It’s one of the most enduring ideas about the formation of our solar system: Earth collided with a Mars-sized object, Theia, and the debris from this cosmic crash eventually became the moon. But a new ...

"During the early solar system's game of cosmic billiards, Earth was struck by a neighbor,” said Dauphas. “It was a lucky shot. Without the moon's steadying influence on our planet's tilt, the climate ...

A crucial difference in the “fingerprints” of Earth and the moon confirms an explosive, interconnected past Within the first 150 million years after our solar system formed, a giant body roughly the ...

Apollo samples provide evidence: Researchers analyzed Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions and, for the first time, ...

About 4.5 billion years ago, a colossal impact between the young Earth and a mysterious planetary body called Theia changed everything—reshaping Earth, forming the Moon, and scattering clues across ...

The moon is much older than we thought, according to a new analysis conducted by researchers from the United States, France, and Germany. It is possible that Earth's companion formed as early as 4.53 ...

Eons ago, in the frigid depths of our solar system, a dramatic collision occurred between two icy worlds. Instead of a catastrophic smash-up, the two bodies "kissed," merging temporarily like a ...

The Moon's formation may not just have smashed Earth -- it may have stretched our planet into a potato for millions of years afterwards. Share on Facebook (opens in a new window) Share on X (opens in ...

Scientists have gone back and forth about explanations for the moon's formation for decades, with the general consensus being that it formed during some type of cosmic collision between Earth and a ...

Astronomers have taken a step towards understanding how the Moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists led by ...

The findings suggest that similar moonlets could orbit distant exoplanets and their moons. researchers said. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s ...

That’s also true for the other moons that provide the gravitational stress. As a result, the internal oceans may actually come and go, as the interiors of the moons melt and refreeze. A new study, ...