#hydra moon

[deadsquidstudios]

Pluto and Charon’s brood of mini-moons.

Hydra and Nix are the eldest, they’re twins. Kerberos is the middle child and the only boy, and Styx is the youngest.

[mindblowingscience]

New Data from New Horizons Reveals Pure Water Ice on Pluto’s Moon Hydra

Hydra lives up to its name with its super-clean water ice.

When scientists discovered a tiny moon orbiting Pluto back in 2005, they named it Hydra in keeping with the general Greco-Roman underworld theme established in the Plutonian system.

But now, the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew by Pluto last summer, has found that Hydra’s name is doubly fitting, thanks to its watery associations. The latest dispatch from the distant probe contains the first composition data about Pluto’s four small satellites, and includes confirmation that Hydra is covered in pristine water ice, which explains why it is such a highly reflective world.

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