Charon in 3D: live position and orbit

Pluto's largest moon, so massive that Pluto and Charon orbit a common barycenter.

Charon is shown at its real position, computed from NASA/JPL ephemeris data. The view opens on Charon; you can travel in time, switch between the educational overview and the true-scale voyage, and compare it with every other body of the solar system.

Orbits

Pluto

Radius

606 km¹

Mass

1.59 × 10²¹ kg¹ (derived value)

Surface gravity

0.29 m/s²¹ (derived value)

Mean distance from Pluto

19 600 km²

Orbital period

6.39 days³

Sidereal rotation

6.39 days³

Axial tilt

0.1°⁴ (derived value)

Missions

• New Horizons

Sources

1. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters. read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/phys_par/
2. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Planetary Satellite Mean Elements. read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/elem/
3. NASA NSSDCA, Planetary and Satellite Fact Sheets. read 2026-09-17. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html
4. NASA NAIF, Generic PCK kernel (IAU rotational elements). read 2026-09-28. https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/pck/pck00011.tpc