EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The largest of Pluto’s five moons, Charon, was discovered in June 1978 by James Christy and Robert Harrington at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona – about six miles from where Pluto was discovered at the Lowell Observatory. They weren’t even looking for moons.

Detailed explanation-2: -Charon is so large and massive with respect to Pluto that some scientists prefer to think of the two bodies as a double system. The moon was named for Charon, the ferryman of dead souls to the realm of Hades (the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Pluto) in Greek mythology.

Detailed explanation-3: -Charon (/ˈkɛərɒn, -ən/ KAIR-on, -⁠ən or /ˈʃærən/ SHAIR-ən), 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). Charon is the sixth-largest known trans-Neptunian object after Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Gonggong.

Detailed explanation-4: -Pluto’s moon Charon was discovered on 22 June 1978 by US astronomer James Christy while examining images of Pluto. We explore how this momentous find came to be.

Detailed explanation-5: -The discovery of Charon fueled Pluto’s evolution from a telescopic dot into an actual planetary system – and a source of many discoveries yet to come. About the size of Texas, Charon is the largest moon in the solar system relative to its parent planet.