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

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 ...

"We were definitely surprised by the 'kiss' part of kiss-and-capture. There hasn't really been a kind of impact before where ...

Since New Horizons' close encounter with Pluto 10 years ago, experts have come to think of the dwarf planet as much more ...

Simulations suggest Pluto and its largest moon may have gently stuck together for a few hours before Charon settled into a ...

They needed some space. New research suggests Pluto may have had a “kiss” with its largest moon billions of years ago in a harmless collision. The report, published in “Nature ...

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

Pluto and Charon's origin story has been rewritten by a recent study, revealing they formed from a unique "kiss and capture" ...

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 big moon Charon may have a different origin story than scientists suspected. New research suggests the two bodies ...

New models reveal Pluto and Charon may have spent some of their early history locked together in an embrace after a grazing ...

Pluto and Charon may have formed through a “kiss and capture” mechanism, with the two icy bodies colliding and becoming ...