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Image

Courtesy of SwRI/Denton, et al/2025
Caption
SwRI applied advanced models to the impact formation of Pluto and Charon near the edge of the solar system. When proto-Charon impacts proto-Pluto, they both maintain their structural integrity and eventually separate, likely preserving the ancient structures of both bodies. The interior structures could be quite ancient. Pluto and Charon likely exchanged some material between each other but didn’t lose a lot of material to the solar system.