Pluto's moons Pluto's moons Charon (shair'-ən or kair'-ən, IPA , Greek Χάρων) is the largest satellite of Pluto. It was discovered by astronomer James Christy on June 22, 1978 by carefully examining highly magnified images of Pluto on photographic plates taken a couple of months before and noticing that a slight bulge appeared periodically. Later, the bulge was confirmed on plates dating back to April 29, 1965. It received the temporary designation S/1978 P 1, according to the then-recently instituted convention. It is not to be confused with the similarly named 2060 Chiron, another object in the outer solar system with an orbit between those of Saturn and Uranus. With the discovery in 2005 of two other moons of Pluto ( S/2005 P 1 and S/2005 P 2), Charon is now also referred to as Pluto I. ...more on Wikipedia about "Charon (moon)"
The planet Pluto has three known moons. The largest, Charon, is proportionally larger than any other satellite in the solar system compared to its planet. The other two moons, as yet unnamed, are much smaller. Their discovery was announced on 2005 October 31. ...more on Wikipedia about "Pluto's natural satellites"
S/2005 P 1 is a natural satellite of Pluto. It is one of two discovered in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope Pluto Companion Search Team, composed of Hal A. Weaver, S. Alan Stern, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young. ...more on Wikipedia about "S/2005 P 1"
S/2005 P 2 is a natural satellite of Pluto. It is one of two discovered in June 2005 by the Hubble Space Telescope Pluto Companion Search Team, composed of Hal A. Weaver, S. Alan Stern, Max J. Mutchler, Andrew J. Steffl, Marc W. Buie, William J. Merline, John R. Spencer, Eliot F. Young, and Leslie A. Young. ...more on Wikipedia about "S/2005 P 2"
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