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How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss'

Live Science
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75% Informative

Pluto may have captured its largest moon, Charon , with a brief icy "kiss" The new theory could explain how the dwarf planet snared a moon that is half its size.

The two bodies separated relatively quickly but remained orbitally linked to create the Pluto/Charon system.

This "kiss-and-capture" process represents a new theory of moon capture and cosmic collision.

Charon couldn't sink into Pluto in this scenario, it remained beyond the so-called "co-rotation radius" of both bodies.

As a result, it could not rotate as fast as Pluto, which meant the two bodies could not stay merged.

As they separated and this icy kiss ended, the team thinks Pluto would have torqued Charon into a higher circular orbit.