Charon
| Charon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Charon from PlutoandMoons.zip in Orbiter 2006P1 | |
| Designation | |
| Name | Charon |
| Reference body | 134340 Pluto |
| Number of satellites | |
| Planetary mean orbits | |
| Epoch | 2002.88980151 |
| Semimajor axis (a) | 19571421.7074156 m |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.0000373396813869476 |
| Inclination (i) | 0° (0 radian) |
| Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊) | 219.363153172047° (3.82860928040886 radian) |
| Longitude of periapsis (ϖ) | 136.954° (2.39029822377631 radian) |
| Mean longitude (L) | 34.9° (0.60911990894602 radian) |
| Selected physical parameters | |
| Mean radius | 606316.642534735 m |
| Mass | 1.51311205×1021 kg |
| Sidereal rotation period | 551856.709233070848 sec (6.38723 hours) |
| SidRotOffset | 3.14159265358979324 |
| Obliquity | 96.145° (1.67804680932995 radian) |
| LAN | 43.046° (0.7512944298135 radian) |
| Note | *Elements given are from Charon.cfg (PlutoandMoons.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 | Wiki article |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pluto and Moons | O-F Resources | 2010-05-13 | Piper | Scenery | 13 May 2010 | ||
| Orbital correction for Pluto and moons | O-F Resources | 2009-11-25 | Unknown OHM Addon Developer | Scenery | 25 November 2009 | ||
| 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 from PlutoandMoons.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
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