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.

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 ...

Whereas a moon usually orbits a planet ... Astronomers have been plotting a return of New Horizons to Pluto, with a potential new mission called Persephone. You can see NASA's concept for the ...

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.

but has a moon, Charon, that is half its size. This composite of enhanced colour images of Pluto and Charon was taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system in 2015.

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. For decades ...

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 ...