A supercomputer simulation indicates that it formed very quickly following a larger object hit the Earth
The moon may have formed in hours, not months or years as is thought, according to an advanced astrophysical model devised by NASA scientists with the help of supercomputers and published last week in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Using a higher resolution than was available at the time the widely accepted theory of the Moon’s origin was being developed, in which a Mars-sized object called Theia collided with a primordial Earth regarding 4.5 billion years ago, and the resulting debris collected on the Moon over months or years, the model shows that A satellite is forming much more quickly than material from both Earth and Theia.
Simulations show Theia, a planet the size of Mars, colliding with a tiny Earth. The outer crust of the planets is thrown into orbit from the collision, and soon merges into two unstable satellites, the smallest of which settles on the Moon, while the larger is sucked into the Earth.
The new theory helps explain why the Moon shares a similar mineral composition with Earth, particularly toward its crust – a property that’s hard to explain if it’s supposed to consist almost entirely of debris from Theia, the prevailing theory states.
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Other existing theories that claim to explain the similarities in chemical composition between Earth and the satellite, such as the synestia theory that the moon formed inside a vortex of rock vaporized from Theia’s collision with Earth, do not satisfactorily explain its orbit.
NASA hopes to use similar high-resolution advanced models with new samples brought in from the planned Artemis missions to test these and other theories regarding the moon’s evolution. Artemis astronauts, the US space agency’s return to manned space missions, will be tasked with taking samples from the deepest under the moon’s surface, as well as from rarely explored parts of the satellite, although the launch process still has problems. Delays and technical malfunctions.
