The idea that the Moon was once part of Earth was suggested as far back as 1898, but it wasn’t until the mid-70s that the giant impact hypothesis — which suggests that the Moon was formed via the massive collision between Earth and another Mars-sized body — first gained favor. In 2001, Canup and Asphaug published solid calculations in support of the hypothesis, but physical proof of the impact has yet to be found. But according to new research published today in Nature, that may have changed.

A paper published today in Nature by Frédéric Moynier and Randal Paniello of Washington University in St. Louis, and James Day of Scripps, shares findings of a chemical analysis of Moon rocks that shows a fractional difference in their makeup as compared to samples from the Earth. Although the two are markedly similar, it’s been previously shown that Moon rocks lack volatile elements, which suggests they may have evaporated during the incredibly intense heat and pressure created during an impact event. But if the hypothesis that light elements actually evaporated from Moon rocks during their formation is correct, you’d expect to find evidence of elements being layered by mass — heavier elements would condense first, and so on.


That process is known as isotopic fractionation — a concept central to carbon dating — and Moynier and team’s results suggest they found exactly that. They compared the blend of zinc isotopes in Moon rocks and Earth samples, and found that the Moon rocks held slightly higher proportions of heavier zinc isotopes. If the Moon was indeed once part of Earth — which has been modeled extensively — the difference in the balance of zinc profiles would most likely be explained by lighter zinc isotopes evaporating away following a collision.

“When a rock is melted and then evaporated, the light isotopes enter the vapor phase faster than the heavy isotopes, so you end up with a vapor enriched in the light isotopes and a solid residue enriched in the heavier isotopes,” Moynier said. “If you lose the vapor, the residue will be enriched in the heavy isotopes compared to the starting material.”



This is the first time anyone’s published results showing such fractionation in Moon rocks, and in addition to showing that that the Moon rocks differ in chemical composition to Earth, they also show similar differences — low concentrations of zinc, but comparatively high proportions of heavier zinc isotopes — to Martian rock material. The Earth and Mars have chemical makeups similar to chondrites, which are meteors that have not been melted or altered, and thus are simliar to the makeup of rocky material born in the early universe. The way Moon rocks differ from all three suggests that it must have been born under conditions of extreme heat and volatility, like if it condensed out of vaporized rock.

As such, the results lend a lot of credence to the giant impact hypothesis. It’s hard to imagine, but the collision between the Earth and the second body — often called Theia after the mother of the Moon goddess Selene in Greek mythology — would have released so much energy that it would have melted much of the Earth’s mantle, and may have completely obliterated Theia. The resulted cloud of vaporized rock then condensed to become the Moon. As ridiculous as it sounds, it’s the most likely way that the Earth and Moon ended up in their current orbits.

Should Moynier’s results hold up and it turns out the Moon is indeed born from the Earth, further comparison of their chemical differences could explain a lot more about the formation of the early Earth. But the most awe-inspiring thing about the Moon exploding out of the Earth around 4.5 billion years ago is the scale: While the collision that led to the death of the dinosaurs must have been epic in size, it could never compare to the apocalyptic collision of planet-sized bodies that gave birth to the Moon.

http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/10/17/the-moon-was-created-by-a-massive-collision-of-earth-and-a-mars-sized-planet

cray.

t

top

Plausible

HOG stop talking something too critical for your dull brain ape .
start discussing how to cure acute yoruba illness ,just write what you know and stop copying fiction news off of yahoo .
heal your acute savage tribe ,sell the news to your orubaas , douche bags.

M-16:

HOG stop talking something too critical for your dull brain ape .
start discussing how to cure acute yoruba illness ,just write what you know and stop copying fiction news off of yahoo .
heal your acute savage tribe ,sell the news to your orubaas , douche bags.

Op, how is this politix?

I might be getting too slow. . .

How is this related to politics?

has nothing to do with politics

but some things are more important than your typical NL political discussion...this i think is one of them

This link discussed a paper published in Nature (basically one of the top scientific journals in the world). So it isn't your typical conspiracy theorist thing. But I guess those of you who'd bothered to click the link would have realized that

Nairaland is not ready for this type of information. You would have better luck discussing such topics on a blog dedicated to science.

Here is an artistic illustration of the Moon being created from Earth.

Image credit: Fahad Sulehria http://www.novacelestia.com/

ekt_bear: has nothing to do with politics

but some things are more important than your typical NL political discussion...this i think is one of them

I actually laughed at this.

I see you playa.


Edit:

So in essence Armstrong really never left earth?

That nigga lost.

ScienceFiction: Nairaland is not ready for this type of information. You would have better luck discussing such information on a blog dedicated to science.

Here is an artistic illustration of the Moon being created from Earth.

Image credit: Fahad Sulehria http://www.novacelestia.com/

You are correct. But I will at least do my part by sharing important things when I come across them.

ekt_bear:

You are correct. But I will at least do my part by sharing important things when I come across them.

Knowledge sharing is a very important endeavor in this day and age. Whatever is beneficial for humanity in general is something that I would support.

perhaps this is true.

however i still don't believe in their baloney attempt to use this to prove there is no God.

*Kails*:
perhaps this is true.

however i still don't believe in their baloney attempt to use this to prove there is no God.

Nonsense....