Neptune’s tiniest moon likely fragment of bigger one
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Neptune’s newest and tiniest moon is probably an ancient fragment of a much larger moon orbiting unusually close.
In the journal Nature on Wednesday, California astronomers shine a light on the 21-mile-wide moon Hippocamp, named after the mythological sea horse.
SETI Institute’s Mark Showalter discovered Neptune’s 14th moon in 2013. Showalter and his research team theorize Hippocamp was formed from debris created when a comet slammed into Proteus, the largest of Neptune’s inner moons. The two moons orbit just 7,500 miles apart and were likely even closer in the past.
Scientists have long believed Neptune’s inner moons were repeatedly smashed by comets. Showalter says finding little Hippocamp so close to big Proteus provides “a particularly dramatic illustration of the Neptune system’s battered history.”
Buzz Aldrin tussles with son over assets
ORLANDO, Fla.— Buzz Aldrin’s son is trying to stop his father from transferring assets in the latest battle between the Apollo 11 moonwalker and two of his children over whether he is capable of managing his affairs.
Andrew Aldrin’s lawyer sent a letter last month to Morgan Stanley with instructions not to transfer any assets in two accounts.
The accounts are in a trust of which Andrew Aldrin is a trustee. The letter says Buzz Aldrin, 89, terminated the trust and wants the assets distributed to him.
Morgan Stanley is asking a Florida court to decide if it should follow the instructions of Buzz Aldrin or his son. It doesn’t list the accounts’ value.
Aldrin’s children claim he has memory loss and delusions. He has countersued, accusing them and a manager of mismanagement.
Police: Man says he stole truck to get to the airport
TULSA, Okla.—Authorities say an Oklahoma man stole a Pepsi truck as the driver was unloading soda in the back.
Tulsa police say no one was hurt. The driver jumped out of the back when he felt his rig move. A trail of sodas spilled out as the truck drove off.
Police say Steven Hart told them he was trying to get to the airport after an argument with his girlfriend. The girlfriend says he was searching for her.
Police say that when they caught up to the truck stopped in traffic, Hart jumped out and started to run off. Hart was arrested as the rig rolled into the back of a school bus. No children were aboard.
Hart is being held on pending charges that include larceny and attempted escape from the county jail as he was being booked into custody.