Origin of the Moon How the Moon was made

Our Moon, the only natural satellite of planet Earth is very old and existed as an independent body of about 4.6 billion years. One of the biggest mysteries in astronomy is how Earth came to be in partnership with a satellite so big. Compared with size planet that orbits, the Moon in the Solar System ranks as the second largest satellite. With more than 3.476 km, the Moon measures about one fourth the diameter of Earth, which is 12.756 km.

The Moon mass, 1/80 Earth masses, seems to be an anomaly of the total mass than the Earth-Moon relative to other planets with satellites. However, it is of questionable importance. There are few terrestrial planets like ours in our Solar System. It is inappropriate to compare the Earth-Moon system with the outer planets like Jupiter or Saturn, because the latter may have satellites with different origins, and certainly have a large gas component.

There are four major scientific theories attempting to explain the origin of the Moon:

1. Fission. The Moon is a piece of material detached from the fast moving Earth.

2. Co-creation theory known as "sister planet". Moon formed from a cloud of debris in orbit around the Earth embryo.

3. Capture. Moon originally formed as an independent planet, but was captured by Earth's gravity.

4. Collision (also known as the theory of "great impact"). Moon formed from material thrown from the Earth after a planetary collision with it.

Photographer: Victor Lupu
Optics: Celestron C8-inch reflector telescope-Newtonian, plossl 20mm, 2x Barlow
Mount: CG5 (EQ5)
Camera: Sony HDR CX105
Filter: No
Date: 11/08/2011
Location: Baia Mare, Romania
Processing: FastStone and Splash Player

Posted in: Astronomy news