They are four main theory that talks about the origin of the moon, many scientist, astrologers, cosmologers, different researches from prominent scientist, a whole lot of time and resources, of all the researches done, they were able to come up with this four (4) main theories which include:
• Giant impact hypothesis
• Fission from the earth
• Capture of the earth
• Co-accretion hypothesis
Giant impact hypothesis: Sometimes called the big splash. the their impact suggests that earth's moon formed out the debris left over from an indirect collision between earth and an astronomical, body the size of mars approximately 4.3 billion year ago.
Image Credit: Joe Tucciarone
Evidence of the giant impact (Big splash)
Supporting evidence include:
• Evidence has it that the moon has a lower density than earth.
• Earth's spin and the Moon's orbit have similar orientations.
• Moon samples indicate that the moon once had a molten surface.
• The moon has a relatively small iron core.
• The stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying a common origin.
• Evidence exists of similar collisions in other star systems (that result in debris disks).
• Giant collisions are consistent with the leading theories of the formation of the solar system.
Fission theory
This theory proposes that the Moon was once part of the Earth and somehow separated from the Earth early in the history of the solar system.
This theory states that, at one point, the Earth was spinning so fast that part of it spun off to form the moon.
Capture theory
According to the Capture theory, the moon traveled about the solar system before it got stucked to the Earth's gravitational pull.
This theory postulated that moon came from elsewhere in the Milky Way, completely independent on Earth. Then, while traveling past Earth, the moon got trapped in our planet's gravity.
Co-accretion theory (Condensation theory)
The co-accretion theory suggests that both the Earth and the moon formed together while orbiting a black hole.
Also known as the condensation theory, this hypothesis offers that the moon and the Earth formed together while orbiting a black hole. However, this theory neglects the explanation of why the moon orbits the Earth, nor does it explain the difference in densities between the moon and Earth. Read more here
From the above theories postulated, conclusion can be derived that the Giant splash hypothesis is the most accepted theory world wide. If you dont think so, kindly share with us.
Read previous articles on the moon:
@barineka/moon-internal-structure-and-similarities-differences-of-earth-and-the-moon
@barineka/geologic-history-of-the-moon
@barineka/lunar-geology-part-1
Reference: https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question38.html
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