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کد خبر: ۱۵۲۰۴۸
تاریخ انتشار: ۱۳:۱۹ - ۳۰ تير ۱۳۹۰

Temporarily named P4, the new moon is the fourth object found to be circling Pluto after Charon, Nix and Hydra satellites, the state-funded BBC reported.

Hubble first spotted P4 with its new Wide Field Camera 3 on June 28, 2011 and confirmed its existence during follow-up observations this month.

Pluto was demoted from full planet status in 2006 and astronomers estimate its new moon's diameter to be 13 to 34 km.

"This is a fantastic discovery," said New Horizons' principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "Now that we know there's another moon in the Pluto system, we can plan close-up observations of it during our flyby."

NASA's New Horizons probe is due to fly past the icy world in 2015 and explore the moons as well.

The $700m New Horizons probe will begin the probe in July, 2015 to carry out detailed mapping of the object's surface features, composition and atmosphere with its seven instruments.

 

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