Charon

Moon

Pluto's largest moon, so massive relative to Pluto that the two form a binary system.

Facts

TypeMoon
OrbitsPluto
Distance from parent body19,570 km
Diameter1,212 km
Mass1.59 × 10^21 kg
Surface gravity0.288 m/s²
Temperature-220°C
Orbital period6 days
Apparent magnitude16.8
Redshift0
Discovered1978

Charon in context

At 1,212 km across, Charon is 35 percent of the diameter of Earth's Moon.

Its mass is less than a thousandth of the mass of Earth.

It orbits Pluto at 19,570 km, closer in than the Moon orbits Earth.

A single orbit takes 6.4 days.

An average temperature of 53 K works out at -220 degrees Celsius, colder than the 15 degrees Earth averages.

It has been on record since 1978.

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