La Nasa encuentra nueva luna en Neptuno

16 julio 2013 /
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Neptuno es el octavo y último planeta del Sistema Solar en distancia creciente respecto al Sol.

Foto: La Prensa
This composite Hubble Space Telescope picture shows the location of a newly discovered moon, designated S/2004 N 1, orbiting the giant planet Neptune, nearly 3 billion miles from Earth. A tiny new moon has been spotted circling Neptune, and is the 14th known to be orbiting the faraway planet, the US space agency said on July 15, 2013. The moon is the smallest ever glimpsed around Neptune and measures just about 12 miles across, based on observations from the Hubble Space telescope, NASA said. Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, and NASA said the moon, named S/2004 N1, is about 100 million times fainter than the dimmest star that can be seen with the naked eye. Astronomers found the moon by tracking a white dot that appeared repeatedly in more than 150 photos taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009.

Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, found the moon July 1 by studying the faint arcs around Neptune, NASA said. 'The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so we had to devise a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the system,' he said. 'It's the same reason a sports photographer tracks a running athlete -- the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs.' AFP PHOTO / NASA/ESA == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: 'AFP PHOTO / NASA/ESA / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

Astrónomos detectaron una nueva luna orbitando alrededor de Neptuno, la décimocuarta descubierta hasta ahora girando en torno al lejano planeta, anunció la agencia espacial estadounidense Nasa.

Este satélite natural es el más pequeño de los que están en la órbita de Neptuno y mide apenas 19 kilómetros de diámetro, según observaciones desde el telescopio espacial Hubble, precisó la Nasa.

Neptuno es el octavo y último planeta del Sistema Solar en distancia creciente respecto al Sol.

La nueva luna descubierta, llamada S/2004 N1, tiene una luminosidad cerca de 100 millones de veces más débil que las estrellas que se pueden ver a simple vista.

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