LONDON: NASA’s Hubble space telescope has provided the first glimpse of Pluto’s moons that wobble unpredictably, tumbling in absolute chaos.
It means if you lived on one of Pluto’s moons, you might have a hard time determining when, or from which direction, the Sun will rise each day.
“Hubble has provided a new view of Pluto and its moons revealing a cosmic dance with a chaotic rhythm,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, DC.
When the New Horizons spacecraft flies through the Pluto system in July, we will get a chance to see what these moons look like up close and personal, he added in a NASA statement.
Comprehensive analysis of the data shows that two of Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, wobble unpredictably.
The moons wobble because they are embedded in a gravitational field that shifts constantly.
This shift is created by the double planet system of Pluto and Charon as they whirl about each other.
