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Charon
Orbit data - Object data - Mythology - Links Go to the bottom of the page
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Photo of the satellite Charon of the planet Pluto
Charon   Pluto I (S/1978 P1)

Hide this area Orbit data
Mean distance from the planet Pluto 19.636 km
Orbital period around the planet Pluto (sideric) 6,387 d
Mean orbital velocity 0,22 km/s
Orbital inclination 99,09 °
Eccentricity of the orbit around the planet Pluto 0,0002
Hide this area Object data
Discovered by James Christy 1978
Mass 1,6 × 1021 kg
Equatorial radius 593 km
Mean density 1,85 g/cm³
Escape velocity 0,58 km/s
Surface force of gravity 0,21 m/s²
Rotational period (synchronous) 6,387 d
Albedo 0,38
Apparent magnitude + 17,3 mvis
Hide this area Mythology

Charon, in Greek mythology, is the ferryman of the dead. Charon is the son of Erebus and Nyx. He is similar to the Etruscan god Charun.

Charon ferries the souls of the deceased across the river Acheron. He only accepts the dead which are buried or burned with the proper rites, and if they pay him an obolus for their passage.

Hide this area Links
File icon STScI/NASA (Hubble Space Telescope) - Pluto & Charon
Link to the page "Views of the Solar System"
File icon STScI/NASA (Hubble Space Telescope) - The "Double Planet" Pluto & Charon
Link to the page "Views of the Solar System"
File icon Marc Buie/Lowell Observatory - Four Views of Charon
© Calvin J. Hamilton ("Views of the Solar System")
File icon Welcome to the Planets
Online version of the "Planetary Data System Educational CD-ROM"
File icon A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System - The Nine Planets
© William A. Arnett
© 2022 by Bernd Onasch - Imprint Go to the top of the page
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