On the origin of the Pluto-Charon system
Open Access
- 1 December 1981
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Vol. 197 (4) , 1081-1085
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/197.4.1081
Abstract
It is shown that if the Pluto–Charon system was once a double satellite of Neptune, Pluto and Charon's combined tidal interaction would have driven them to merge with each other before their orbits around Neptune had evolved significantly. It is proposed that the Pluto–Charon system was formed by the binary fission of a rapidly rotating object. Dynamical constraints indicate that a mass ratio between Charon and Pluto should be less than 0.25 and greater than 0.05.Keywords
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