Scientists propose Pluto and its moon Charon formed through a "kiss and capture" event 4.5 billion years ago, challenging previous theories about their unique size ratio and orbital relationship.

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.

Billions of years ago, two icy worlds—Pluto and Chron—collided in the farthest reaches of our solar system. But rather than smashing into pieces, Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, briefly spun together like a celestial snowman before separating, forever linked in orbit.

“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.

Until now, the thinking was that Pluto and Charon formed like Earth and our Moon. New research has flipped that script.

Pluto and its largest moon Charon could have come together via a 10-hour “kiss-and-capture” encounter after a grazing collision

Pluto and Charon's origin story has been rewritten by a recent study, revealing they formed from a unique "kiss and capture" collision that defies traditional scientific theories. This discovery, emphasizing the structural integrity of icy worlds,

Pluto and its moon Charon's meeting may be traced to a "kiss-and-capture" collision between the two. (CN) — The question of how Pluto captured its moon Charon may have been answered, thanks to new modeling suggesting a “kiss-and-capture” scenario linked the two bodies together.

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

Overturning decades of assumptions about how Charon formed, researchers have revealed an entirely new form of cosmic collision.