← RETURN TO PLUTO
ORBONIX · PLUTO MOONS

NIX

A small, irregular moon of Pluto discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope and observed in detail by New Horizons.
THE SMALL MOON
Nix is one of Pluto's five known moons. It was discovered in 2005 using the Hubble Space Telescope. The moon is named after Nyx, the ancient Greek goddess of the night. Nix is much smaller than Charon and has an irregular shape caused by its relatively weak gravity. The New Horizons spacecraft photographed Nix during its historic flyby of the Pluto system in July 2015.
~49.8 km
LONGEST DIMENSION
24.85 DAYS
ORBITAL PERIOD
~48,700 km
AVERAGE DISTANCE FROM PLUTO
2005
DISCOVERED
IRREGULAR
SHAPE
2015
NEW HORIZONS OBSERVATION
AN IRREGULAR WORLD
Nix is a small, rocky and icy moon orbiting Pluto beyond Charon. Its shape is far from spherical because its gravity is not strong enough to pull its material into a rounded form. New Horizons revealed that Nix has a relatively bright surface with areas that reflect a significant amount of sunlight. The moon rotates in a chaotic way. Its orientation can change unpredictably as it travels around the Pluto-Charon system. This unusual rotation is influenced by the complex gravitational environment created by Pluto and its large companion Charon.
NIX FEATURES
DISCOVERY
Nix was discovered in 2005 using the Hubble Space Telescope while astronomers were searching for additional moons around Pluto.
CHAOTIC ROTATION
Nix does not rotate in a simple, predictable way. Its orientation can change because of the gravitational influence of Pluto and Charon.
NEW HORIZONS
New Horizons photographed Nix during its 2015 flyby, revealing its irregular shape and surface features.
DID YOU KNOW?
Nix can rotate in a chaotic and unpredictable way because it is influenced by the gravity of Pluto and Charon.
← RETURN TO PLUTO ← RETURN TO DWARF PLANETS
ORBONIX · DWARF PLANETS
NIX · PLUTO SYSTEM