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Originally published in Science Express on 6 July 2006
Science 25 August 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5790, pp. 1107 - 1109
DOI: 10.1126/science.1127293
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Reports

Forced Resonant Migration of Pluto's Outer Satellites by Charon

William R. Ward* and Robin M. Canup

Two small moons of Pluto have been discovered in low-eccentricity orbits exterior to Pluto's large satellite, Charon. All three satellite orbits are nearly coplanar, implying a common origin. It has been argued that Charon formed as a result of a giant impact with primordial Pluto. The orbital periods of the two new moons are nearly integer multiples of Charon's period, suggesting that they were driven outward by resonant interactions with Charon during its tidal orbital expansion. This could have been accomplished if Charon's orbit was eccentric during most of this orbital evolution, with the small moons originating as debris from the collision that produced Charon.

Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ward{at}boulder.swri.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)