Station New Horizons photographed the last of the satellites of Pluto: Kerber

This week interplanetary probe New Horizons прислала photos small satellites of Pluto - Cerberus. This image is a final - now all satellites of Pluto photographed and these photos are studied by scientists. Some of the findings have already been made to Kerber. Thus, scientists have realized that the size of the satellite is still lower than expected. Plus, this heavenly body high albedo, which is also a surprise to experts.

"Again, the system Pluto surprised us," said one of the representatives of the project team of scientists. Recent data show that Cerberus irregular shape, as if it consists of two parts, the dimensions of the most part - 8 km and smaller - 5 kilometers. Perhaps, experts say, Kerber formed of two small objects that are stuck together.

The reflectivity of the surface is substantially similar to Cerberus the same characteristics of other small moons of Pluto (about 50%). From these data it can be concluded that the surface is covered by Kerber relatively pure water ice.



Photos of all the satellites of Pluto

Before the machine close to the New Horizons Pluto, scientists have studied the system using his telescope Hubble. Analyzing the behavior of the other satellites of Pluto, scientists have tried to figure out a lot of Cerberus. As it turned out, the impact on other satellites Kerber was surprisingly strong, while addressing the companion was rather difficult, due to the fact that the object is rather lackluster. Experts have suggested that the moon of Pluto rather large and massive, and the low brightness of the object presumably due to the fact that the surface is covered with a dark substance Kerber. As it turned out, that this hypothesis was wrong - Kerber is very small, and the reason why he so strongly affect other satellites of Pluto, is still unclear.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/264532/