Existence of subsurface oceans on the satellites of the giant planets and Trans-Neptunian objects has been predicted for some time. Oceans on icy worlds exert a considerable influence on the dynamics ...

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 ...

In a study published recently in Nature Geoscience, researchers unveiled a new theory explaining the formation of Charon, Pluto's largest moon. The team from the University of Arizona proposed that ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A composite of enhanced ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. For decades, astronomers have tried to determine how Pluto acquired its unusually large moon Charon, which is about half the size ...

Pluto and Charon’s meet-cute may have started with a kiss. New computer simulations of the dwarf planet and its largest moon suggest that the pair got together in a “kiss-and-capture” collision, where ...

Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope are giving scientists a fuller understanding about the composition and evolution of Pluto’s moon Charon, the largest moon orbiting any of our solar ...

New research suggests that Pluto may have acquired its most massive moon, Charon, through an ancient grazing impact, which the science team refers to as a “kiss and capture”. The study uses computer ...

This close up look at Pluto and Charon, taken as part of the mission's latest optical navigation ("OpNav") campaign from Jan. 25-31, 2015, comes from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on ...

Pluto may have been demoted to non-planet status, but it still commands a court of five moons, as is fitting for the king of darkness; after all, Pluto is the Roman equivalent of the Greek God Hades.

Pluto will complete its first orbit since 1930 in 2178, a historic 248-year space journey that spans generations of humans.

Using advanced models, SwRI led new research that indicates that the formation of Pluto and Charon may parallel that of the Earth-Moon system. In the resulting “kiss-and-capture” regime, Pluto and ...