A Mars -sized object called Theia has collided with Earth to form the Moon , the space agency says.
A new NASA simulation posits that the Moon formed after a Mars -sized object slammed into Earth millions of years ago.
In this new hypothesis generated by a supercomputer, the Moon is born from the collision of Theia , a rock so large that it could have generated a before and after in our system.
Theia’s theory
The postulate comes from Jacob Kegerreis, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA Ames Research Center , who published the paper in The Astrophysical Journal Letters .
According to his theory, the Moon may have been generated only in a matter of hours after Theia crashed into Earth and its debris compacted into the satellite.
“This opens up a whole new range of possible starting points for the evolution of the Moon . We went into this project not knowing what the results of these high-resolution simulations would be, so it was exciting that the results could include a tantalizing satellite. similar to the Moon in orbit”, says the author.
In order to demonstrate this theory, the researcher has used a supercomputer that allows us to see the supposed behaviors that the stars had in the midst of the formation of the Moon .
In it, he also points out that the debris mixed with the material ejected by the Earth to create the lunar layers, which would explain its composition.
one of many theories
Until now, it is not known for sure how the Moon was formed .
It is indeed believed that much of the material that makes up the satellite comes from Earth , but it is not known how it got there.
In order to verify this, NASA has arranged for lunar missions such as Artemis itself to obtain samples of its material and be able to analyze them with current technology.