# Speaking of Pluto... What is it's moon's official name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191 "2002-11-27T20:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/1 "2002-11-27T20:08:12Z")
As far as I can remember (and I remember when it was discovered) it’s name is **Charon**. But in the last few years I’ve heard it called something else, which escapes me at the moment. Begins with a K and sounds Japanese? Paging the BA… ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/2 "2002-11-27T20:09:35Z")
Charon is pronounced with a hard ‘C’ sound. KA-ron. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/3 "2002-11-27T20:12:05Z")
No, I’ve heard it called something completely different. Most recently on a show on The Discovery Channel about the planets narrated by Karen Stone. ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/4 "2002-11-27T20:35:12Z")
I first thought “there’s no way the moon is called Charon. That’s the name of Pluto’s moon!” But… duh… I reread the topic. Why is there any fuss about this? Isn’t it straightforward and pseudocommon knowledge that it’s called Charon? I don’t understand the controversy. ---
**Author:** ![bunyip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@bunyip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyip)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/5 "2002-11-27T20:41:27Z")
You may be thinking of “Quaoar”. This is a recently discovered Kuiper belt object :the Kuiper belt is a disc of small icy bodies, where some comets come from, out beyond Neptune. Its about the same size as Charon,but it’s further away from the earth than Pluto. See the web site of one of it’s discoverers [http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~chad/quaoar](http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~chad/quaoar) ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/6 "2002-11-27T20:45:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\*Charon is pronounced with a hard ‘C’ sound. KA-ron. > > Zev Steinhardt \*\* Actually, while the name of the mythological boatman of the Styx was certainly pronounced with a “K” sound, the discoverer of Charon, James Christy, chose to pronounce it with an “S” sound in honor of his wife Charlene. Therefore, some people pronounce it hard “C” and some pronounce it soft “C”. > **[Charon (moon)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon))** > > Charon (/ˈkɛərən/ or /ˈʃærən/), known as (134340) Pluto I, is the largest of the five known natural satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. It has a mean radius of 606 km (377 mi). Charon is the sixth-largest known trans-Neptunian object after Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Gonggong. It was discovered in 1978 at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., using photographic plates taken at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS). > With half the diameter and one ... ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-pluto-what-is-its-moons-official-name/139191/7 "2002-11-27T20:47:11Z")
Oops, try [this](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon)) instead.