How did the Moon form? Billions of years ago, Earth was hit by an object about the size of Mars, called Theia, and out of that collision the Moon was formed. Researchers have theorized when exactly that formation occurred without reaching a conclusive answer. Most theories claim the Moon formed out of the debris of this collision, coalescing in orbit over months or years. A new simulation puts forth a different theory: the Moon may have formed immediately, in a matter of hours, when material from the Earth and Theia were launched directly into orbit after the impact. The simulations used in this research operate at the highest resolution of any simulation run to study the Moon’s origins. This extra computational power allows researchers to see new behaviors emerge in a way previous studies couldn’t see. This new theory would also explain why the composition of the Moon is so similar to Earth’s — something previous theories have not been able to cover. If more Earth material was used to create the Moon, particularly its outer layers, this would explain the similarity in composition. Credits: @NASAAmes Research Center #Moon #Artemis #Simulation #MoonOrigins #SolarSystem #NASA #STEM #Space #Earth #Theia