Roughly four and a half billion years ago the planet Theia slammed into Earth, destroying Theia, melting large fractions of Earth’s mantle and ejecting a huge debris disk that later formed the moon.

About 4.5 billion years ago, a colossal impact between the young Earth and a mysterious planetary body called Theia changed everything—reshaping Earth, forming the Moon, and scattering clues across ...

"During the early solar system's game of cosmic billiards, Earth was struck by a neighbor,” said Dauphas. “It was a lucky shot. Without the moon's steadying influence on our planet's tilt, the climate ...

For every rule in the cosmos, there is a spectacular exception. While most planets orbit in a neat plane, Pluto tumbles at a ...

New research suggests that Theia, the object whose collision with Earth is theorized to have caused the formation of the moon, came from closer to the sun.

To our best of our understanding, the Moon formed from Earth following a colossal impact. A Mars-sized world we nicknamed Theia slammed and merged with the primordial Earth, throwing material into ...

Mercury is the innermost and smallest of the eight major planets in our Solar System, orbiting closest to the Sun. Though ...

Researchers have been focusing on the study of our solar system for centuries, looking at the physics, dynamics, as well as the composition of solar system bodies. Our solar system – which includes ...

The Sun's formation caused temperature differences in the surrounding disk of gas and dust. Inner, hotter regions formed rocky planets from less volatile elements. Outer, colder regions allowed ...

An essential amino acid that is mistakenly believed to cause drowsiness after eating turkey has been found in an asteroid for the first time, giving scientists clues to the origin of life on Earth.