This once-in-a-generation shift is a pivotal power play in a saga that will unfold in the years and decades to come.

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. For decades ...

"We were definitely surprised by the 'kiss' part of kiss-and-capture. There hasn't really been a kind of impact before where the two bodies only temporarily merge before re-separating!" ...

This composite image of Pluto, right, and Charon, its largest moon, showcases photos captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015. Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI Unlike how scientists ...

One idea is that Pluto got its moon system when a massive object smashed into the dwarf planet. The resulting debris then formed into the moons. This hypothesis was nicknamed the “Big Whack.” ...

Scientists have discovered a new type of planetary collision called “kiss-and-capture,” where Pluto and proto-Charon briefly ...

Pluto, considered the ninth planet in our solar system until it was reclassified to dwarf planet status in 2006, is thought to have undergone an impact that broke off the largest of its five moons ...

Pluto landed its largest moon, Charon, with a 'kiss'—overturning decades of scientific assumptions about how planetary bodies form and evolve. This is the conclusion of a new study, conducted at ...

"Something big hits Pluto, and you get Charon, but like with the Earth-moon system, we don't fully know how that works and the conditions under which that occurs," Denton said. "It's a pretty big ...