Scientists studying moon matter have discovered chemical traces of the collision that eventually formed the celestial body.
Scientists studying moon matter have discovered chemical traces of the collision that eventually formed the celestial body.
It’s believed that about 4 and a half billion years ago a mass about the size of Mars crashed into a still solidifying Earth, sending debris out into space.
Eventually, it was that debris that coalesced and became the Earth’s moon.
Although that is the prevailing theory, physical evidence supporting it has been elusive.
Using basalt rock samples and moon meteorites collected during a series of Apollo missions, researchers were able to identify isotope variations that are decidedly not Earthly.
It is believed that the source of the matter variations is Theia, the large, solid object that struck our planet so very long ago.
That would make it the first tangible proof that the Giant Impact Hypothesis is in fact how the moon came to be.
What remains to be determined is how much of the moon is Earth and how much of it is Theia.
The samples recently studied show the split to be around 50-50.
Scientists are also planning to examine the possibility that the isotope variations are a result of matter that’s been added to Earth since the collision.
