NASA’s New Horizons mission visited Pluto in 2015, giving us an unprecedented close-up view of the planet and its moons. “The New Horizons images and data surprised scientists by showing both ...

Since New Horizons' close encounter with Pluto ... At about 750 miles wide, it's half the size of Pluto — extremely large for a moon. In previous models, Charon formed in a similar fashion ...

On this date, Jan. 19, 2006, the first probe ever destined to visit Pluto, its moons and other Kuiper belt objects launched from Launch Complex 41 at what is now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The NASA New Horizons' high-resolution enhanced color view captured a detailed perspective of the rocky, icy moon Charon. - NASA/JHUAPL Instead, Pluto and Charon likely remained much the same ...

Because Earth and the Moon are warmer and more gooey ... orbital properties of the two bodies perfectly. New Horizons image of Pluto (right) and Charon (left). (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI) "The compelling ...

"And this collision scenario supports the formation of other moons, such as Pluto's four other tiny, lumpy satellites," she said. This new model tells us how the impact may have happened but not ...

Pluto seemed hopelessly cold and distant until 2015, when NASA’s New Horizons space probe beamed ... long-term relationship with its largest moon, Charon. It started with a collision — one ...

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.

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 was ...

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.

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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 ...