User:Dchass123/Charon (moon)

Atmosphere
Charon itself has no significant atmosphere, while the planet it orbits, Pluto, does. There has been speculation about a miniscule atmosphere surrounding Pluto's moon but none that proves anything substantial. Since the formation of Charon is theorized to be produced from a collision, it would mean there was no cooling stage for the moon where surrounding gasses condense into a solid atmosphere, giving it no chance to form one. Under some specific conditions, Charon's gravitation will pull some of Pluto's upper atmosphere, specifically Nitrogen from Pluto's ice formations, through their gap toward Charon's surface. The Nitrogen will mostly get caught in the center of gravitational pull in between the two bodies before making it to Charon, but the gas that does make it to Charon is held closely against the surface. The gas is mostly made of up ions of Nitrogen and is so small that the transfer of atmosphere is negligible. Many spectral signatures of ice formations on the surface of Charon have led some to believe that the ice formations could supply an atmosphere, but atmosphere supplying formations have not been confirmed yet. Many scientists theorize that these ice formations could be concealed out of direct sight, either in deep craters or below the surface of Charon itself. Similar to how Pluto transfers atmosphere to Charon, it's relatively low gravity, due to its mass, causes any atmosphere prevalent to rapidly escape the surface and into space. Even through stellar occultation, which is used to probe the atmosphere of stellar bodies, scientists can not confirm an existing atmosphere, as was tested in 1986 while attempting to perform the stellar occultation testing on Pluto. Charon also acts as a protector for Pluto's atmosphere, blocking the solar wind that would normally collide with Pluto, damaging its atmosphere. Since Charon blocks these solar winds, its own atmosphere is diminished, instead of Pluto's. This phenomenon is also a serious speculation as to why Charon has no atmosphere; when it begins to accumulate, the solar winds shut it down. Although, it is still possible for Charon to have an atmosphere. Previously stated, Pluto transfers many gasses of its atmosphere to Charon and Charon has trouble keeping those gasses from escaping. Assuming Charon's density is 1.71 g cm^3, which is the rough estimation we currently have, it would have a surface gravity of 0.6 with respect to Pluto's. It also has a higher mean molecular weight than Pluto and a lower exobase surface temperature, meaning the gasses in its 'atmosphere' would have much more trouble escaping from Charon than it would Pluto. There has been significant proof of CO_2 gas and H_2O vapor on the surface of Charon but these vapors are not sufficient for a viable atmosphere due to their low vapor pressures. Pluto's surface is abundant with many ice formations but these are volatile, meaning they're made up of volatile substances like methane. These volatile ice structures cause a plethora of geological activity, keeping its atmosphere constant, while Charon's ice structures are mainly mad up of water and carbon dioxide, much less volatile substances that can stay dormant and not affect the atmosphere much at all.