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Charon (1,206 km diameter) is more than half the size of Pluto (diameter 2,274 km). When two objects orbit, like a planet and its moon, they orbit around the shared center of mass, called the barycenter. In most cases, the planet is so much heavier than its moon that the shared center is actually inside the planet, so it's correct to say the moon is orbiting around the planet.

In the case of Pluto and Charon, the barycenter is in between the two bodies. This is the reason for calling it a double planet, because neither one really goes around the other, they circle that common center.

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7y ago

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