Theories of Luna
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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Theories of Luna
Photo by SonOfJordan
Fission theory:
The fission theory is that the moon was once part of the Earth but was cast off by Earth's rapid spin.
Photo by DonkeyHotey
Why the Fission theory was proved wrong:
It was proposed that the Pacific ocean represented the scar of the event. However, today it is known the the oceanic crust that makes up this ocean basin is relatively young, about 200 million years old where as the moon is much older.
Photo by DonkeyHotey
Capture Theory:
The Capture theory is that the moon was a wayward object that floated through the solar system and was pulled into orbit by Earth's gravity.
Photo by c.fuentes2007
Why the Capture theory is inaccurate:
The capture theory is inaccurate because in order for a planet to capture a moon it would need to have a much higher mass and be much larger than the moon. Even though the Earth has a larger mass than the moon, there is not a significant difference. The Earth could not pull something as large as the moon into orbit.
Photo by JeffGamble
Mini Earth theory:
This theory is that the moon was formed near Earth and gradually fell under Earth's gravitational spell.
Photo by Pierre J.
Why the Mini Earth theory is inaccurate:
This theory is inaccurate because in order for this theory to be true,the Earth and Moon would have been made out of most of the same materials, but the moon doesn't have enough iron for this to be true.
Photo by Karina Hak
Thea theory:
The Thea theory is that a planet called Thea smashed into Earth, causing chunks of Earth and Thea to break off. These chunks formed to make the moon and went into Earth's orbit.
Photo by davedehetre
Why the Thea theory seems accurate:
Scientists think the Thea theory is accurate because even though the moon is not a mini Earth, scientists have found that some of the moon's rocks are similar to Earth's rocks.
Photo by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
