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Christy's inspiration for the name "Charon" came about due to a personal interest in naming the moon after his wife. He used her nickname, "Char" for
Charlene, and added -on (for his interest in physics in protons and electrons, which have -on endings) to make Charon. It was only later that he found
198:
However, Christy noticed that only Pluto was elongated—the background stars were not. His earlier work at the Naval
Observatory had included photographing double stars, so it occurred to him that this bulge might be a companion of Pluto. After examining images from observatory archives dating
194:
The discovery was made by carefully examining an enlargement of a photographic plate of Pluto and noticing it had a very slight bulge on one side. This plate and others had been marked "poor" because the elongated image of Pluto was thought to be a defect resulting from improper alignment. The 1965
202:
The photographic evidence was considered convincing but not conclusive (it remained possible that the bulge was due to Pluto having an unexpectedly irregular shape). However, based on Charon's calculated orbit, a series of mutual
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plates included a note "Pluto image elongated", but observatory astronomers, including
Christy, assumed that the plates were defective until 1978.
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269:. He has been married to Charlene Mary since 1975 and has four children. On July 14, 2015, he and
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398:"An interview with Jim Christy: How "defective" images revealed Pluto as a double planet"
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shortly afterwards. The name remained unofficial until its adoption by the IAU in 1986.
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366:. pp. 173–177, including the essay "A Moment of Perception" by James W. Christy.
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the same name in mythology, that being the ferryman who carried souls across the
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spacecraft successfully performed the first flyby of the Pluto-Charon system.
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late on 13 July 2015. This color photograph made using Adobe
Photoshop CS5.
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of Pluto and Charon was predicted and observed, confirming the discovery.
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417:"The View from Mars Hill: The discovery of Charon has Flagstaff roots"
291:, one of the five mythical rivers that surrounded Pluto's underworld.
383:
Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System
253:
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from the website "Pluto: The
Discovery of Planet X," by Brad Mager
952:
435:"Charon at 40: Four Decades of Discovery on Pluto's Largest Moon"
288:
204:
947:
243:, separate images of Pluto and Charon can be resolved, and the
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probe took images showing some of Charon's surface features.
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back to 1965, he concluded that the bulge was indeed a moon.
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25th
Anniversary of the Discovery of Pluto's moon CHARON
364:Planets Beyond: Discovering the Outer Solar System
307:
1005:
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308:Churchwell, Jan W.; Chaudier, Louann (1982).
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40:
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132:(born September 15, 1938) is an American
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349:
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311:Who's Who in Technology Today, 1982–1983
275:Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
167:degree in astronomy from there in 1965.
235:In more modern telescopes, such as the
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1034:Discoverers of trans-Neptunian objects
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175:On June 22, 1978 while working at the
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25:
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1024:20th-century American astronomers
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415:Schindler, Kevin (June 6, 2015).
239:or ground-based telescopes using
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273:'s children were guests at the
177:United States Naval Observatory
116:United States Naval Observatory
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337:Satellites of Saturn and Pluto
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340:, IAUC 4157 (1986 January 3)
155:Christy was born in 1938 in
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396:Betz, Eric (June 9, 2015).
10:
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265:As of 2015, he resides in
140:, the largest moon of the
130:James Walter "Jim" Christy
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314:(3rd ed.). J. Dick.
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46:James Christy (left) and
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858:IAU definition of planet
362:Littmann, Mark (1990).
259:was named in his honor.
958:Trans-Neptunian object
659:Coleta de Dados Colles
437:. NASA. June 22, 2018.
237:Hubble Space Telescope
136:known for discovering
119:Hughes Missile Systems
460:from NASA JPL website
179:, he discovered that
161:University of Arizona
88:University of Arizona
1029:Discoverers of moons
853:Definition of planet
846:Official definitions
616:Tombaugh "The Heart"
157:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
73:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
884:Neil deGrasse Tyson
334:Marsden, Brian G.,
165:Bachelor of Science
27:American astronomer
905:Lowell Observatory
867:Scientist opinions
402:Astronomy Magazine
379:Mitton, Jacqueline
267:Flagstaff, Arizona
252:In late 2008, the
159:. He attended the
66:September 15, 1938
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654:Challenger Colles
452:Pluto's Companion
421:Arizona Daily Sun
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187:, which he named
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95:Scientific career
48:Robert Harrington
16:(Redirected from
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879:Michael E. Brown
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446:External links
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350:Littmann (1990
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271:Clyde Tombaugh
257:129564 Christy
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385:. p. 58.
384:
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377:Stern, Alan;
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321:9780943692005
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289:Acheron River
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163:and earned a
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68:(age 86)
58:
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38:
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19:
18:James Christy
943:Dwarf planet
920:Roger Putnam
829:New Horizons
827:
787:
669:Piccard Mons
649:Baret Montes
429:
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280:New Horizons
278:
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246:New Horizons
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226:New Horizons
225:
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142:dwarf planet
129:
128:
112:Institutions
94:
1014:1938 births
963:Kuiper belt
820:Exploration
706:depressions
704:Valleys and
679:Wright Mons
224:, taken by
151:Early years
104:Astronomy,
1008:Categories
874:Alan Stern
729:Luna Linea
569:Vucub-Came
564:Harrington
506:Atmosphere
295:References
134:astronomer
106:astrometry
62:1938-09-15
988:Mythology
893:Discovery
839:Astronomy
642:mountains
640:Hills and
526:Geography
277:when the
900:Planet X
800:Kerberos
596:Hayabusa
574:Hun-Came
554:Safronov
531:features
381:(1999).
254:asteroid
205:eclipses
50:in 1978.
983:Fiction
976:Related
953:Plutino
931:General
738:Craters
631:Voyager
611:Pioneer
606:Morgoth
540:Regions
516:Geology
511:Climate
948:Planet
789:Charon
745:Burney
722:Lineae
688:Plains
626:Viking
621:Venera
601:Lowell
591:Cadejo
586:Belton
559:Sharaf
318:
222:Charon
189:Charon
183:had a
171:Career
138:Charon
101:Fields
795:Hydra
780:Moons
495:Pluto
181:Pluto
145:Pluto
810:Styx
316:ISBN
185:moon
77:U.S.
56:Born
805:Nix
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419:.
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147:.
75:,
64:)
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529:(
487:e
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324:.
262:†
60:(
20:)
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