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 ...

One idea is that Pluto got its moon system when a massive object smashed into the dwarf planet. The resulting debris then formed into the moons. This hypothesis was nicknamed the “Big Whack.” ...

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

"We were definitely surprised by the 'kiss' part of kiss-and-capture. There hasn't really been a kind of impact before where the two bodies only temporarily merge before re-separating!" ...

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, ...

Experts postulated a new theory about the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto. The planet had five moons among which Charon was the largest and had a diameter of about 754 miles, just over half ...

Astronomers have long wondered how Charon, the largest of those moons ... spacecraft visits the dwarf planet. “If Charon deposited some of its rock into Pluto, you would be able to see that ...

such as the dwarf planets Eris and Orcus and their respective moons Dysnomia and Vanth. “I’d really like to determine how the initial Pluto-Charon impact can influence whether and how Pluto ...

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.

The differences don’t end there—the researchers also argue that Pluto and Charon are less likely to behave like fluid during a collision. The dwarf planet and its moon “are quite small, so ...

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.

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