CHARON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

• CHARON (noun)
  The noun CHARON has 1 sense:

1. (Greek mythology) the ferryman who brought the souls of the dead across the river Styx or the river Acheron to Hades

  Familiarity information: CHARON used as a noun is very rare.

• CHARON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(Greek mythology) the ferryman who brought the souls of the dead across the river Styx or the river Acheron to Hades

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Charon" is a kind of...):

ferryman (a man who operates a ferry)

Domain category:

Greek mythology (the mythology of the ancient Greeks)

 Context examples 

The material went into orbit around Pluto and coalesced under its own gravity to form Charon and several smaller moons.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)

“Once the ice cap forms, it provides a slight asymmetry that either locks toward or away from Charon when Pluto’s spin slows to match the orbital motion of the moon,” Hamilton said.

(Scientists Probe Mystery of Pluto’s Icy Heart, NASA)

The inset above magnifies a portion of the eastern limb in the global view of Charon at left, imaged by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft several hours before its closest approach on July 14, 2015.

(A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon, NASA)

In the case of the Earth-Moon system and the Pluto-Charon system, the moons are thought to be created through dust leftover after rocky planetary collisions.

(Astronomers Find First Evidence of Possible Moon Outside Our Solar System, NASA)

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon – and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history.

(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)

In Charon's case, this study finds that a past high eccentricity could have generated large tides, causing friction and surface fractures.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)

At half the diameter of Pluto, Charon is the largest satellite relative to its planet in the solar system.

(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)

Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is home to an unusual canyon system that’s far longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon.

(A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon, NASA)

Initially, there would have been strong tides on both worlds as gravity between Pluto and Charon caused their surfaces to bulge toward each other, generating friction in their interiors.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)

An internal water ocean could have frozen long ago, and the resulting volume change could have led to Charon cracking open, allowing water-based lavas to reach the surface at that time.

(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)