Many years ago a theorist suggested that a huge asteroid or comet collided with the Earth splitting off a mass that became the moon. The asteroid then struck Venus, resulting in a counter-rotation of this planet. I cannot remember his name. does anybody else remember his name?
2007-03-04 06:18:20 · 2 answers · asked by dragin_dragon 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
"Worlds in Collision" Immanuel Velikovsky
2007-03-04 06:24:20 · answer #1 · answered by Scythian1950 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're probably thinking of Immanuel Velikovsky, who theorized that the moon was formed in historic times. He also said that Venus might have been ejected by Jupiter, perhaps in historic times. In mythology, Venus sprang from the brow (or the genitals) of Jupiter.
Velikovshy got a lot of things wrong, but there's little doubt that the earliest recorded observations of Venus were of a body with an orbit that crossed Earth's. Venus has been discovered to have a vestigial cometary tail.
2007-03-04 14:46:19 · answer #2 · answered by etopro 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋