A new study, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience, shed light on what really happened by solving one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the collision. According to the massive impact hypothesis, Theia was roughly the size of Mars or about half the size of the Earth, and hit the developing Earth 4.5 billion years ago. The collision produced enough heat to form the magma and left numerous debris into Earth’s orbit. This debris later created the Moon. You can watch the video below on the subject. How did the moon come about?
The theory explains the direction and speed of the Earth and Moon rotating around each other. As the Moon revolves around itself, it always shows the same face to Earth. If we elaborate a little more, the Moon revolves around itself once every 1 turn around the Earth. That is, the rotation time around its own axis and the rotation time around the Earth are almost the same. As a result, we always see the same face of the Moon. Computer models made inferences about the events related to the formation of the Moon. The most suitable models for all observations show that the Moon should be made up of approximately 80% Theia originated material. The similarity between the Earth and the Moon is caused by Theia’s rapid hitting the Earth, breaking the Moon and melting and mingling. Explanations about the formation of the Moon: One theory says that Theia and the early Earth Earth should have the same structure at first, but this is unlikely because every planet in the solar system has its own structure. According to another theory, mixing of 2 celestial bodies was much more perfect than expected. This means that Theia traces on the Moon surface are quite low. New work; he solves this dilemma by showing that the Earth and the Moon are not as previously thought. The researchers looked at the distribution of the isotopes of the oxygen element with high precision in the rocks rotating from the Moon by Apollo astronauts. The study shows that there is a small difference in the oxygen isotope composition between Earth and Moon, and their profiles are not all the same. Moreover, the difference increases when you look at the rocks from the surface of the Moon and lighter oxygen isotopes appear from Earth. So Theia and Earth were not the same. Moon and Earth are not the same, but the results give us a bit more information about Theia itself. Due to gravity, it can be expected a little more than the heavier isotopes that are closer to the Sun. Compared to the world, Theia should have lighter oxygen isotopes.
