The Moon is the only natural satellite that has the Earth and has a considerable size: with a diameter of 3474 kilometers, is the fifth largest satellite in the solar system.
Recently, a new theory has emerged suggesting that the Moon we see today is not the first moon Earth had. Moreover, according to this theory our planet would seem to have had a series of moons orbiting around it for a while.
The particular thing about the great moon that we have today is that it could have been formed by collision and fusion between several ancient moons.
The formation of the Moon
The origin of the Moon is still unknown, although many scientists have created a hypothesis based on certain evidences that explains that a great impact happened that resulted in this natural satellite.
The theory of high impact postulates that the Moon originated due to a collision between a protoplanet (with a size similar to Mars) and our planet Earth, between 4.53 and 4.40 billion years ago. The theory of high impact is the most accepted by the scientific community. But now, a team of Israeli scientists published another hypothesis about how the Moon was formed in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The new theory postulates that our Moon was not the first on Earth. On the contrary, the Moon that we know today, could be the last that resulted of a fusion between several previous moons.
A model, several moons and a land
Scientists created a model that suggests that the Earth used to have a series of moons that were formed by various collisions with a protoplanet. Then, these moons collided against the Earth or between themselves and began to form larger and larger moons.
To achieve this hypothesis, the scientists performed 800 simulations of the impact of these minilunts against the Earth.
This new model is consistent with the theory of the formation of the Earth, which postulates that the planet experienced many impacts with other celestial bodies until reaching its current size.
Source: Vix
Credits: ANGELINE SAADOUN