Sat Jun 21 19:22:00 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the discovery and continuing fascination with Pluto’s moon, Charon, based on the provided text:

**Headline: 47 Years Ago, a “Defective” Photo Led to the Discovery of Pluto’s Moon, Charon**

**Flagstaff, Arizona, USA – June 22, 2025** – It was 47 years ago today in 1978, that American astronomer James Christy, while preparing for a house move and leave from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, stumbled upon a groundbreaking discovery: Pluto’s moon, Charon. Assigned by his boss, Robert Harrington, to refine Pluto’s orbit, Christy was reviewing a set of six photographs labeled “defective” due to an odd elongation of Pluto.

Under a microscope, Christy observed that Pluto appeared stretched in a northern direction in two image pairs, while the final pair showed a southward direction. Instead of dismissing the images, Christy suspected a companion moon. Reviewing archival photos dating back to 1965, Christy found the same elongation, all previously dismissed as flawed.

Christy and Harrington’s careful analysis revealed that the bulge occurred with a predictable frequency. The frequency of the unseen moon’s orbital period – 6.4 Earth days – matched with what astronomers believed to be Pluto’s rotational period, suggesting a synchronously locked binary system. The duo announced the discovery of ‘S/1978 P1’ through the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on July 7. Their conclusion was that Pluto had another companion at a distance of 19,640 km.

Charon’s name, suggested by Christy, was a clever tribute to both Greek mythology and his wife, Charlene, nicknamed “Char.” It references Charon, the boatman who ferried souls across the river in the underworld to Hades.

Further study and observations, particularly around eclipses, confirmed Charon’s existence and allowed astronomers to estimate its diameter at approximately 1,200 km.

The most detailed information about Charon comes from NASA’s New Horizons mission, which made its closest approach on July 14, 2015. The mission revealed a striking reddish polar region on Charon, a unique feature in the solar system, and confirmed its size relative to Pluto, leading some to consider the pair a double dwarf planet system. Charon’s orbit takes 6.4 Earth days, is tidally locked to Pluto, with each body showing the same face to the other at all times.

As Charlene Christy famously said, “A lot of husbands promise their wives the moon, but Jim actually delivered.” The discovery of Charon, born from a set of “defective” images, highlights the unpredictable and serendipitous nature of scientific discovery.

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