They find a new moon, the fifth

Text created by automatic translator Elia and has not been subsequently revised by translators. Elia Elhuyar

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Astronomers detected the P5 satellite in 9 groups of photos taken by Hubble on 26, 27 and 29 June and 7 and 9 July. The image shows all the known satellites of Pluto. Ed. NASA/E

Through observations from the Hubble telescope, astronomers have discovered Pluto's fifth satellite. It has received for the moment the official name S/2012 (134340) 1 and the common name P5 and is very small. Astronomers have calculated that it is between 15 and 25 km in diameter and that it rotates to 93,000 km forming circular orbits.

Hubble has detected an unknown satellite in the preparations for when the New Horizons mission reaches the Pluto system. The mission will arrive in 2015 and the observations are part of the work to design a safe route for the probe. In fact, an object the size of a bulky stone would suffice to destroy the probe.

The discovery of new small satellites around Pluto reinforces the central hypothesis of the creation of the system, that is, they are the result of a clash against another body of the size of Pluto.