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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.
The newly formed Moon settled into a much closer Earth orbit than it has today. Each body therefore appeared much larger in the sky of the other, eclipses were more frequent, and tidal effects were stronger. [60] Due to tidal acceleration, the Moon's orbit around Earth has become significantly larger, with a longer period. [61]
A moon that formed around Venus by this process would have been unlikely to escape. If such a moon-forming event had occurred there, a possible explanation of why the planet does not have such a moon might be that a second collision occurred that countered the angular momentum from the first impact. [54]
An old theory about how Earth’s moon was formed is getting a second look.
The Moon formed after a collision 4.5 billion years ago between the young Earth and a Mars-sized object, called Theia - but what happened next?
We don’t know the exact details, but the Giant Impact Hypothesis is the most widely accepted explanation for how our moon formed.
While Hollow Moon hypotheses usually propose the hollow space as the result of natural processes, the related Spaceship Moon hypothesis [1] [2] holds that the Moon is an artifact created by an alien civilization; [1] [2] this belief usually coincides with beliefs in UFOs or ancient astronauts. [2]
The Earth and the Moon were long thought to be virtually identical in composition. Now we know they are not.