At half the size of Pluto, Charon (imaged here toward the sun’s rather distant glow with Pluto in the forground) is the largest of Pluto’s moons and the largest known satellite relative to its parent body.

Charon would be the fabled boatman that, for a small price (one copper talent — less than today’s penny — placed under the departed’s tongue), took the spirits of the dead across the River Styx to the gates of Hades. Other famous Plutonians include Hydra (multi-headed dragon slain by Hercules), Kerberos (three-headed dog at the gates to Hades), Nix (goddess of the night) and Styx (goddess of the Shuddering River crossed by the boatman) — and several other dark, even smaller orbiting bits and pieces.