Robert Harrington22 June 1978
Robert Harrington helps confirm and calculate the orbit of Pluto's newly discovered moon, later named Charon.
United States · Science / Astronomy. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Robert Harrington helps confirm and calculate the orbit of Pluto's newly discovered moon, later named Charon.
New photographs from the U.S. Naval Observatory confirm that the recurring elongation beside Pluto is caused by an orbiting satellite.
The discovery of Pluto's moon is formally announced to astronomers through IAU Circular 3241.
Harrington calculates the expected positions of Pluto's suspected satellite, supporting the conclusion that the observed bulge is an orbiting moon.
The first successful observation of a predicted Pluto-Charon mutual event occurs within about forty minutes of Harrington's forecast.
An IAU circular reports confirming mutual-event observations, after which Pluto's large satellite is officially named Charon.
Harrington's orbital calculations predict a series of mutual Pluto-Charon eclipses and occultations beginning in 1985.
New Horizons images show Charon as a geologically varied world with enormous canyons and contrasting terrains.
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