Artist's rendition of surface view from Pluto
To get an idea of comparative dimensions:
That being the case, I can see some arguing Pluto hardly deserves to be a planet, but the fact is that Pluto is now going to be classified as a planet...just a "Dwarf Planet". I am a bit surprised, as I expected it be re-classified as a "Binary Planet." I.e.,:
Under proposed International Astronomical Union definitions, two planets that orbit each other around a barycenter (or center of mass) between them are a binary planet. Those same definitions would expand the "family" of planets to include Charon, promoting Pluto's large companion from moon to planet and securing the pair's status as the first and (so far) only binary planet in the solar system."Binary planet" is a term often used to describe any pair of worlds that are similar in mass. Each orbits the other around a gravitational balance point that is between the two - a location called the center of mass. When one object has a much bigger mass and the objects are far apart then the center of mass is close to the center of the bigger object and the bigger object hardly moves. This is the case of the Earth orbiting the Sun - the Sun's moves only 0.0003 of its diameter due to the gravity of the Earth in its yearly orbit. In the case of Pluto and Charon, separated by 17 Pluto radii, the ratio of their masses is 8:1 so that the center of mass is outside Pluto.
