Scientists have discovered a new type of planetary collision called “kiss-and-capture,” where Pluto and proto-Charon briefly ...

“The only comparable system is Earth and its moon.” Charon is about 750 miles across, while Pluto is nearly 1,500 miles in diameter. That proportion in sizes suggests that a number of ...

Pluto likely acquired large moon Charon in a “kiss and capture” collision billions of years ago. It may have created a subsurface ocean on the icy dwarf planet.

New research suggests that billions of years ago, Pluto may have captured its largest moon, Charon, with a very brief icy "kiss." The theory could explain how the dwarf planet (yeah, we wish Pluto ...

“Something big hits Pluto, and you get Charon, but like with the Earth-moon system, we don’t fully know how that works and the conditions under which that occurs,” Denton said. “It’s a ...

Here’s how it works. Charon is the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto, but calling it a moon is really a misnomer; Pluto and Charon actually form a binary system. Whereas a moon usually ...

Pluto may have got romantic to capture its largest moon, colliding and engaging in a passionate but icy 10 hour kiss with Charon billions of years ago. When you purchase through links on our site ...

While Charon is currently listed as a satellite or moon by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), consideration is being given to it perhaps being classified as a dwarf planet in its own right, ...

A new study suggests that the origin of Pluto's largest moon was quite different than our own. Here's what you need to know.

Pluto-Charon formation scenario mimics Earth-Moon system. ScienceDaily . Retrieved January 30, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2025 / 01 / 250107140904.htm ...

For decades, astronomers have tried to determine how Pluto acquired its unusually large moon Charon, which is about half the size of the dwarf planet. Now, new research suggests that Pluto and ...