Theia tagged posts

In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, vaporizing massive amounts of rock and blasting it into space. Some of that material coalesced into the moon, where NASA’s Artemis program is returning humans, preparing for Mars and shaping the future of space exploration.

That long-ago, violent collision reshaped our home planet...

Researchers have traced chemical clues in rocks from Earth and the Moon to uncover the origins of Theia, the body that struck Earth billions of years ago. About 4.5 billion years ago, a colossal impact between the young Earth and a mysterious planetary body called Theia changed everything—reshaping Earth, forming the Moon, and scattering clues across space rocks. By examining subtle isotopic fingerprints in Earth and Moon samples, scientists have reconstructed Theia’s possible composition and birthplace.

Reconstructing Theia’s makeup: A new study in Science identifies t...

Most theories claim the Moon formed out of the debris of this collision, coalescing in orbit overa 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 was launched directly into orbit after the impact.

Earth has a large amount of water and a relatively large moon, which stabilizes Earth’s axis. Both are essential for life to develop on our planet. Scientists have now been able to show that water came to Earth with the formation of the moon.

Planetologists at the University of Münster (Germany) have now been able to show, for the first time, that water came to Earth with the formation of the Moon some 4.4 billion years ago. The Moon was formed when Earth was hit by a body about the size of Mars, also called Theia. Until now, scientists had assumed that Theia originated in the inner solar system near the Earth...