When was the moon Styx discovered by astronomers?
Astronomers announced the existence of the moon Styx on the 11th of July 2012. Mark R. Showalter led the team that found this object using fourteen sets of images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Questions about Styx (moon)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the size and shape of the moon Styx according to New Horizons data?
Measurements confirmed an elongated shape with dimensions around 16 by 10 kilometers for the moon Styx. The actual shape reveals a body composed primarily of water ice rather than volatile substances like nitrogen or methane.
How does the rotation of the moon Styx differ from other Plutonian moons?
Unlike most large moons, the moon Styx does not keep one face pointed toward Pluto as it orbits. Its rotation is chaotic and varies over short timescales with a period measured at about 3.239 days during the New Horizons flyby.
What orbital resonances connect the moon Styx to other satellites in the Pluto system?
The moon Styx completes an orbit every 20.16155 days while maintaining an 11:6 resonance with Hydra. An 11:9 resonance links it to Nix instead and these ratios represent numbers of orbits completed per unit time.
When did the International Astronomical Union officially name the moon Styx?
On the 2nd of July 2013 the IAU formally approved Styx for P5 and Kerberos for P4. This decision followed classical mythology conventions associated with the god Pluto after rejecting Vulcan due to prior usage.