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 ...

The studies - both published in Icarus - look at something astronomers already knew: that Eris and Makemake, the second and fourth largest dwarf planets in our solar system, contain a lot of methane.

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, ...

Pluto's Largest Moon Formed Through ‘Kiss and Capture’ Event Redefining Icy Worlds, New Study Explains Experts postulated a ...

Scientists have discovered a new type of planetary collision called “kiss-and-capture,” where Pluto and proto-Charon briefly connected and spun together before separating into their current orbital ...

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.

University of Arizona researchers have unveiled evidence of romance at the farthest reaches of the solar system: a cosmic ...

NASA reveals Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, with frozen oceans and signs of ancient hydrothermal activity, sparking interest in its habitability and solar history.

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 ...

Eight of the 10 largest Kuiper Belt Objects have large moons like Charon ... For example, Charon’s collision with Pluto would have raised the temperature of the the dwarf planet’s ice shell, which may ...

“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,” ...