical Journal, ISSN: 0004-6256, Vol: 158, Issue: 2
2019
  • 11
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 10
    Captures
  • 0
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    11
    • Citation Indexes
      11
  • Captures
    10

Article Description

During 2005-2012, images from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed four moons orbiting Pluto-Charon. Although their orbits and geometric shapes are well-known, the 2σ uncertainties in the masses of the two largest satellites - Nix and Hydra - are comparable to their HST masses. Remarkably, gravitational n-body computer calculations of the long-term system stability on 0.1-1 Gyr timescales place much tighter constraints on the masses of Nix and Hydra, with upper limits ∼10% larger than the HST mass. Constraints on the mass density using size measurements from New Horizons suggest Nix and Hydra formed in icier material than Pluto and Charon.

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