According to a recent YouGov poll, 35% of Americans think Pluto is not a planet. But they are all wrong—kind of. To get to ...

Still, many questions remain on how the mass that ultimately became Charon could do so. “Something big hits Pluto, and you get Charon, but like with the Earth-moon system, we don’t fully know ...

By contrast, in the ‘strengthless’ capture mechanisms proposed previously, proto-Charon loses much of its mass to Pluto.

Lowell Observatory announced that Planet X would be named Pluto. But with its peculiar, tilted orbit and confoundingly small size, the world remained an enigma. Over the years the estimated mass ...

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! The reason Pluto's relationship with Charon has been challenging to scientists is because of the relatively ...

The reason Pluto's relationship with Charon has been challenging to scientists is because of the relatively small difference in size and mass between the two icy bodies. "Charon is HUGE relative ...

In fact, Charon is so large compared to its host world that it and Pluto actually orbit a common center of mass (or "barycenter") that is outside the surface of Pluto itself. This peculiar mass ...

Whereas a moon usually orbits a planet, both Pluto and Charon orbit a point in space between them — their common center of mass. The other four moons in the system — Styx, Nix, Kerberos and ...

“Pluto and Charon are different — they’re ... Binary systems form when two celestial bodies orbit around a common center of mass, like figure skaters who spin while holding hands, according ...

While Charon is currently listed as a satellite or moon by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), consideration is being given to it perhaps being classified as a dwarf planet in its own right, ...