Pluto has been demoted from the status of a planet after similar planets were discovered in its vicinity. Now it is a dwarf planet. But it still behaves like a planet. Though its smaller than our Moon, it has 5 moons circling around it.

Pluto was discovered in 1930. But its largest moon Charon was not discovered until 1978. That is because at such a great distance, the two tiny objects appeared blurred together to the telescopes of earlier days. Pluto and Charon are considered a "double planet", because Charon is half the size of Pluto.

Here goes a list of all five moons of Pluto.

Charon

Discovered: 1978

Diameter: 648 miles

Hydra

Time of discovery: 2005

Diameter: 20-70 miles

Nix

Time of discovery: 2005

Diameter: 20-70 miles

P4

Time of discovery: June 28, 2011

Diameter: 8-21 miles

P5

Time of discovery: July 7, 2012

Diameter: 6-15 miles

Orbit around Pluto: 58,000 miles

 

Sources:

"Hubble Discovers a Fifth Moon Orbiting Pluto", 7 Jul 2012, http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=13923

"Another Moon For Pluto", 28 June 2011, http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=12443

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