Most planetary collision scenarios are classified as hit and run or graze and merge.
Pluto and Charon are differenttheyre smaller, colder and made primarily of rock and ice.
When we accounted for the actual strength of these materials, we discovered something completely unexpected, Denton said.
A composite image of Pluto and its moon Charon.NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
They became fused together as a single, odd-shaped object, resembling a snowman, according to the model.
You get two things right for the price of one.
That internal heat may have caused Pluto to develop a subsurface ocean.
Were particularly interested in understanding how this initial configuration affects Plutos geological evolution, Denton said.
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