Using computer models, researchers studying Pluto and its moon, Charon, have discovered an unforeseen kind of cosmic ...

Charon is large in size relative to Pluto, and is locked in a tight orbit with the dwarf planet. A new simulation suggests how it ended up there.

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

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

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

Both systems include a moon that is a large fraction of the size of the main body, unlike other moons in the solar system. The scenario also could support Pluto's active geology and possible ...

“Because Pluto is rotating rapidly prior to the collision, and because Charon lies mostly outside of their corotation zone, ...

Researchers accounted for the previously overlooked structures of the dwarf planet and moon in computer simulations of a ...

But these theories didn’t account for the fact that Pluto and Charon may have more structural integrity as icy, rocky bodies on the frigid edge of the solar system. “Pluto and Charon are ...

Scientists propose Pluto and its moon Charon formed through a "kiss and capture" event 4.5 billion years ago, challenging ...

Unlike Earth, where the Moon orbits the planet, Pluto and Charon orbit each other, forming a binary system that is more ...

The New Horizons mission carries some of Tombaugh's ashes on board as it travels to Pluto and beyond. Although most famous for the discovery of the most controversial body in the solar system ...