Understanding the dwarf planet(s)
Huh. Well, you learn something every day.
If you’ve been watching the news, you’ll know how Pluto was controversially “demoted” to a dwarf planet last year.
This morning, I was reading how astronomers think they’ve found evidence of underground running water on Charon. Depending on current definitions, Charon is known as either Pluto’s primary moon or as Pluto’s partner in a double dwarf planet system.
That’s interesting by itself, but it got me thinking about how the sizes of Pluto and Charon compare to our more familiar world. So I thought I’d compare them to the size of Australia:
- Pluto: about 2400km in diameter (~1490 miles)
- Charon: about 1200km in diameter (~745 miles)
- Australia: 4000km (East-West) by 3700km (North-South) (~2485 × 2300 miles)
So (suspending reality for a moment), Pluto and Charon would fit side by side inside the shores of Australia.
How about them apples?
Blessings, Steve
[Listening to The Braided, It Ends Here -- Speak To The Sky]
