Editing Charon

{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:25px 0 0 10px; border:3px solid lightsteelblue;width:250px; font-size:90%; font-family:'Arial','Helvetica'; float: right; clear: right;"Pluto in Orbiter"
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2" align="center" |Charon
|-
|colspan="2" align="center"|[[Image:Charon-PlutoCharonv20zip-Orbiter2005P1.jpg|Charon|240px]]
|-
|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Charon from ''Pluto-Charon_v2.0.zip'' in Orbiter 2005P1'''
|-
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Designation
|-
|Name||align="right"|Charon
|-
|width="30%"|Reference body||align="right" width="30%"|134340 Pluto
|-
|width="30%"|Number of satellites||align="right" width="30%"|
|-
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Planetary mean orbits
|-
|width="30%"|Epoch||align="right" width="50%"|J2000 (1 January 2000)
|-
|width="30%"|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right" width="50%"|19 600 000 m
|-
|width="30%"|Eccentricity (e)||align="right" width="30%"|0.0
|-
|width="30%"|Inclination (i)||align="right" width="30%"|99° <br> (1.72787596 radian)
|-
|width="30%"|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right" width="30%"|0° <br> (0 radian)
|-
|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right" width="30%"|114.591559° <br> (2 radian)
|-
|width="30%"|Mean longitude (L)||align="right" width="30%"|0° <br> (0 radian)
|-
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Selected physical parameters
|-
|width="30%"|Mean radius||align="right" width="30%"|593000 m
|-
|width="30%"|Mass||align="right" width="30%"|3.3×10<sup>21</sup> kg
|-
|width="30%"|Sidereal rotation period||align="right" width="30%"|-551858 sec (153.294 hours)
|-
|width="30%"|SidRotOffset||align="right" width="30%"|0
|-
|width="30%"|Obliquity||align="right" width="30%"|0° (0 radian)
|-
|width="30%"|Note||align="right" width="30%"|*Elements given are from Charon.cfg (pluto_pack.zip)
|}

Charon is the largest natural satellite of [[Pluto]]. Its radius is about half that of Pluto, and their barycentre lies outside both objects. This is a common definition of a binary object, leading some astronomers to consider them a [[w:Double planet|double dwarf planet]].

Charon was discovered in 1978 by [[w:James W. Christy|James W Christy]].

From the discovery of [[Nix]] and [[Hydra]], it was possible to estimate Charon's mass as roughly 10% that of Pluto. This implies it's approximately 45% ice, thought mostly to be water ice.

== Charon in Orbiter ==
Charon was introduced to Orbiter with the release of ''pluto_pack.zip'' in July 2004.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|colspan="8"|<center>'''Orbiter versions and add-ons which include Charon'''</center>
|-
!Add-on!!Source!!Version!!Author!!Type!!Release Date!!Compatibility!!Wiki article
|-
|[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/pluto-charon-v2-0.230/ Pluto-Charon v2.0]||O-F Resources||2005-05-09||Nighthawke||Scenery||10 May 2005||Orbiter 2005||
|-
|[https://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=pluto_pack.zip&Author=&CatID=root Pluto Pack]||AVSIM||||CharlotMan||Scenery||17 July 2004||||
|}

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="100" heights="100">
Charon-plutopackzip-Orbiter2003P2.jpg|<center>Charon from ''pluto_pack.zip'' in Orbiter 2003P2</center>
Charon-PlutoCharonv20zip-Orbiter2005P1.jpg|<center>Charon from ''Pluto-Charon_v2.0.zip'' in Orbiter 2005P1</center>
Charon in True Color - High-Res.jpg|<center>Charon imaged by [[w:New Horizons|New Horizons spacecraft]] in July 2015<br>from Wikimedia Commons</center>
First Color Animated Images show Pluto and its Moon Charon.gif|<center>first color animation of the orbits of Pluto and Charon<br>from Wikimedia Commons</center>
</gallery>

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[[Category:Articles]]
[[Category:Celestial bodies]]
[[Category:Solar System]]
[[Category:Natural satellites]]