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CHARON

Pluto’s Largest Satellite. CHARON. Discovery. James Christy June 22, 1978 US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ Discovered as a “bulge” on Pluto Eclipse from 1985 to 1990. Surface Characteristics. Radius: Roughly one-tenth of Earth’s Mass: (1.52 ± 0.06) ×  10 21 Kg

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CHARON

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  1. Pluto’s Largest Satellite CHARON

  2. Discovery • James Christy • June 22, 1978 • US Naval Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ • Discovered as a “bulge” on Pluto • Eclipse from 1985 to 1990

  3. Surface Characteristics • Radius: Roughly one-tenth of Earth’s • Mass: (1.52 ± 0.06) × 1021 Kg • Temperature: -220 degrees Celsius (53 K) • Surface material: Ice • “Cryovolcanism” • Frigid geysers

  4. Naming the Satellite • The Ferryman of the Dead • S/1978 P 1 • Charlene “Char” Christy • Proposed but rejected: Persephone (Pluto’s wife) • Different pronunciations

  5. Problems with Charon • Pluto and Charon orbit one another • External center of mass • 2006 IAU re-definition • “Double Planet”

  6. Other Satellites of Pluto • Nix • Hydra • Discovered: June 2005 by Pluto Companion Search Team • Not spherical • Both follow Charon’s orbit

  7. New Horizons • Future mission to Pluto • Launched January 19th 2006, expected to arrive 2015 • First mission to study Pluto and its moons • Will also study the KuiperAsteroid Belt

  8. References • http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/AJ.../0083//0001005.000.html • http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ • http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0707/17charon/

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