New study reveals Pluto and Charon’s origin: a unique "kiss and capture" collision redefines how binary systems form.

Billions of years ago, in the frigid outer reaches of our solar system, two icy worlds collided. Rather than destroying each ...

Pluto likely acquired large moon Charon in a “kiss and capture” collision billions of years ago. It may have created a ...

Since New Horizons' close encounter with Pluto 10 years ago, experts have come to think of the dwarf planet as much more ...

This "kiss and capture" mechanism offers a fresh perspective on planetary formation, particularly about Pluto and its largest ...

Pluto belongs to a group of objects that distantly orbit the sun called the Kuiper Belt, where thousands of icy remnants left over from the formation of the solar system linger. Eight of the 10 ...

Learn more about how this new mechanism may have shaped Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.

A researcher has used advanced models that indicate that the formation of Pluto and Charon may parallel that of the Earth-Moon system. Both systems include a moon that is a large fraction of the size ...

Pluto and its largest moon Charon could have come together via a 10-hour “kiss-and-capture” encounter after a grazing ...

Pluto and Charon's origin story has been rewritten by a recent study, revealing they formed from a unique "kiss and capture" ...

Pluto belongs to a group of objects that distantly orbit the sun called the Kuiper Belt, where thousands of icy remnants left over from the formation of the solar system linger. Eight of the 10 ...