Mon chéri, Charon :

⁣Charon and Pluto are planetary besties – or sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. Charon is the largest of Pluto’s five moons – Charon is 754 miles (1,214 km) across, and Pluto is about 1,400 miles wide. The distance between them is 12,200 miles (19,640 km).⁣

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At half the size of Pluto, Charon is the largest known satellite relative to its parent body. The same surfaces of Charon and Pluto always face each other, a phenomenon called mutual tidal locking.⁣

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@NASASolarsystem’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon just before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.⁣

Image Description: Pluto’s moon Charon is pictured in the center of the image. The moon is mostly grey, with a reddish north (top) polar region. Impact craters scatter the surface of the moon, and a ridge divides the top half from the bottom half diagonally.⁣

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Credit: Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute⁣

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#NASA #NewHorizons #Spacecraft #Pluto #SolarSystem #Moon #Charon #Space

[ INFORMATION DATA: 22 March 2024 ]