Kerberos

E110988

Kerberos is a small, irregularly shaped moon of Pluto discovered in 2011 as part of the Pluto system’s complex family of satellites.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Kerberos canonical 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Plutonian satellite
moon of Pluto
natural satellite
albedo high
alternativeName S/2011 (134340) 1
approximateDimensions about 19 km by 10 km
belongsTo Kuiper belt dwarf planet system
belongsToCategory small irregular moons
trans‑Neptunian satellites
catalogDesignation Pluto IV
density likely low density
discoveredBy Hubble Space Telescope
Pluto Companion Search Team
discoveredIn 2011
discoveryAnnouncementBy NASA
discoveryAnnouncementDate July 2011
discoveryInstrument Wide Field Camera 3
discoveryMethod optical imaging
discoveryTelescope Hubble Space Telescope
flybyDate July 2015
gravitationallyBoundTo Pluto’s satellite system
surface form: Pluto–Charon system
hasOrbitalEccentricity low
hasOrbitalInclination small relative to Pluto’s equator
locatedIn Kuiper Belt
surface form: Kuiper belt

outer Solar System
mass very low mass (exact value uncertain)
meanRadius approximately 6–7 km
memberOf Pluto’s satellite system
surface form: Pluto system
namedAfter Cerberus
Kerberos (mythological three‑headed dog)
namedFor mythological guardian of the underworld
observedBy New Horizons
surface form: New Horizons spacecraft
orbitalPeriod about 32.2 Earth days
orbitalResonanceWith Hydra
Nix
Styx
orbits Pluto
orbitsBarycenterOf Pluto’s satellite system
surface form: Pluto–Charon system
partOf Pluto’s satellite system
primaryBody Pluto
rotationAxis highly variable
rotationState chaotic rotation
satelliteOf Pluto
semiMajorAxis about 58,000 km from Pluto’s barycenter
shape irregular
surfaceColor neutral to slightly gray
surfaceComposition water ice (inferred)
systemContains no known sub‑satellites

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Pluto hasNaturalSatellite Kerberos
Nix partOfResonantSystemWith Kerberos
LORRI flybyTarget Kerberos