Bananas for Scale
Charon

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Charon

Pluto's oversized companion in the Kuiper Belt/Moons

Charon is so large relative to Pluto that the two actually orbit a point in space between them, making them more of a double dwarf planet than a planet-moon pair. At 1,212 km in diameter, Charon is over half the size of Pluto itself. The New Horizons flyby in 2015 revealed a surprisingly complex surface with canyons, mountains, and a dark reddish polar cap informally dubbed Mordor.

Measurements

Diameter1.2 million m
220,364Parking space lengths
48,480Clock tower heights
28.4 millionGolf ball diameters

1,212 km

Mass1.6 sextillion kg
3.2 quintillionGrand pianos
7.8 quadrillionStatues of Liberty
10.9 sextillionBaseball weights
Orbital radius19.6 million m
13.1 millionBathtub lengths
464Marathon routes
29.2 millionFlute lengths

19,591 km from Pluto

Orbital period551,857 s
175Microcenturies
153Lunch breaks

About 6.39 days, tidally locked

Surface temperature53 K
1.5 tenthsSaunas
1.1 tenthsFresh pizza ovens

Extremely cold

Orbital speed223 m/s
1.11Tsunami waves
17,154Garden snails
446Shopping carts
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