Researchers accounted for the previously overlooked structures of the dwarf planet and moon in computer simulations of a celestial collision

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.

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.

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

Using simulations that took into account parameters like the size and composition of the bodies, along with the strength at which they collided, researchers reported that in the early stages of formation Charon and Pluto came together and orbited as one,

Unlike Earth, where the Moon orbits the planet, Pluto and Charon orbit each other, forming a binary system that is more similar to the Earth-moon system than any other moon in the solar system.