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Can We Call Pluto and Charon a 'Binary Planet' Yet?

Posted by timothy on from the complex-gyrations dept.

astroengine writes The debate as to whether Pluto is a planet or a dwarf planet rumbles on, but in a new animation of the small world, one can't help but imagine another definition for Pluto. As NASA's New Horizons spacecraft continues its epic journey into the outer solar system, its Kuiper Belt target is becoming brighter and more defined. Seen through the mission's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) camera, this new set of observations clearly shows Pluto and its biggest moon Charon locked in a tight orbital dance separated by only 11,200 miles. (Compared with the Earth-moon orbital separation of around 240,000 miles, you can see how compact the Pluto-Charon system really is.) Both bodies are shown to be orbiting a common point — the "barycenter" is located well above Pluto's surface prompting a new debate on whether or not Pluto and Charon should be redefined as a "binary planet".

3 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Pluto's a dog. what's Goofy? by turkeydance · · Score: 5, Informative

    seriously....call Pluto what it is...ClickBait.

  2. Outrageous discrimination! by mi · · Score: 5, Funny

    The debate as to whether Pluto is a planet or a dwarf planet rumbles

    What's with this "dwarf" nonsense — and big planetarism? We demand equal gravity for all planets!

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    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  3. What debate? by glwtta · · Score: 5, Informative

    Planet and Dwarf Planet are arbitrary labels defined by the IAU.

    How can you "debate" about that?

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    sic transit gloria mundi