Moons · Moon
A moon of Pluto. Explore its views, where their colours came from, and palettes you can use.
Featured palette: New Horizons enhanced colour (Sampled from this image)
#A29D9B#97918D#B7B2AF#D8D5D4#776E68#454546#171716
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute. · released 2015-10-01
About Charon
A moon of Pluto.
| Classification | Moon |
|---|---|
| Parent body | Pluto |
| Mean radius | 606 km ± 0.5 kmmean radius · NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics |
| Orbital period | 6.39 daysorbital period around Pluto · mean elements, epoch 2000-01-01.5 TDB · NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics |
Why these colours?
New Horizons enhanced colour
Combines blue, red and infrared images to show colour differences such as the reddish north pole.
From: New Horizons enhanced colour Enhanced visible colour
Colour clusters describe pixels in an image; they cannot identify a mineral, a gas or a physical temperature. Shares of pixels describe the sampled region of the image, not the object’s surface.
Colours from selected views
Palettes sampled from identified images and regions, or calculated from a documented model. These values describe each image or model, not one permanent colour of Charon.
New Horizons enhanced colour
Sampled from this image · New Horizons enhanced colour
#A29D9BRGB 162, 157, 155region average#97918DRGB 151, 145, 14126% of the region#B7B2AFRGB 183, 178, 17523% of the region#D8D5D4RGB 216, 213, 21218% of the region#776E68RGB 119, 110, 10417% of the region#454546RGB 69, 69, 7010% of the region#171716RGB 23, 23, 226% of the region
See where these colours came from
Creative palettes inspired by Charon
A design derived from the selected representation. It is not a scientific colour measurement. Each colour keeps the sampled colour it was made from.
Inspired by Charon
Inspired by this object
#2E2E2DRGB 46, 46, 45from #171716#4E4E4FRGB 78, 78, 79from #454546#79706ARGB 121, 112, 106from #776E68#9C9692RGB 156, 150, 146from #97918D#C3BEBBRGB 195, 190, 187from #B7B2AF#EAE7E6RGB 234, 231, 230from #D8D5D4
Colours of the first view of Charon with their lightness spread evenly, for a design palette.
Explore the views
Pick a colour from the image. Click or tap the picture to read a colour. Picked colours are yours, not catalogue samples.
No supported 3D model is available for this view. You can still inspect the source imagery and palette.
Use these colours
Every palette above opens in the palette generator. With JavaScript you can also add colours to your cosmic palette, save them, make a gradient or pattern, preview them in a design or a room (you choose which colour goes on which surface), check digital accessibility and export them. Each colour keeps the view and sample it came from.
Paint matches compare digital swatches for design inspiration. They are not physical equivalents of light from space. Edits create a new design palette. The original representation remains unchanged.
Sources
- About the Planets — NASA
- Charon in Enhanced Color — NASA
- Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters — NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
- Planetary Satellite Mean Elements — NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
Image credits
- New Horizons enhanced colour: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute. NASA media (not copyrighted; see the NASA image and media guidelines). Resized for the web from the publisher’s file (sha256 a71fd498567a99322ef7c0ae78f618df360917ab6afb55eeee6210a7066c3911).
Images were resized once for the web; colours were measured from the published files (k-means in OKLab, pcke-oklab-kmeans-1); calculated colours use the CIE 1931 2° observer. Facts last reviewed 25 October 2026. Catalogue pcke-cosmos-2026-10-25, page revision 30a24c777ac8. No ESA, ESO or NASA endorsement is implied.