Key Information
Charon
| Type | Moon (of Pluto) |
| Diameter | 753.1 miles |
| Distance from Pluto | 12,173 miles |
| Orbit Time | 6.4 days |
| Length of Day | 6.4 days |
| Time around Sun | 247.94 years |
| Atmosphere | None |
| Temperature | -364 °F |
| Date of Discovery | June 22, 1978 (James W. Christy) |
Learning Point
- An amazing discovery at the time, Charon is the moon of Pluto. It was found because Pluto seemed to have an odd bulge. Later photos revealed that there were two separate objects orbiting around a common point.
Project
- Find out the size difference between Pluto and Charon, and identify what that means for the orbits of the two objects.
- Overview
- Comparison
- Orbit
- Map
Location
| Located in | Solar System, orbiting the Sun |
Fun Facts
- New Horizons is the only spacecraft to visit Charon, providing us some important information on how it is made and its relationship with Pluto.
- Charon is large enough to pull on Pluto in a way that means they orbit around a place outside of Pluto, wiht some suggesting they should be considered a double dwarf planet.
- Charon is very round, and larger than many other moons in our Solar System, the 12th largest.
- The name is pronounced with a “SHAIR on” sound, partly because the discoverer chose that pronounciation, though it should begin with the sound “KAIR on“.
Past Lessons
| 79 | February 12, 2024 | (North America) |