Local orbit radius
\[r=\frac{a(1-e^2)}{1+e\cos(\nu)}\]
Each tracked moon follows the same conic equation used for planetary orbits, with the parent planet as the focus.
Dwarf planets moon system🔭 Telescope picks →
Dwarf planets moons in motion.
Recognized dwarf-planet moon systems include Pluto's five moons, Haumea's two moons, Eris's moon, and Makemake's known moon.
Dwarf planets selected
- parent distance
- Sun distance AU
- speed
- period
- position
1.00x Earth view- from Sun - - disk - - light
Moon simulator is initializing. Drag to rotate, wheel to zoom, right-drag to pan.
Gear guide
Recommended Telescope for Dwarf-Planet Observing
Pluto and the other dwarf planets are extremely faint, and their moons are beyond amateur reach — but a serious GoTo telescope can still track down Pluto itself under dark skies.
Celestron NexStar 5SE — GoTo mount is essential for locating PlutoCelestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ — app-guided finding for very faint targetsCelestron Astro Fi 102 — portable option for dark-sky trips
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Buyer tips
What matters for this system
- Pluto requires very dark skies and typically 8-inch+ aperture even to glimpse as a point of light.
- Track its position over several nights against a star chart to confirm the sighting.
- Haumea, Makemake, and Eris are well beyond amateur telescopes and need professional observatories.
Simulation basis
Mean orbit model
This page groups multiple dwarf-planet systems into one comparative simulator anchored on Pluto scale.
Controls
Use the model
Drag rotates the scene, wheel zooms, right-drag pans, and the Full screen button expands the simulator. The time-rate selector can run from realtime seconds to one year per second.
The selected moon panel reports parent-relative distance, approximate Sun distance in AU, orbital speed, period, and current model angle.
Tracked moons
Interactive orbit data
These bodies have individual orbit tracks and selectable readouts in the simulator.
| Moon | Study note | Radius | Mean parent distance | Eccentricity | Period | Mean speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charon | Large Pluto companion forming a binary-like dwarf-planet system. | 606 km | 19,591 km | 0.0002 | 6.387 days | 0.21 km/s |
| Styx | Small inner Pluto moon beyond Charon. | 8 km | 42,656 km | 0.0058 | 20.16 days | 0.15 km/s |
| Nix | Small Pluto moon with non-synchronous tumbling rotation. | 24.5 km | 48,694 km | 0.002 | 24.85 days | 0.14 km/s |
| Kerberos | Small dark Pluto moon. | 9.5 km | 57,783 km | 0.003 | 32.17 days | 0.13 km/s |
| Hydra | Outer small Pluto moon. | 25 km | 64,738 km | 0.005 | 38.2 days | 0.12 km/s |
| Hi'iaka | Larger outer moon of Haumea. | 160 km | 49,880 km | 0.05 | 49.46 days | 0.09 km/s |
| Namaka | Inner Haumea moon in a dynamically complex system. | 85 km | 25,657 km | 0.25 | 18.28 days | 0.12 km/s |
| Dysnomia | Moon of Eris, used to estimate Eris's mass. | 350 km | 37,350 km | 0.013 | 15.77 days | 0.17 km/s |
| S/2015 (136472) 1 | Known moon of Makemake; orbital values remain less constrained than the large classical satellite systems. | 80 km | 21,000 km | 0.1 | 12.4 days | 0.13 km/s |
Catalog coverage
Recorded names and groups
Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra, Hi'iaka, Namaka, Dysnomia, S/2015 (136472) 1
Dense irregular and provisional moon populations are represented as catalog shell markers when compact per-moon orbital elements are not bundled into this static site. Counts are preserved so the system scale remains visible without overloading the browser.
Mathematical model
Natural-satellite orbital model
Moon-system simulations use local two-body approximations around the parent planet. The layout is computed from orbital periods, eccentricities, inclinations, and mean distances rather than from a reference image.
Period consistency
\[n=\frac{2\pi}{P}\]
Mean motion n is derived from orbital period P. The animation phase is therefore tied to the catalog period and remains internally consistent.
Inclined orbit plane
\[\mathbf{r}_{\mathrm{scene}}=R_x(i)\,\mathbf{r}_{\mathrm{orbit}}\]
Inclination i rotates the moon's local orbital plane. This proves the visible path is a transform of the mathematical orbit, not a freehand ring.
Verification standard: the rendered object must be reproducible from stated equations, catalog parameters, or explicit geometric transforms. Visual reference images may inform presentation only; they are not the source of orbital positions, field vectors, accretion-disk gradients, timing, or engineering layout.
Limitations: browser scenes may use bounded scale, compressed distances, simplified two-body dynamics, schematic transfer curves, or educational approximations where full numerical ephemerides, CFD, finite-element models, or general-relativistic ray tracing are outside the page scope. Those simplifications are part of the model contract, not hidden image-based construction.