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.