Labroots recently explored Saturn’s sponge-like moon, Hyperion, with its deep craters and non-spherical shape. This moon is an example of how the Universe and the laws of astrophysics work in both ...

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 ...

The Pluto-Charon binary system is the best-studied representative of the binary Kuiper-belt population. Its origins are vital to understanding the formation of other Kupier-belt objects (KBO) and ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: NASA/Robert Lea (created with Canva) New research suggests that billions of years ago, ...

The Pluto-Charon (PC) pair is usually thought of as a binary in the dual synchronous state, which is the endpoint of its tidal evolution. The discovery of the small circumbinary moons, Styx, Nix, ...

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 ...

For decades, astronomers have tried to determine how Pluto acquired its unusually large moon Charon, which is about half the size of the dwarf planet. Now, new research suggests that Pluto and Charon ...

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 ...

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 ...

JWST detected carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on Charon's surface. Hydrogen peroxide suggests ongoing chemical reactions on Charon. Charon's carbon dioxide likely came from below its surface.

Pluto's largest moon, Charon, likely formed through a capture event in the early, crowded Kuiper Belt. Three-body encounters and tidal forces allowed Charon to lose energy and become permanently bound ...

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 ...