Pluto has five moons: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Each of them differs in orbit, brightness, or rotational speed. Charon, the largest and most well-known, is the only moon that is tidally locked, always showing the same face to Pluto.
None of Pluto’s moons are perfectly spherical; instead, they are elongated and irregularly shaped. This irregularity shifts their centers of mass, making their rotations highly unstable. Another factor that sets them apart from Earth's moon is their unpredictable orbits, which makes them harder to study.
When scientists first studied Pluto’s moons, they expected Kerberos to be the second brightest. However, further studyrevealed that it is darker than coal. Styx has the most stable orbit, while Hydra is the fastest, completing a full rotation every 10 hours. Both Hydra and Nix are covered in water ice, making them unusually bright.
Despite their chaotic rotations, all of Pluto’s moons are locked in a complex gravitational rhythm, keeping them spaced out in a stable pattern.
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