[AZ-Observing] Re: New moons of Pluto

Mars has two satellites, Jupiter has a bunch, Saturn has a bunch, and 
now Pluto three. Why does the Earth only have one? In a sense apples and 
oranges are being compared because Pluto is not a real planet except in 
a cultural sense. Aside from this I suppose the answer is two fold. The 
Earth's Moon is of sufficient gravity to sweep up other smaller 
satellites, and for Pluto its moon's are a dynamic thing. That is, 
because of Pluto's local environ, as the smaller moons, or moonlets, are 
swept up by its largest satellite, there are plenty of other chunks of 
matter that can become the new moons, or moonlets.
Stan

Brian Skiff wrote:

>     Two new satellites of Pluto were announced today by a team led by
>Hal Weaver at Johns Hopkins and Alan Stern at Southwest Research Institute.
>Details can be found here:
>
>http://www.boulder.swri.edu/plutonews
>
>
>\Brian
>--
>See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
>send personal replies to the author, not the list.
>
>
>
>  
>

--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.

Other related posts: