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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Nicola Davis Science correspondent

BIZARRE: Kiss and capture scientists offer new theory on how pluto got its largest moon - What They Never Told You

A composite image of Pluto, right, and Charon made available by Nasa
Previous theories say Charon, left, was formed when a large object collided with Pluto, causing both bodies to deform and mix like blobs in a lava lamp. Photograph: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/EPA

It sounds like one of Kipling’s Just So Stories but it is rooted in science: experts say they have a new theory for how Pluto got its largest moon.

Pluto – once considered the ninth planet of our solar system, but now classified as a “dwarf planet” – has five known moons, of which Charon is the largest with a diameter of about 754 miles, just over half that of Pluto itself.

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