Charon seen for first time.

woodypusher

misanthrope

Science

15 Jul 13

woodypusher

misanthrope

seclusion

Joined: 22 Jan 13
Moves: 1834

15 Jul 13

Pluto's largest moon, Charon, was spotted by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Charon was discovered in 1978 by James Christy.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20130710.php

DeepThought

Losing the Thread

Quarantined World

Joined: 27 Oct 04
Moves: 87415

16 Jul 13

I'll point out that Charon has been imaged before by other devices, just not by New Horizons.

woodypusher

misanthrope

seclusion

Joined: 22 Jan 13
Moves: 1834

16 Jul 13

1 edit

Originally posted by DeepThought
I'll point out that Charon has been imaged before by other devices, just not by New Horizons.

Of course we've known it was there for 35 years. It was only visible as a "bump" moving around Pluto back in 1978 when it was discovered using the 1.55-meter Kaj Strand Astrometric Reflector at the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Flagstaff Station.

Charon is visible for the first time in pictures taken by the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft.

googlefudge

Joined: 31 May 06
Moves: 1795

16 Jul 13

No Pluto and Charon have been individually resolved by Hubble...

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/pr1994017a