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Pluto, the ninth planet from the sun is sotiny that in 2006 it lost its status as a full-fledged member of the solar system and
was instead demoted to dwarf planet. But tinyas it it may be, the planet seems to be attractinga lot of moons around it. Just last year,
NASA’s Hubble Telescope discovered a fourthmoon, which scientists believed was the finalone.
However, on July 7th 2012, they made yetanother discovery - a tiny fifth moon, circlingthe planet at a distance of about 26,000 miles.Unlike our perfectly spherical 2,150 mile widemoon, P5 is irregularly shaped and estimated tobe between just 6-15 miles wide. In fact, all ofPluto’s moon’s are quite small. Charon, thelargest, is just 648 miles wide, Nix and Hydraare between 20-70 miles wide, and P4, the onefound last year, is slightly larger than the mostrecent discovery.
The fact that a dwarf planet can have sucha complex collection of satellites is very intrigu-ing to scientists. While they still do not knowfor sure how the Pluto system formed andevolved, they believe the moons are a result ofa collision between Pluto and another icy Plutolike body, that orbits beyond Neptune.
Though exciting, this new discovery addsyet another hurdle to the path of NASA’s NewHorizons spacecraft that is heading towardPluto, for a historic flyby. Scheduled to occur in2015, it is expected to provide scientists with atreasure trove of information about the mysteri-ous icy ‘dwarf’ planet.
According to experts, the detection ofthese various moons indicates the presence ofmany small particles around the Pluto systemthat are not visible to us. Because NewHorizons is moving at such a rapid pace, a colli-sion with even the tiniest of particles couldderail its path. Therefore, scientists will have tochart its trajectory very carefully to ensure thatit somehow avoids not only the larger objectsthey can observe, but also, the unseen tinierparticles.
The encouraging news is that thanks to abackup trajectory called SHBOT (Safe HavenBail-Out Trajectory), scientists can change NewHorizon’s route at the very last minute andmove it away from danger’s path - while thismeans that the satellite won’t be able to com-plete its mission, it will at least not bedestroyed.
The new discovery has also created a dilem-ma for the International Astronomical Union,that is responsible for naming the new moons.According to its guidelines, objects around thedwarf planet should be given mythologicalnames that are associated with the underworld -so far, Pluto, Charon, Nix and Hydra all fit thebill. Now, they have to find similar names forP4 and P5 - can you think of any?
Scientists Discover Yet AnotherMoon Orbiting ‘Dwarf’ Planet Pluto
While being at the top of any list isgood in most circumstances, in thecase of Madagascar’s 103 known
species of Lemurs, it is a ‘kiss of death’ - liter-ally! That’s because a shocking study releasedby the International Union of Conservation ofNature (IUCN) Species Survival Commissionearlier this week, revealed that 23 species ofthe primates are now ‘critically endangered’,52 are endangered and 19 are vulnerable.These dire statistics mean that the primatesare the most endangered vertebrates on earth- more so than any other mammal, reptile,amphibian, bird or bony fish!
A similar study carried out just seven yearsago, had categorized eight on the criticallyendangered, 18 on the endangered and 17 onthe vulnerable list. The rapid demise of thespecies can be directly attributed to thedestruction of their tropical forest habitatcaused by accelerated illegal human logging.In addition to that the primates are alsoincreasingly being hunted down and served asa delicacy in local restaurants.
Among the ones that recently joined theseverely critical list is the Indri - a species con-sidered sacred amongst the people of
Madagascar, it is the largest of all lemurs.Also new on the list is the world’s smallestLemur. Called Madame Berthe’s MouseLemur, it weighs a mere 30 grams and is alsobelieved to be the world’s smallest primate.Also on the brink of extinction is the Blue-Eyed Black Lemur, which happens to be theonly primate besides humans, to sport blueeyes. While all these are critically endangered,it is the Northern Sportive Lemur that needshelp the fastest - that’s because with just 18known members of the species left, it is therarest of them all. One piece of good newsthat did come out from this otherwise direstudy was the discovery of a new species of
yet-to-be named mouse Lemur in EasternMadagascar.
Turning these dire statistics around maynot be easy. That’s because the absence of astable government since 2009 has resulted in abreakdown in control and enforcement and asevere economic downturn. As a result, areasthat had been designated ‘national parks’ tohelp protect the animals that inhabit this bio-diverse island, are now regularly being pil-laged by locals, struggling to survive.
Ironically, the demise of the Lemurs willonly make things worse. That’s because thecountry’s main source of income comes fromtourism and since Lemurs can only be found
in the wild on this beautiful island, they areone of the biggest tourist draws. Maybe thelocals will realize this and try turn this scarytrend around.
Lemurs, along with Bush Babies andLorises are small primates that are classified asPromisians, a word that loosely translates topre-primates or before monkeys. Whileancient Lemurs were rumored to be as largeas gorillas and weighed upto 400 pounds,today’s Lemurs are much smaller, ranging insize from 15 pounds, to just over an ounce insize.
With the exception of the Ring-TailedLemur, the animals are largely arboreal,spending most of their time at the top therainforest canopy. While a majority of thespecies is diurnal, some, especially the smallermouse and dwarf Lemurs, prefer to forage forfood in the safety of darkness, at night.
Lemurs get their name from the wordLemures, the Roman mythological word forghosts or spirits. First applied to a slenderLoris because of its nocturnal habits, it waslater tagged to the whole group of Promisians,regardless of their sleeping patterns.
Lemurs Leap To Forefront Of The ‘World’s Most
Endangered Vertebrate List’