Nix (moon of Pluto)
Nix (satélite de Plutón)
- Date
- 2005 · confidence high
- Place
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Credited to
- Max Mutchler and Andrew Steffl (Pluto Companion Search Team), using the Hubble Space Telescope
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Nix, Pluto's second-largest moon after Charon, was found in Hubble images taken to prepare for the New Horizons mission; it is about 5,000 times fainter than Pluto.
What it led to
- Discovery of Hydra in the same campaign
- Expansion of the known Pluto system before the New Horizons flyby
- Search for more small moons (Kerberos and Styx)