A new supercomputer simulation based on known data about Earth, the Moon, and the hypothetical planet Theia has revealed a shocking chapter in Earth’s history.
The research, recently published in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters, indicates that just a few hours after being violently shattered in a cataclysmic event billions of years ago, Earth was no longer alone.
Using the capabilities of a supercomputer, a research team led by computational astrophysicist Jacob Kegerreis from Durham University in the UK demonstrated that the Moon formed within just a few hours following an event that tore part of Earth apart, which hypotheses attribute to Theia, a planet about the size of Mars that collided and merged with primordial Earth.
The Moon formed just hours from the debris torn from Earth due to a catastrophic collision – Photo: Jacob Kegerreis
According to Live Science, the hypothesis that the Moon formed from a collision has long been discussed by scientists, but there has been little data to confirm it as a reality, apart from evidence showing a significant similarity between the materials of Earth and the Moon, suggesting that these two celestial bodies were likely once a single entity.
Using a supercomputer nicknamed COSMA, short for “Cosmology Machine,” located at the Durham University Institute for Computational Cosmology, the scientific team simulated hundreds of scenarios of how primordial Earth and Theia collided.
The simulations examined the collision from various angles, speeds, and trajectories, demonstrating how material was ejected from the impact and how this chaotic debris coalesced within just a few hours.
This rapid coalescence resulted in the Moon, primarily composed of material from Earth, rather than from Theia, making the Moon an excellent laboratory for studying Earth’s history.
The model also produced characteristics that perfectly matched the known attributes of the Moon: a wide orbit, tilt, partially molten interior, and thin crust.
According to Dr. Kegerreis, this discovery suggests that analyzing samples from the Moon—which has undergone little alteration since its primordial time due to its lack of dynamic activity compared to Earth—could help answer humanity’s profound questions about the origins of life on Earth.
