If it came from the earth, where are all the earth like things that should be in and on it [though dead] bones, tree limbs, etc.
If it came from outer space and was caught by the earths gravity why would it settle into a near circular orbit
2006-07-19 06:59:15 · 15 answers · asked by dyno_bot 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It came from Wisconsin , after all the Moon
Is made of cheese
2006-07-19 14:15:49 · answer #1 · answered by BONE° 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No one is completely sure how the Moon (Luna) formed. There are 4 main theories though:
1 - Co-accretion asserts that the Moon and Earth formed at the same time.
2 - Fission suggests that the Moon split off from the Earth.
3 - Capture holds that the Moon was formed elsewhere and subsequently captured by Earth's gravity.
4 - and most recently, the Impact theory states that early on when the Earth was still molten, a mars-sized object collided with the Earth causing materials that later formed the Moon to be ejected. Coincidentally, the surface of the Moon is 4.6 to 3 billion years old while the oldest rocks on Earth are around 3 billion years old. And, the chemical composition of the Moon is nearly the proportional to the Earth, only all the chemicals are evenly distributed throughout it (so there will be no mining of the Moon.)
2006-07-19 07:14:25 · answer #2 · answered by wdmc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The current accepted theory is that the moon was formed from part of the Earth. When the solar system was still young and the Earth was a large sphere of molten rock, it was struck by a large asteroid or comet, at just such an angle so as not to destroy the planet as a whole, but rather knock a large chunk out. The Earth and Moon reformed into spheres, with the Moon orbiting around the Earth.
Incidentally, the Moon used to be much closer to the Earth, however it is gaining distance from the Earth as time goes by. Eventually, the Moon will break from Earth orbit, possibly taking up an orbit of it's own around the Sun.
2006-07-19 07:08:30 · answer #3 · answered by Shadar 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ages and ages ago the moon was in fact part of the Earth. As far as i know the Earth went through a process of diffusion where the Iron content moved from the core to the surface. There was a collision with a large mass the size of Mars and the outer (surface) of the Earth broke off and became our moon (orbits around us in our gravity). This also explains why the moon has a much higher iron content than the Earth does.
2006-07-19 08:57:57 · answer #4 · answered by doctorguy101 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question, one that people have been arguing about for many thousands of years. Your points are well taken, here's the currently accepted (a.k.a. 'best') theory: The Earth's moon formed very, very early in our solar system's history, before trees, animals, or other Earth-like things had a chance to form, when a gigantic Mars-sized rock slammed into the brand-new, just barely cooled Earth. The energy of this impact was enough to re-melt the new planet and threw a great cloud of ejecta (i.e. molten rocks and dust etc.) into space which settled into a ring around the Earth, kind of like Saturn's rings. Over time the rocks (etc.) of this ring, made up mostly of minerals from the outer layers of the Earth (in agreement with what the NASA missions found) coalesced into a great lump under their mutual gravitational attraction, and the moon was born at about the orbit of the old ring. It's a fascinating story, backed up by a lot of evidence which I encourage you to read about in the link below for the details. Congratulations on asking good questions.
2006-07-19 07:22:28 · answer #5 · answered by Dave 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The current theory is that a mars size object collided with the Earth when Earth was still young and molten rock. The collision caused particles to orbit the earth which later came together to form and the moon and the moon became round. If you look in the bible it says that GOD created a light to rule over the night and a bigger light to the rule the day. That is evidence that good created the moon,earth,sun-and the heavens.
2006-07-19 08:48:34 · answer #6 · answered by Lighting Bolt 7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's widely believed that a collision between Earth and a Mars-sized object busted a chunk off the Earth (largely crust I think) that became the moon.
2006-07-19 07:04:51 · answer #7 · answered by Safari Man 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it did come from earth, and as for the trees and such, it probably came from the earth when it was a molten ball of nothing, and since it is so small, it never had a chance to create a workable atmosphere.
2006-07-19 07:04:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, the moon came from the earth... and this happened before any life was on the planet!!! no it didn't come from outer space.
2006-07-19 07:02:35 · answer #9 · answered by T.L. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some people believe that it was a chunk out of earth, but I believe that God created it along with our universe.
2006-07-19 07:55:58 · answer #10 · answered by professor_brett 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it was a piece of the earth dettached loose by what some think was a huge meteor before there was animals grass and such.
2006-07-19 07:05:26 · answer #11 · answered by tyler_durden_project 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋