How Pluto captured its largest moon Charon with a 10-hour icy 'kiss'
Pluto captured its moon Charon through a 10-hour collision scenario called 'kiss-and-capture.'
Recent studies propose that Pluto's largest moon Charon was captured billions of years ago via a 'kiss-and-capture' collision event. Unlike traditional impacts where bodies either merge or separate completely, this brief 10-15 hour scenario involved a temporary merger that re-separated, leaving Charon orbitally tethered to Pluto.
Researchers found that during this impact, structural strength of the cold, icy bodies prevented a deeper merger, allowing Charon to remain beyond Pluto's 'co-rotation radius.' This led to their eventual separation, with Charon migrating outward to its current orbit. These findings suggest an early solar system collision roughly tens of millions of years after its formation.
This new insight into moon capture and cosmic collisions provides a framework to study other Kuiper Belt Objects. Researchers aim to explore how 'kiss-and-capture' principles apply to other moon systems, like Eris and Dysnomia, and investigate the geological implications on Pluto and Charon's evolution, particularly their potential to form oceans.