Little more than a few thousand miles across, tiny Pluto still has not one, but three natural satellites. All three have been detected using the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth.
Astronomers at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, have modeled how a collision probably knocked the three moons off their parent body billions of years ago. A similar process probably created our own moon.
Pluto’s moons, Charon, P1 and P2, orbit in the same plane, suggesting a simultaneous origin. P1 and P2 are also in orbital resonance with Charon, the largest of the three, meaning their orbital periods are gravitationally linked. P1 and P2 are likely smaller fragments created when Charon was knocked off Pluto.
Details about the astronomers’ findings are here
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