Charon's first detailed spectra hold many surprises
Young, E.
Science 287(5450): 53-54
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 10644224 Document Number: 521266
In this issue, M. E. Brown and W. M. Calvin discuss the most recent spectra of Pluto's satellite, Charon. Up until 1999, the only spectrum of Charon was taken over a decade ago by exploiting a lucky orbital geometry. In September 1999, three groups presented distinct Charon spectra at a workshop held at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona: Two of these were obtained with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer, an infrared spectrometer on the Hubble Space Telescope, and the third was taken with the Keck telescope on a particularly calm night. All three spectra confirm that Charon's spectrum looks like water ice; they also show that the ice is in a crystalline, as opposed to amorphous, state.