New research from the University of Arizona suggests that Pluto and its moon Charon originated not from a collision that destroyed them, but from a 'kiss and capture' event. The two celestial bodies spiraled together like a cosmic snowman before separating into two distinct objects, still sharing the same orbit. This discovery sheds light on the formation and evolution of icy planets.
New research from the University of Arizona claims that Pluto may not have been created with a bang, but with a kiss.
This new discovery is helping researchers better understand how planets form and evolve, especially icy worlds. The research team refers to this new form of cosmic collision as a "kiss and capture."followed by deformation and stretching of planetary materials – sort of like silly putty – until the materials were pulled into Earth’s orbit and solidified into the moon.
"Pluto and Charon are different – they're smaller, colder, and made primarily of rock and ice," said Adeene Denton, a NASA postdoctoral fellow who conducted the research at the U of A Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and lead author of the study, in a press release. “When we accounted for the actual strength of these materials, we discovered something completely unexpected.”
According to the researchers, a binary system happens when two celestial bodies orbit around the same center, similar to two figure skaters spinning while holding hands.
Pluto Charon Planetary Formation Binary System Cosmic Collision
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