What type of planet is Charon?

What type of planet is Charon?

The Pluto-Charon system is considered a binary planet, the only one in the solar system. At 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) in diameter, Charon is about half as wide as Pluto. The center of mass of the two bodies lies outside the surface of the dwarf planet.

What is a Charon in space?

Charon (/ˈkɛərən/ or /ˈʃærən/), known as (134340) Pluto I, is the largest of the five known natural satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. It has a mean radius of 606 km (377 mi). With half the diameter and one eighth the mass of Pluto, Charon is a very large moon in comparison to its parent body.

Which planet is called the satellite?

Earth is a satellite because it moves around the sun. The moon is a satellite because it moves around Earth. Earth and the moon are called “natural” satellites.

Is Charon a planet?

The Ferryman of Hades Charon [SHAR-on] is the first of Pluto’s five known moons and is by far the largest. With a diameter of 750 miles (1,208 km), Charon is more than half the size of Pluto. This has led many astronomers to refer to Pluto and Charon as a double planet.

Where is Charon planet located?

Charon is the largest and innermost moon of Pluto. It was discovered in 1978 by astronomer James Christy and is nearly 1/8 the mass of Pluto. It orbits a common centre of gravity with Pluto, and the two worlds are tidally locked together as they orbit.

Does Charon rotate on its axis?

Charon, by far the largest, is fully half the size of Pluto. It revolves around Pluto—more… Charon also always shows the same hemisphere because it is in a state of synchronous rotation; that is, it spins on its axis in the same time it takes to orbit Pluto.

How big is Charon vs Pluto?

Charon is almost half the size of Pluto. The little moon is so big that Pluto and Charon are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. The distance between them is 19,640 km (12,200 miles). The Hubble Space Telescope photographed Pluto and Charon in 1994 when Pluto was about 30 AU from Earth.

How did Pluto and Charon form?

One theory suggests that Charon was created when a neighbouring Kuiper Belt object collided with Pluto. That destroyed the impactor, sending chunks of debris into orbit around Pluto. Eventually the chunks reassembled themselves to create Charon.

How big is Charon compared to Pluto?

In Depth. Charon is almost half the size of Pluto. The little moon is so big that Pluto and Charon are sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. The distance between them is 19,640 km (12,200 miles). The Hubble Space Telescope photographed Pluto and Charon in 1994 when Pluto was about 30 AU from Earth.

Why is the Pluto-Charon system a double planet?

Because of the high mass ratio, the barycenter is outside of the radius of Pluto, and the Pluto–Charon system has been referred to as a dwarf double planet. With four smaller satellites in orbit about the two larger worlds, the Pluto–Charon system has been considered in studies of the orbital stability of circumbinary planets.

What is Charon and how was it discovered?

Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Art Howard/GHSPi Charon was discovered in 1978 when sharp-eyed astronomer James Christy noticed images of Pluto were strangely elongated. The blob seemed to move around Pluto.

What is the composition of the moon Charon?

With half the diameter and one eighth the mass of Pluto, Charon is a very large moon in comparison to its parent body. Its gravitational influence is such that the barycenter of the Plutonian system lies outside Pluto. The reddish-brown cap of the north pole of Charon is composed of tholins, organic macromolecules…