Pluto May Have Captured Its Biggest Moon

A Novel 'Kiss and Capture' Event Gave Pluto Its Largest Moon, Charon, New Study Suggests
The “demoted” dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon Charon make an unusual pair, and for decades, scientists have been discussing how the binary system—in which each mutually orbits the other—came to be.
Pluto May Have Won Its Moon Charon with a ‘Kiss’
Pluto and its largest moon Charon could have come together via a 10-hour “kiss-and-capture” encounter after a grazing collision
Pluto May Have Captured Its Biggest Moon After an Ancient Dance and Kiss
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.
Pluto’s Weirdly Big Moon May Have Come From A ‘Kiss And Capture’
Pluto's big moon Charon may have a different origin story than scientists suspected. New research suggests the two bodies engaged in a celestial kiss and tango.
Pluto’s largest moon formed in a ‘kiss and capture’ event, reveals new study
This "kiss and capture" mechanism offers a fresh perspective on planetary formation, particularly about Pluto and its largest moon Charon.
Space: How Pluto Landed its Moon With a 'Kiss'
Overturning decades of assumptions about how Charon formed, researchers have revealed an entirely new form of cosmic collision.
"Kiss and capture": New theory explains how Pluto captured its biggest moon
“Because Pluto is rotating rapidly prior to the collision, and because Charon lies mostly outside of their corotation zone, it is able to ‘push’ Charon off, and Charon starts to slowly migrate out,” first author Dr. Adeene Denton, a planetary scientist from the University of Arizona, told The Guardian.
New study suggests a completely different origin for Pluto’s largest moon
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.
Pluto And Its Moon Came Together With 'Kiss And Capture', Study Says
The love story between Pluto and Charon may have started with a kiss. A new study suggests the dwarf planet and its scarcely smaller moon likely came together in a collision that saw them conjoined for a period of time, billions of years ago, before separating into a stable, long-term orbital dance.
Sealed With a Kiss: The Unexpected Origin Story of Pluto and Its Moon Charon
Pluto and Charon may have formed through a “kiss and capture” mechanism, with the two icy bodies colliding and becoming temporarily stuck together, spinning in a cosmic dance before separating into two objects that are forever bound in orbit,
Pluto-Charon formation scenario mimics Earth-Moon system
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 of the main body,
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Pluto may have captured its moon Charon with a brief kiss
Simulations suggest Pluto and its largest moon may have gently stuck together for a few hours before Charon settled into a ...
Scientists stunned after learning Pluto and its biggest moon collided billions of years ago: ‘Raises a lot of interesting questions’
They needed some space. New research suggests Pluto may have had a “kiss” with its largest moon billions of years ago in a ...