Was the Moon formed by a 'hit and run' collision with Earth? Simulation could finally solve the 'lunar paradox' that has baffled scientists
German researchers believe a 'hit and run' collision far more violent than previously thought could explain how the moon came into existence.
Research could prove that a collision with an impactor the size of mars known as 'Theia' formed the moon
PUBLISHED: 17:29 GMT, 29 August 2012 | UPDATED: 08:05 GMT, 30 August 2012
A new reconstruction has given researchers new clues as to how the moon may have formed.
It is believed to have formed from a collision, 4.5 billion years ago, between Earth and an impactor the size of Mars, known as 'Theia'.
However, over the past decades scientists have simulated this process and hit major problems known as the 'lunar paradox' - finding the moon appears to be made up of material that would not be expected if the current collision theory is correct.
Researchers have shed new light on the collision which they believed caused the moon 4.5 billion years ago, when a massive collider known as 'Theia' collided with the earth.
A recent study published in the journal Icarus proposes a new perspective on the theory in answer to the paradox.
If current theories are to be believed, analyses of the various simulations of the Earth-Theia collision predict that the Moon is mostly made up of material from Theia.
However, studying materials from both Earth and the Moon, shows remarkable similarities.
In fact, elements found on the Moon show identical isotopic properties to those found on Earth.
Given it is very unlikely that both Theia and Earth had identical compositions, scientists say this paradox casts doubt over the dominant theory for the Moon formation.
A group of researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland, have now made a significant breakthrough in the story of the formation of the Moon, suggesting an answer to this Lunar Paradox.
They used simulations to examine different geometry of collisions.
They also examined the so-called 'hit-and-run collisions', where a significant amount of material is lost into space on orbits unbound to the Earth.
The researchers believe their simulation could finally solve the 'lunar paradox' which has baffled scientists
'Our model considers new impact parameters, which were never tested before,' said lead author Andreas Reufer.
'Besides the implications for the Earth-Moon system itself, the considerably higher impact velocity opens up new possibilities for the origin of the impactor and therefore also for models of terrestrial planet formation,
'While none of the simulations presented in their research provides a perfect match for the constraints from the actual Earth-Moon-system, several do come close,' adds Alessandro Morbidelli, one of the Icarus' Editors.
'This work, therefore, suggests that a future exhaustive exploration of the vast collisional parameter space may finally lead to the long-searched solution of the lunar paradox.'
Read more: Was the moon formed by a 'hit and run' collision with earth? Simulation sheds new light on the impact theory and could finally solve the 'lunar paradox' that has baffled scientists | Mail Online
