Very soon after the formation of the Earth (speaking in planetary formation systems timescales), the Earth was struck but a large object, most likely a small planet sized object. The force of the collision spewed huge amounts of material into space. Some of this material was scattered throughout the solar system, but most of it remained in the nascent Earth’s gravitational well and remained in orbit. Over time, due to gravity, the material coalesced into what became the moon.
A long, long time ago, the Earth was hit by a big rock that was flying through space. Wen I say a big rock, I mean one that was almost as big as a planet. When they collided, a bunch of debris was blasted off of Earth and into outerspace. Over time, the gravity of Earth took all of that debris, and compressed it into the moon!
Very early on in our solar system, the proto-Earth was hit by an extremely large object (roughly the size of Mars), typically called Theia. The impact shed a colossal amount of material into orbit around Earth, which then collected into what we now know as the Moon. This impact also knocked Earth onto it’s side, resulting in Earth being tilted off-axis by 23.5 degrees, hence why we have seasons. Further, most of Theia’s mass actually ended up merging with Earth’s core, and is believed to be why the Earth’s core is as heavy as it is.
Latest Answers