New theory suggests how the Moon may have really been formed

Updated

By: Josh King, Buzz60

An old theory about how Earth's moon was formed is getting a second look.

Israeli scientists believe that multiple collisions to an early Earth occurred, making a bunch of mini moons which eventually merged together.

This theory contradicts the more widely held belief that one large impact knocked a chunk of Earth into space creating our moon.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel say their ..."model suggests that the ancient Earth once hosted a series of moons, each one formed from a different collision with the proto-Earth."

But even they agree that the concept of these moons merging by crossing orbits and colliding still requires more work.

Gareth Collin's, a scientists at London's Imperial College says that not all of these mini-moons would have merged successfully, requiring a larger number of impacts to have occurred than previously thought.

RELATED: 28 weird names we have for different types of full moons:

Advertisement