Moon Origin – Giant Impact Theory (60)

Introduction

The following is a very concise description of the leading theory (note, only a theory at this stage) to describe the origin of the Moon. It is called the Giant Impact Theory.

The following excerpt comes from the book “Moons of the Solar System (From Giant Ganymede to Dainty Dactyl)” by James A.Hall.

Excerpt

“The leading theory of our moon’s formation is called the Giant Impact Theory. About 4.4–4.45 billion years ago (give or take a few millennia), a large body, a planetesimal often referred to as Theia, and thought to be about the size of Mars, smashed into Earth. This destroyed the crust of our planet, turning the whole planet to magma and a large ball of this material was jettisoned from the surface. This magma spun itself into a ball, attaining hydrostatic equilibrium, cooled, and solidified into Luna. It settled into an orbit near Earth, not fast enough to escape, nor so close as to crash into it, nor so slow as to decay considerably in the short-term. It is therefore in a somewhat stable if unusual orbit.”

Summary

This post was just to acquaint you with one of the more popular theories on the origin of the Moon. Note, it is still a theory, not

At this stage, the origin of the Moon has several theories, however, not one of them is without holes. The presence of observations that can not be explained by each theory (holes) make the search for the new theory ongoing.

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