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Current theory considers two options for the formation of the Pluto-Charonbinary (Canup 2005, 2011; Desch 2015). In the `hit-and-run' model, a lower massprojectile barely hits the more massive Pluto, kicks up some debris, andremains bound to Pluto (see also Asphaug et al. 2006). In a `graze-and-merge'scenario, the projectile ejects substantial debris as it merges with Pluto (seealso Canup 2001). To investigate the graze-and-merge idea in more detail, weconsider the growth of Charon-mass objects within a circum-Pluto ring ofsolids. Numerical calculations demonstrate that Charon analogs form rapidlywithin a swarm of planetesimals with initial radii of 145-230 km. On timescales of roughly 30-100 days, newly-formed Charon analogs have semimajor axes,a = 5-6 Pluto radii, and orbital eccentricities, e = 0.1-0.3, similar to Charonanalogs that remain bound after hit-and-run collisions with Pluto. Although theearly growth of Charon analogs generates rings of small particles at a = 50-275Pluto radii, ejection of several 145-230 km leftovers by the centralPluto-Charon binary removes these small solids in 10-100 yr. Simple estimatessuggest small particles might survive the passage of 10-20 km objects ejectedby the central binary. Our results indicate that the Pluto-Charon circumbinarysatellite system was not formed by a graze-and-merge impact when the formationof Charon within a circum-Pluto disk leads to the ejection of several 100-200km particles through the orbital plane of the Pluto-Charon binary. If a growingCharon ejects only much smaller particles, however, graze-and-merge impacts area plausible formation channel for the Pluto-Charon binary and an ensemble ofsmall, circumbinary satellites.

A Pluto-Charon Sonata III. Growth of Charon from a Circum-Pluto Ring of Debris