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.
New Scientist on MSN
Forming moon may have taken three big impacts early in Earth’s history
Conventionally, the moon is thought to have formed during one big impact, but a three-impact model might make more sense ...
"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 ...
Study Finds on MSN
New Evidence Points To Where Our Moon’s Parent Planet Came From
Scientists traced the Moon's parent planet Theia to the inner Solar System, solving a 4.5-billion-year mystery.
Theia, the world that helped form the Moon, came from the Solar System. Chemical clues in Earth and Moon rocks reveal this ...
Smithsonian Magazine on MSN
A Planet Slammed Into Earth 4.5 Billion Years Ago, Forming the Moon. The Projectile May Have Been Our Neighbor
Little is known about the long-destroyed moon-forming planet, Theia. But it may have been born in the inner solar system—just like Earth—a new study suggests ...
Apollo samples provide evidence: Researchers analyzed Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions and, for the first time, ...
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.
After decades of searching, astronomers may have finally stumbled upon the first moon known to exist beyond our solar ...
The outer planets of the solar system are swarmed by ice-wrapped moons. Some of these, such as Saturn's moon Enceladus, are ...
Some results have been hidden because they may be inaccessible to you
Show inaccessible results