Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have witnessed for the first time the breakup of an asteroid into as many as 10 smaller pieces. The asteroid began coming apart early last year, but new pieces continue to emerge in the most recent images. The observations are reported in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. “Seeing this […]
Tag Archives | Pluto
New moon discovery adds to Pluto’s mystery
The Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a fifth moon – dubbed P5 – orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The new-found moon, visible as a speck of light in Hubble images, is irregular in shape and estimated to be between 10-25 kilometres across. It is in a 95,000 kilometre-diameter circular orbit around Pluto and is […]