Difference between revisions of "Charon"

Revision as of 02:30, 23 October 2024

Charon

*Charon from Plutozip* in Orbiter 2006P1**
Designation
Name	Charon
Reference body	134340 Pluto
Number of satellites
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	J2000 (1 January 2000)
Semimajor axis (a)	19600000 m
Eccentricity (e)	0.0
Inclination (i)	0° (0 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	53.0076487827642° (0.925158 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	224.066662237591° (3.910701 radian)
Mean longitude (L)	238.928729077048° (4.170093 radian)
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius	593000 m
Mass	1.9×10²¹ kg
Sidereal rotation period	22994.1 sec (6.38725 hours)
SidRotOffset	0
Obliquity	0° (0 radian)
Note	*Elements given are from Charon.cfg (Pluto.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 double dwarf planet.

Charon was discovered in 1978 by 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.

Add-on	Source	Version	Author	Type	Release Date	Compatibility
Orbiter versions and add-ons which include Charon
Pluto	O-F Resources	2006-11-13	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	13 November 2006
Pluto-Charon v2.0	O-F Resources	2005-05-09	Nighthawke	Scenery	10 May 2005	Orbiter 2005
Pluto Pack	AVSIM		CharlotMan	Scenery	17 July 2004

Gallery

Charon from pluto_pack.zip in Orbiter 2003P2
Charon from Pluto-Charon_v2.0.zip in Orbiter 2005P1
Charon from Pluto.zip in Orbiter 2006P1
Charon imaged by New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015
from Wikimedia Commons
first color animation of the orbits of Pluto and Charon
from Wikimedia Commons

This natural satellite related article is a stub. You can help Orbiterwiki by expanding it.

edit Natural satellites of Pluto
Charon - Styx - Nix - Kerberos - Hydra

edit The Solar System
Central star	Sun (Sol)
Planets	Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune
Natural satellites	Moon - Phobos - Deimos - Io - Europa - Ganymede - Titan - more...
Add-ons	Planets - Dwarf Planets - Small objects - Natural satellites - Alternative star systems

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 !bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2" align="center" |Charon
 |-
-|colspan="2" align="center"|[[Image:Charon-PlutoCharonv20zip-Orbiter2005P1.jpg|Charon|240px]]
+|colspan="2" align="center"|[[Image:Charon-Plutozip-Orbiter2006P1.jpg|Charon|240px]]
 |-
-|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Charon from ''Pluto-Charon_v2.0.zip'' in Orbiter 2005P1'''
+|colspan="2" align="center"|'''Charon from ''Plutozip'' in Orbiter 2006P1'''
 |-
 !bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Designation
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 |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%"|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right" width="50%"|19600000 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%"|Inclination (i)||align="right" width="30%"|0° <br> (0 radian)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right" width="30%"|0° <br> (0 radian)
+|width="30%"|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right" width="30%"|53.0076487827642° <br> (0.925158 radian)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right" width="30%"|114.591559° <br> (2 radian)
+|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right" width="30%"|224.066662237591° <br> (3.910701 radian)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Mean longitude (L)||align="right" width="30%"|0° <br> (0 radian)
+|width="30%"|Mean longitude (L)||align="right" width="30%"|238.928729077048° <br> (4.170093 radian)
 |-
 !bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Selected physical parameters
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 |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%"|Mass||align="right" width="30%"|1.9×10<sup>21</sup> kg
 |-
-|width="30%"|Sidereal rotation period||align="right" width="30%"|-551858 sec (153.294 hours)
+|width="30%"|Sidereal rotation period||align="right" width="30%"|22994.1 sec (6.38725 hours)
 |-
 |width="30%"|SidRotOffset||align="right" width="30%"|0
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 |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)
+|width="30%"|Note||align="right" width="30%"|*Elements given are from Charon.cfg (Pluto.zip)
 |}
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 |-
 !Add-on!!Source!!Version!!Author!!Type!!Release Date!!Compatibility!!Wiki article
+|-
+|[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/pluto.281/ Pluto]||O-F Resources||2006-11-13||Unknown OHM Addon Developer||Scenery||13 November 2006||||
 |-
 |[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||
@@ Line 68: / Line 70: @@
 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-Plutozip-Orbiter2006P1.jpg|<center>Charon from ''Pluto.zip'' in Orbiter 2006P1</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>

Difference between revisions of "Charon"

Revision as of 02:30, 23 October 2024

Charon in Orbiter

Gallery

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