Nix

E110987

Nix is one of Pluto’s small outer moons, an irregularly shaped natural satellite discovered in 2005 that orbits the dwarf planet in a complex, resonant system with its other moons.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Nix canonical 19

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf irregular satellite
moon of Pluto
natural satellite
outer moon
trans-Neptunian satellite
albedo high geometric albedo
belongsToPlanetarySystem Solar System
celestialBodyType natural satellite
dimensions approximately 49.8 × 33.2 × 31.1 km
discoveredBy Hubble Space Telescope
Pluto Companion Search Team
discoveredInYear 2005
discoveryDate May 2005
discoveryFacility Hubble Space Telescope
discoveryMethod imaging
distanceFromSunCategory trans-Neptunian region
exploredBy New Horizons spacecraft
linked to: New Horizons
flybyDate July 2015
flybyMission New Horizons
gravitationalBinding bound to Pluto-Charon barycenter
hasFeature large crater with bright ejecta
hasNo substantial atmosphere
imagedInDetailBy New Horizons LORRI camera
linked to: LORRI
meanRadius about 19 km
memberOf Pluto system
Pluto-Charon system
linked to: Pluto
namedAfter Greek goddess of the night
Nyx
namingAuthority International Astronomical Union
namingYear 2006
officialName Nix
orbitalPeriod about 24.9 hours
orbitalResonance 3:2 with Styx
4:1 with Charon (approximate)
orbits Pluto
partOfResonantSystemWith Charon
Hydra
Kerberos
Styx
primaryBody Pluto
provisionalDesignation S/2005 P 2
relativeLocation outer to Styx and inner to Kerberos and Hydra
rotationState chaotic rotation
semiMajorAxisFromPluto about 48600 km
shape irregular
surfaceColor neutral to slightly red
surfaceComposition water ice (dominant)
system Pluto-Charon small moons system

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.