Read it on the net(space.com to be exact),"Moon chemistry confirms voilent origin".?

Question

Further the article states that our Earth was hit by a Mars sized planet; the impact of which finally resulted in the moon!
Is it not possible that the direction of the turning of earth on it's axis may have changed also?

Answer 1

Of course it is possible, in fact it must change since the impact is so great (a MARS SIZED PLANET).

Answer 2

For a long time, the fundamental question regarding the history of the moon was of its origin. The hypotheses that have been created regarding it are as numerous as they are different from each other. The most important ones are:

Lunar Capture
The moon was captured, completely formed, by the gravitational field of the Earth. This is unlikely, since a close encounter with the Earth would have produced either a collision or an alteration of the trajectory of the body in question, so if it had indeed happened, the Moon probably would never return to meet again with the Earth. For this hypothesis to function, there would have to be a large atmosphere extended around the primitive Earth, which would be able to slow the movement of the Moon before it could escape. This hypothesis is considered to explain the irregular satellite orbits of Jupiter and Saturn; nevertheless, it is very difficult to believe that this would explain the origin of our moon. In addition, this hypothesis has difficulty explaining the similar oxygen isotope ratio of the two worlds.


Fission hypothesis
The idea that a primitive Earth, with an accelerated rotation, expelled a piece of its mass was proposed by George Darwin (son of the famous biologist Charles Darwin). This hypothesis does not explain why the Earth rotated once every 2.5 hours early in its geologic history, nor why the Moon and the Earth do not continue to rotate at an accelerated rate in the present. If this theory were true, the angular momentum of the Moon would be quite different.


Accretion hypothesis
This hypothesis states that the Earth and the Moon formed at the together in a double system. The problem with this hypothesis is that it does not explain the rotational periods of the Earth and the Moon, nor gives an answer to the absence of material orbiting the two bodies of the proposed double system, a phenomenon that only can be explained if they consider the terrestrial rotation and the lunar revolution through a physical property called angular momentum.
Giant impact theory

At present the best explanation for the formation of the Moon involves a collision of two protoplanetary bodies during the early accretion period of the Solar system's formation. This "giant impact theory", which was proposed in 1984 (although it originated in the mid-1970s) satisfies the orbital conditions of the Earth and Moon and the reasons that the Earth has a larger metallic core than the Moon. The modern theories of how the planets formed from smaller bodies, which were formed from still smaller bodies, predicts that when the formation of the Earth was almost finished it would have had a body the size of Mars and about a tenth of the mass of the Earth in close proximity. Becasue of this, the theorized giant impact is a plausible, perhaps inevitable, event.
The theory requires a collision between a body about 90% the present size of the Earth, and another the diameter of Mars (half of the terrestrial radius and a tenth of its mass). The colliding body has sometimes been referred to as Theia, the mother of Selene, the Moon goddess in greek mythology. This size ratio is needed in order for the resulting system to possess sufficient angular momentum to match the current orbital configuration. This impact would have expelled enough amounts of hot material around the Earth's orbit, that the Moon would have formed through the accumulation of this material.
Computer simulations of this event appear to show that the collision must occur with a glancing blow. This will cause a small portion of the colliding body to form a long arm of material that will then shear off. The asymmetrical shape of the Earth following the collision then causes this material to settle into an orbit around the main mass. The energy involved in this collision is impressive: trillions of tons of material would have been vaporized and melted. In parts of the Earth the temperature would have risen to 10,000 °C.
This formation theory helps explain why the Moon is iron-poor and lacks a solid iron core. The iron from the impacting body had been absorbed into the core of the Earth, while the lighter crust materials produced the resulting moon. The collision also helps explain why the lunar rocks are so similar to the rocks present in the Earth's mantle. The lack of volatiles was also explained by the energy of the collision, as were the early magma oceans on the Moon. If this event had never happened, not only would the Earth not have a moon but its days would be about a year long.
Following the impact, the orbiting debris coalesced into a body about the size of the Moon. The newly-formed moon orbits about one-tenth the distance as it does today, and it became tidally-locked with the Earth. That is, one side of the Moon is always facing toward the Earth. The geology of the Moon then forms independently of the Earth, with the surface cooling more rapidly and forming a crust.

Answer 3

Great question

This has been a running idea for several decades now....a lot of thought has gone onto this, but there is no evidence of impact on this scale actually on earth...there should be more moon type rock on earth...

That is not to say it is wrong though, I have read some really interesting stuff about how the impact, if it happened early enough in the Earth's life would ultimately have left barely any traces by now...

Also there is a mini-hypothesis stated that the chemicals an impact on this scale created (coupled with the changing of the directions of spin, the angle of spin (the technical terms is the earth's obliguity), the eccentricity of it's orbit around the sun which has profound impacts every 100,000 years or so are, actually part of the reason why and how life started on Earth...

I think sooner or later, pieces of evidence will start supporting this theory... in short, nothing is impossible with something on this scale

Answer 4

If this is true, then it is extremely possible that it would have changed the inclination of our axis. In fact, that's why they believe Saturn is nearly on it's side, being only 27 degrees from perpendicular. They theorise it was hit by an extremely large asteroid.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

From what I know the theory is that if the moon was formed through a crash that was when the earth's axis tilted. They've thought that for years.

Answer 6

Cool. Has there been a new development to this theory? This was always considerd just speculation, but probably the best that we've had. The name they gave this planet is Theia... or Selene.

Answer 7

its possible but there is no evidence for it.

Answer 8

All of the universe is of very, very violent origin ... Duh !

What's your prob. ?

I think I know you are a young person. Keep learning.

G-night;
Jonnie