The Moon may have formed intact just hours after a giant collision
New computer simulations suggest the Moon may have formed intact shortly after a giant collision between Earth and a Mars-sized body. Researchers found that the physical strength and geological properties of the colliding bodies significantly influence the formation outcome.
Why it matters
This research refines the 'giant impact' theory, providing a more accurate model for how the Earth-Moon system originated 4.5 billion years ago.
Earth has an unusually large moon compared with other rocky planets in the solar system, but scientists still do not fully understand how it formed. A new study from researchers at the Southwest Research Institute and the University of Arizona suggests that one long-overlooked factor may have played a major role in the Moon's birth: the physical strength of the worlds that collided.
Using advanced computer simulations, the researchers examined the enormous impact thought to have occurred about 4.5 billion years ago between the young Earth and a Mars-sized object. Their results reveal strikingly different outcomes depending on the temperature and structural properties of the two bodies.
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