Tag Archive for 'Theia'

The South Pole-Aitken impact basin on the far side of the Moon formed in a southward impact. Image credit: Jeff Andrews-Hanna / University of Arizona / NASA / NAOJ.

Southward Impact Excavated Magma Ocean at Moon’s Biggest Crater: Study

Oct 9, 2025 by News Staff

Roughly 4.3 billion years ago, when our Solar System was still in its infancy, a giant asteroid slammed into the far side of the Moon, blasting an enormous...

Commander Eugene Cernan retrieves a drive tube from the Lunar Roving Vehicle during an Apollo 17 EVA. Image credit: NASA.

Lunar Samples Returned by Apollo 17 Contain Anomalous Sulfur, New Analysis Shows

Oct 7, 2025 by News Staff

The leading hypotheses for the origin of the Moon call for a giant impact event between proto-Earth and a separate impactor called Theia. The efficiency...

Yuan et al. suggest that LLVPs are remnants of the ancient protoplanet Theia that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created our Moon. Image credit: Hernán Cañellas.

Two Fragments of Protoplanet Theia Lie Deep within Earth, Geoscientists Say

Nov 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A giant collision between the ancient protoplanet Theia and the proto-Earth about 4.5 billion years ago may have formed Earth’s Moon as well as two continent-sized...

Greer et al. analyzed tiny zircon crystals inside lunar dust collected in 1972 by Apollo 17 astronauts. Image credit: Eugene A. Cernan / Eric Hartwell.

Moon is Nearly 40 Million Years Older than Previously Thought

Oct 24, 2023 by News Staff

By analyzing tiny lunar zircon crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, planetary scientists recalculated the age of the Moon. Although previous...

When the Moon formed into a sphere approximately 1,700 km in radius 4.425 billion years ago, its interior heated up considerably due to the energy released when it accreted. The rock melted and an ocean of magma, possibly more than 1,000 km deep, formed. Later, light rocks crystallized, which rose to the surface and formed a first crust on the Moon. This crust insulated the Moon from space, and the magma ocean beneath it cooled down slowly. Around 200 million years would pass before the Moon completely solidified. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Moon May Be 85 Million Years Younger than Thought

Jul 15, 2020 by News Staff

Earth’s only natural satellite formed 4.425 billion years ago — around 85 million years later than previous estimates, according to a new modeling...

This photograph was taken looking south across Mare Imbrium. The crater Copernicus, 93 km (58 miles) in diameter, is seen in the distance. Several chains of small craters are visible. These are oriented toward Copernicus and are secondary craters produced by material ejected when Copernicus formed. In the foreground, the crater Pytheas is 20 km (12.4 miles) in diameter. This photo was taken by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972. Image credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Lunar Subsurface May Be Richer in Metals than Previously Thought

Jul 2, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a team of U.S. researchers has...

Greenwood et al discovered that water was present on Earth at an early stage in its evolution and survived the giant impact, which formed the Moon. This is an artist’s depiction of a catastrophic collision between two celestial bodies; such an impact between the proto-Earth and Theia likely formed the Moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Earth’s Essential Elements for Life Probably Came from Another Planet

Jan 24, 2019 by News Staff

Planetary researchers believe that our Moon was created more than 4.4 billion years ago in a catastrophic collision between proto-Earth and a hypothetical...

Earth’s Water was Present before Moon-Forming Impact, Research Shows

Mar 30, 2018 by News Staff

The high-energy impact about 100 million years after our Solar System formed, resulted in the two colliding planetary objects completely merging to create...

This is an artist's depiction of a catastrophic collision between two celestial bodies; such an impact between the proto-Earth and Theia likely formed the Moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Researchers Cast New Light on Moon’s Formation

Apr 9, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists at the University of Maryland believe an Earth-Theia collision far more violent than previously thought could explain how the Earth’s Moon...

New Evidence for Protoplanet Theia Found in Moon Rocks

Jun 6, 2014 by News Staff

A study published in the journal Science provides new evidence that the Moon formed from the catastrophic collision of the proto-Earth with a hypothetical...