Pluto might have rings

Pluto might have rings

In May of 2005, two new moons were discovered orbiting Pluto. The small size of the moons, and their resonance with the orbit of Charon, suggests that all three moons were formed as part of a single impact event. It also raises the possibility that Pluto might have many more small moons, and perhaps even a system of rings. Pluto and its three (known) moons are shown in this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope:


From Space.com:

The discovery of P1 and P2 also raises the intriguing possibility that impact debris from the small moons is captured by Pluto’s gravity and coalescing into rings or even arcs around the tiny planet. If confirmed, it would be the first example of a ring system around a solid body rather than a gas giant planet.

This isn't entirely true. Although this would be the first example of a natural ring system around a terrestrial planet (assuming that Pluto can still be classified as a planet rather than a Kuiper Belt Object), there is one terrestrial planet that has an artificial ring system: the Earth.



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