00:03despite the moon being our closest neighbor and only natural satellite there's still a whole lot
00:08we don't know about it like precisely where it came from recent explanations outline that a
00:13mars-sized object likely crashed into earth during its early years with the wild amount of debris
00:18coming from the impact eventually coalescing into the moon however a new theory adds to the lunar
00:23body's wild history according to the theory when the moon initially formed it was only around 12
00:28000 miles away a far cry from its current orbital path of around 238 000 miles meaning over the last
00:354.5 billion years it has drifted further and further at the time of its formation it had a surface
00:41of
00:41molten magma which eventually cooled and solidified into the gray surface we see every night the
00:46researchers also found that the orbital path of the moon and the material that coalesced to create it
00:51likely changed over time as well when the mars-sized object smashed into earth the debris field likely
00:55went everywhere that means that despite most orbits in the solar system being relatively planar there
01:00was likely a considerable amount of dust and debris orbiting earth from pole to pole the researchers
01:05found that those orbits were also very stable for a time with the material existing in that orientation
01:10even after the moon formed due to the stability created by its proximity however as the moon moved
01:15away they became unstable eventually succumbing to the sun's overwhelming influence
Comments