Determination of the Charon/Pluto Mass Ratio from Center-of-Light Astrometry

✍ Scribed by Jeffrey A. Foust; J.L. Elliot; Catherine B. Olkin; Stephen W. McDonald; Edward W. Dunham; Remington P.S. Stone; John S. McDonald; Ronald C. Stone

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 402 KB
• Volume: 126
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0019-1035
• DOI: 10.1006/icar.1996.5656

✦ Synopsis

matches a new value of 0.124 ؎ 0.008 by Null and Owen (1996, Astron. J. 111, 1368-1381). The mass ratio and resulting The Charon/Pluto mass ratio is a fundamental but poorly individual masses and densities of Pluto and Charon are consisknown parameter of the two-body system. Previous values for tent with a collisional origin for the Pluto-Charon systhe mass ratio have ranged from 0.0837 ؎ 0.0147 (Null et al., tem.