It is just over one month until the New Horizons spacecraft arrives at Pluto on 14 July - the first ever visit to the dwarf planet and one of the most anticipated space missions this millennium. And its impending arrival has caused the Plutonian system to be cast under more scrutiny than it ever has been before. Now, in the latest research, astronomers have taken the most detailed look at its moons - and found some surprising results, namely that they have chaotic rotations and strange surface compositions. The study, carried out by the University of Maryland, examined how Pluto and its large satellite Charon interact with the four smaller moons - Kerberos, Styx, Nix and Hydra.University of Maryland study revealed characteristics of Pluto's moonsMost of the moons were found to have chaotic, tumbling rotationsBut, surprisingly, they seem to be in stable orbits around Pluto and CharonAnd four of the five moons appear to be as bright as white sand
The moon _ is almost half the size of Pluto, and it is so big that Pluto and Charon are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. The two are gravitational locked, so _ neither rises nor sets, but hovers over the same spot on Pluto's surface.