reduce atmospheric loss of Pluto tagged posts

Charon (top) and Pluto are only separated by 12,000 or so miles. When Charon is positioned between the sun and Pluto, Georgia Tech research indicates that the moon can significantly reduce atmospheric loss  Credit: NASA-JHUAPL-SwRI

Pluto’s relationship with its moon Charon is one of the more unusual interactions in the solar system due to Charon’s size and proximity. It’s more than half of Pluto’s diameter and orbits only 12,000 or so miles away. To put that into perspective, picture our moon three times closer to Earth, and as large as Mars. A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology provides additional insight into this relationship and how it affects the continuous stripping of Pluto’s atmosphere by solar wind...