Since the beginning of the study of the universe, there have been a large number of theories about the origin of the Moon. The latest American research supports the theory that the Moon was formed after the collision between the Earth and the planet Theia.
The origin of the Earth's companion, the Moon, has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. From the very beginnings of modern astronomy, scientists have proposed numerous hypotheses: that the great planet somehow split into Earth and the Moon, that the Moon was a wandering planetoid captured by Earth's gravity, that the Earth and the Moon formed simultaneously when the protoplanetary disk compressed.
But the most interesting of all theories could also be the most accurate, and it was additionally confirmed by new research conducted at the University of Maryland: the theory that the planet Theia, the size of Mars, crashed into the Earth in the distant past, so that the Moon was formed from the remains of that terrible cataclysm.
It was at the time of the beginning of the formation of the solar system. Neither Earth nor Theia were then planets, according to today's definition of the term 'planet' - because they shared a common orbit.
Theia was most likely located at one of the Lagrangian points in the Earth's orbit - L4 or L5 - at an angle of 60 degrees to the Earth, as seen from the Sun. Although it would have been a stable orbit, the gravitational perturbations of Venus and Jupiter moved Theia from its stable position, sending it on a collision course with Earth.
The impact was strong, but incredibly fortunately, it was frontal - if it had been, instead of the Earth and the Moon, today there would be an asteroid belt between Venus and Jupiter.
According to the latest measurements of the concentration of the rare isotope tungsten in the Earth's mantle and on the surface of the Moon, the collision between Earth and Theia most likely blasted the mantles of both planets into space, while the cores merged, which explains why Earth today has a disproportionately large core compared to other planets.
According to the theory, which was confirmed by the latest measurements, the material that was ejected into space thoroughly mixed to the point where it was no longer possible to distinguish what touched Theia and what touched Earth. Some of that material fell to Earth and became a new mantle, and some of it compressed over millions of years until it eventually became the Moon.
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