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Supercomputer simulation shows how the Moon may have formed - Daily Mail

Supercomputer simulation shows how the Moon may have formed - Daily Mail

Supercomputer simulation shows how the Moon may have formed - Daily Mail
Dec 04, 2020 1 min, 52 secs

New supercomputer simulations show how the Moon may have formed through the collision of Earth with a Mars-sized planet called Theia about 4.5 billion years ago.

According to the theory, Theia, which was around 3,792 miles in diameter, smashed into Earth with a diameter of 7,917 miles, created a ring of debris around our home planet that eventually came together to form the Moon.

'By adding different amounts of spin to Theia in simulations, or by having no spin at all, it gives you a whole range of different outcomes for what might have happened when the early Earth was hit by a massive object all those billions of years ago,' said study author Sergio Ruiz-Bonilla at Durham University.

The simulated clump also had a small iron core, similar to that of the Moon, with an outer layer of materials made up from the early Earth and Theia. 

This artist's concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming into a planetary body in a scenario that could be similar to Theia colliding with Earth

'We get a number of different outcomes depending upon whether or not we introduce spin to Theia before it crashes into the early Earth,' said study author Dr Vincent Eke at Durham University

'It’s particularly fascinating that when no spin or very little spin is added to Theia, the impact with the early Earth leaves a trail of debris behind, which in some cases includes a body large enough to deserve being called a proto-Moon

They discovered differences in oxygen isotopes – an indicator of the origin of the material – between the Moon rocks and Earth rocks, which may have come from the remains of Theia after the impact

Many researchers believe the moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago

Many researchers believe the moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago

But one mystery has persisted, revealed by rocks the Apollo astronauts brought back from the moon: Why are the moon and Earth so similar in their composition

A third possibility is that the moon formed from Earthen materials, rather than from Theia, although this would have been a very unusual type of impact

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