Earth Once Had a Secret Neighbor… and It Became the Moon

WooGlobe

Did Earth once share the solar system with a secret neighbor? :globe_showing_Europe-Africa::new_moon: Scientists now believe the moon was formed when a hidden planet called Theia—roughly the size of Mars—collided with early Earth. This new theory suggests Theia quietly orbited closer to the sun for millions of years before slamming into our planet, leaving behind the moon we see today.  Using iron isotope data from Earth, moon rocks, and meteorites, researchers uncovered shocking evidence that Earth and Theia were born from the same rocky material. The result? A cosmic fusion so complete, the two are now nearly indistinguishable.  Watch the full video to uncover the mind-blowing story of Earth’s missing planetary twin and how it shaped our moon forever :milky_way: WooGlobe Ref : WGA943388 For licensing and to use this video, please email licensing@wooglobe.com

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00:00By looking at the composition of the Earth and Moon today,

00:03the researchers looked at the different scenarios that could have led to this situation.

00:07If Theia were similar to meteors that formed in the cooler outer edges of the solar system,

00:12Proto-Earth would have needed to have a totally improbable mix of isotopes.

00:16Instead, both Theia and the Proto-Earth were most likely made out of rocky, non-carbonaceous meteors

00:22from the innermost regions of the solar system.

00:25Theia would have orbited the Sun for around 100 million years

00:29before the gravitational pull of Jupiter knocked it from its orbit and sent it careening into Earth.

00:34Dr. Hoppe says,

00:36It was on a relatively stable orbit around the Sun.

00:39We infer that this must have been closer to the Sun than Earth, however.

00:42That is all we can say.

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