#Charon June 22
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In June 2025, many of us are taking part in the 30-Day “On This Date” Coach4aday Challenge. Each day, the challenge encourages participants to engage in a meaningful or enjoyable activity inspired by a historical event, anniversary, or personal memory tied to that specific date. My post today is on CHARON a large satellite or moon to Pluto. It was discovered on June 22, 1978.
James Christy and Robert Harrington at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona are the individuals credited with discovering Charon.
Charon is the largest moon of Pluto and is so massive relative to Pluto that they actually orbit a common center of gravity located outside of Pluto’s surface. Discovered in 1978, Charon is about half the size of Pluto, making their relationship more like a binary system than a typical planet-moon pairing. The two bodies are tidally locked, always showing the same face to each other as they rotate. They have been coined by astronomers and astrophysicists as “kiss and capture“.
On This Date-30 Day Challenge Guidelines
As with previous challenges, participants are encouraged to adapt the guidelines to fit their own circumstances. If you can, commit to think about the history of each day in June.
- Record something about what happened on this date. It can be an event, memory, or anniversary.
- Share with a challenge partner if you have one.
- Join the conversation by posting on social media with the hashtag #Coach4adayChallenge
June 22nd-Charon
In May of 2024 I did a 30-Day Astronomy Coach4aday Challenge but never learned about Charon. In reading about its unique orbital relationship with Pluto I also stumbled upon how many moons each planet has. That list is below.
Here is a list of how many confirmed moons each planet (and Pluto) has as of 2025:
- Mercury: 0 moons
- Venus: 0 moons
- Earth: 1 moon
- Mars: 2 moons (Phobos and Deimos)
- Jupiter: 95 confirmed moons
- Saturn: 146 confirmed moons (currently the most of any planet)
- Uranus: 27 moons
- Neptune: 14 moons
- Pluto (dwarf planet): 5 moons (Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, Hydra
Here is a YouTube video to help all of us learn more.
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