Pluto-Charon Mutual Eclipse Events

This animation shows the binary dwarf planet Pluto-Charon undergoing a series of eclipses. This event happens when the two bodies are aligned relative to the Sun such that each eclipses the other as they orbit their common centre of mass. Two of Pluto's other four, much smaller satellites, Nix and Styx, are also shown. The mutual events eclipses can only happen twice in the orbit of Pluto. The last such series of events was between 1985 and 1990. It enabled astronomers to work out the sizes of the two worlds.
This work was created before the New Horizons mission data had been received and therefore the surface depictions are my own artistic interpretations based the evidence we had before the mission.
Music is Dream Maker by Killer Edge.
For more art and animation, see markgarlick.com and space-art.co.uk. Please LIKE or SUBSCRIBE!

[@DavidAHardy-ck8oj]

Excellent!

[@clavius500]

Can't believe I'm the first person to click like for this, wonderful little video!