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The Moon's heavily cratered far-side. The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and research continues into how the Moon came to be formed.
Artist's depiction of a collision between two planetary bodies. Such an impact between Earth and a Mars-sized object likely formed the Moon.. The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Theia Impact, is an astrogeology hypothesis for the formation of the Moon first proposed in 1946 by Canadian geologist Reginald Daly.
By measuring the age of the rocks, scientists learned that the moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago, amidst the chaotic early years of our Solar System’s own formation. Today’s tools and ...
The Earth and Moon formed at the same time when the protoplanetary disk accreted; The Theia-impact scenario described above; The lunar rock samples retrieved by Apollo astronauts were found to be very similar in composition to Earth's crust, and so were likely removed from Earth in some violent event. [14] [18] [19]
An old theory about how Earth’s moon was formed is getting a second look. An old theory about how Earth’s moon was formed is getting a second look.
The Earth and the Moon were long thought to be virtually identical in composition. Now we know they are not.
The Earth and its Moon are one example of this configuration. Today, the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth; one of its revolutions around the Earth (currently about 29 days) is equal to one of its rotations about its axis, so it always shows one face to the Earth. The Moon will continue to recede from Earth, and Earth's spin will continue to ...
An old theory about how Earth’s moon was formed is getting a second look. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ...