moon Formed Rapidly After Earth Collided with โขMars-Sized Object, NASA Simulation Reveals
WASHINGTON – New, high-resolution computer simulations from NASA suggest the โคMoon formed โขin โขaโฃ matter of hours after a colossal impact betweenโ the early Earth and aโฃ Mars-sizedโฃ protoplanet named Theia approximately โ4.5 billion โคyears ago. This challenges the long-held theory that the Moon coalesced gradually over extended periods from debris ejected byโ the impact.
The research, led by Jacob Kegerreis of NASA’s โคAmes Research Center, utilized the โmost detailed simulations to date, revealing that materialโค from Earth and Theiaโฃ could have โขquickly โขformed a โคlarge โorbiting object – a “Moon embryo” -โข far faster thanโ previously believed.โค Previous, โขlower-resolution modelsโค proved inadequate for accurateโฃ results.
Aโ key mystery surrounding the Moon’sโค formation โคhas been it’s strikingly similar composition to Earth. โฃIsotope โanalysis of moon โคrocks indicates a close geological โrelationship. Theโ older theory, positing theโ Moon โformed primarily โfrom Theia’s material,โ struggled to explain this similarity unless Theia possessed an almost identical composition to Earth.
The rapid formation โscenario โoffers a โคmoreโข plausible clarification:โข theโค impact could haveโ propelled โa critically โขimportant amount of โฃEarth’s material into orbit, becoming the dominantโค component of the Moon. This accounts for the observed compositional similarities.
“This study highlights that the journeys of the Earth and the Moon cannot be separated,” NASA stated. โข”The giant impact that gaveโค birth to the Moonโ also โplayed a role in forming the conditions that โคultimately allowed โขEarth to become a habitable planet.” โคtheโ findings contribute to aโ broader โคunderstanding of planetary evolution throughout theโข solar system.โ
Source: NASA