Hubble Discovers 5th Moon of Pluto 137
Stirling Newberry writes "This image shows 'P5,' the placeholder name for a fifth natural moon of Pluto, a tiny sliver that orbits ~29,000 miles from its primary in a circular orbit. Other than Charon, Hubble has been the means by which astronomers have found all of the known moons of Pluto. 'The new detection will help scientists navigate NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft through the Pluto system in 2015, when it makes an historic and long-awaited high-speed flyby of the distant world. The team is using Hubble’s powerful vision to scour the Pluto system to uncover potential hazards to the New Horizons spacecraft. Moving past the dwarf planet at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour, New Horizons could be destroyed in a collision with even a BB-shot-size piece of orbital debris.'"
ORLY? (Score:5, Funny)
So let me get this straight (Score:5, Funny)
NASA is going to drive a 650 million dollar spacecraft through a system @40AU away at 30,000 miles per hour - and that spacecraft could be destroyed by a BB.
The phrase "That thing could put your eye out" brings on a whole new meaning...
Four (Score:4, Funny)
There... are... four... moons!
Re:I'm incredibly jealous (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Only a planet... (Sqore 200,000), Astromical! (Score:5, Funny)
A moon doesn't necessarily need to orbit a planet; it can orbit a very, very dense hunk of rock that doesn't fit the definition of planet, but has a sufficiently strong gravitational pull to keep it in orbit.
Must... resist... urge... to make yo mama joke.
Future headline: (Score:5, Funny)