[AZ-Observing] Re: New moons of Pluto
- From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:21:01 -0700
Stan,
I believe it has to do with the distance from the Sun and the
gravitation effects of the Sun. Neither Mercury or Venus have any
moons. There was an article on this not too long ago in either S&T,
Astronomy or Scientific American
Jeff
At 15:13 -0700 10/31/05, Stan Gorodenski wrote:
>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
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Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
7812 West Clayton Drive
Phoenix, Arizona 85033-2439 U.S.A.
www.hposoft.com
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