Editing Charon (moon) (section)

==Name==
[[File:Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern (1902) (14759296956).jpg|thumb|right|[[Psyche (mythology)|Psyche]] with Charon in his lunate boat, the basis of the symbol [[File:Charon symbol (fixed width).svg|16px|alt=⯕]]]]
Charon was first given the temporary designation S/1978&nbsp;P&nbsp;1, after its discovery, following the then recently instituted convention. On June 24, 1978, Christy first suggested [[Land of Oz|Oz]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Pluto |url=https://lowell.edu/discover/history-of-pluto/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Lowell Observatory |language=en-US}}</ref> then the name ''Charon'' as a scientific-sounding version of his wife Charlene's nickname, "Char".<ref name="Shilling" /><ref name="UnivToday">{{cite web |title=Charon: Pluto's Largest Moon |url= http://www.universetoday.com/41619/charon/ |website= Universe Today |date=July 14, 2015 |first=Matt |last=Williams |access-date=October 8, 2015}}</ref> Although colleagues at the [[United States Naval Observatory|Naval Observatory]] proposed ''[[Persephone]]'', Christy stuck with ''Charon'' after discovering that it was serendipitously the name of an appropriate mythological figure:<ref name="Shilling">{{cite magazine |first=Govert |last=Shilling |title=A Bump in the Night |magazine=[[Sky & Telescope]] |date=June 2008 |pages=26–27}} Prior to this, Christy had also considered naming the moon ''[[Land of Oz|Oz]]''.</ref> [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛər|ən}};<ref name="OED">{{OED|Charon}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Χάρων}}) is the ferryman of the dead, closely associated with the god [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]]. The [[International Astronomical Union|IAU]] officially adopted the name in late 1985, and it was announced on January 3, 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title = IAUC 4157: CH Cyg; R Aqr; Sats of Saturn and Pluto |date = January 3, 1986 |url = http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/04100/04157.html |website = Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams |access-date = July 5, 2011 }}</ref>

Coincidentally, nearly four decades before Charon's discovery, science fiction author [[Edmond Hamilton]] had invented three moons of Pluto for his 1940 novel ''Calling Captain Future'' and named them Charon, Styx, and Cerberus;<ref name="Codex Regius">{{Cite book |author=Codex Regius |title=Pluto & Charon: the new horizons spacecraft at the farthest worldly shores |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-5349-6074-9 |publisher=Create Space Independent Publishing Platform |location=Wiesbaden}}</ref>
[[Styx (moon)|Styx]] and [[Kerberos (moon)|Kerberos]] are the two smallest Plutonian moons, and were named in 2013.

There is minor debate over the preferred pronunciation of the name. The mythological figure is pronounced with a {{IPAslink|k}} sound, and this is often followed for the moon as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Charon?r=75 |title=Charon |website=Dictionary.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Charon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416150522/https://www.lexico.com/definition/charon |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |title=Charon |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> However, Christy himself pronounced the initial {{angbr|ch}} as a {{IPAslink|ʃ}} sound, as he had named the moon after his wife Charlene. Many English-speaking astronomers follow the classical convention, but others follow Christy's,<ref group="note">Astronomer Mike Brown can be heard pronouncing it {{IPA|[ˈʃɛɹᵻn]}} in ordinary conversation on the KCET interview [{{cite web |title=Julia Sweeney and Michael E. Brown |work=Hammer Conversations: KCET podcast |url= http://www.pluggd.tv/audio/channels/kcet_podcast__hammer_conversations/episodes/2h10l |year=2007 |access-date=October 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006182705/http://www.pluggd.tv/audio/channels/kcet_podcast__hammer_conversations/episodes/2h10l |archive-date=October 6, 2008}}] at 42min 48sec.</ref><ref name="9P">Pronounced "KAIR en" or "SHAHR en" per {{cite web |title=Pluto Facts |url=http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html#charon |website=Nine Planets |access-date=October 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>Pronounced 'with a soft "sh" ' per {{cite web |title=Welcome to the solar system, Nix and Hydra! |work=The Planetary Society Weblog |url=http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000613/ |access-date=October 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210115425/http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000613/ |archive-date=February 10, 2009 }}</ref><ref>[[US Naval Observatory]] spokesman Jeff Chester, when interviewed on the NPR commentary {{cite web |title=Letters: Radiology Dangers, AIDS, Charon |work=Morning Edition |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5162958 |date=January 19, 2006 |access-date=October 3, 2008}} (at 2min 49sec), says Christy pronounced it {{IPA|[ˈʃɛɹɒn]}} rather than classical {{IPA|[ˈkɛɹɒn]}}. In normal conversation, the second vowel is reduced to a schwa: {{IPA|/ˈkɛərən/}} in RP (ref: [[OED]]).</ref> and that is the prescribed pronunciation at NASA and of the ''New Horizons'' team.<ref name="Sharon">Pronounced "Sharon" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|ær|ə|n}} per {{cite web |title=NASA New Horizons: The PI's Perspective—Two for the Price of One |date=June 30, 2005 |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17180 |access-date=October 3, 2008 |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017141907/https://spaceref.com/status-report/nasa-new-horizons-the-pis-perspective-two-for-the-price-of-one/ |url-status=dead }} and per {{cite web |title=New Horizons Team Names Science Ops Center After Charon's Discoverer |date=October 10, 2002 |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=9477 |access-date=October 3, 2008 |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017141907/https://spaceref.com/press-release/new-horizons-team-names-science-ops-center-after-charons-discoverer/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref group="note">[[Hal Weaver]], who led the team that discovered Nix and Hydra, also pronounces it {{IPA|[ˈʃɛɹᵻn]}} on the Discovery Science Channel documentary ''Passport to Pluto'', premiered 2006-01-15.</ref>

Planetary moons other than Earth's were never given symbols in the astronomical literature. Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer who designed most of the [[dwarf planet]] symbols, proposed a symbol for Charon ([[File:Charon symbol (fixed width).svg|16px|⯕]]) that combines the high orb of Pluto's bident symbol with a crescent, suggesting both Charon as a moon and the mythological Charon's boat crossing the river [[Styx]]. This symbol is not widely used, but it coincidentally matches a Pluto symbol {{unichar|2BD5|PLUTO FORM FOUR}} used in [[Uranian astrology]].<ref name=moons>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2025/25079-phobos-and-deimos.pdf |title=Phobos and Deimos symbols |last1=Bala |first1=Gavin Jared |last2=Miller |first2=Kirk |date=7 March 2025 |website=unicode.org |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |access-date=14 March 2025 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Faulks |first1=David |title=Astrological Plutos |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16067r-astrological-plutos.pdf |website=www.unicode.org |publisher=Unicode |access-date=October 1, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112010819/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16067r-astrological-plutos.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>