[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A new study of metal ore deep inside the moon is offering fresh evidence that Earth's natural satellite was formed by an ancient planet crashing into Earth long ago.
This long-theorized interplanetary collision — which scientists believe occurred some 4.5 billion years ago — saw a Mars-sized planet named 'Theia' slice itself into hot lava fragments upon impact with the Earth.
While some of Theia's planetary remains appear to be buried as dense and massive 'blobs' deep underneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean's tectonic plates, scientists said evidence for where the rest of Theia went after this crash had remained elusive.
But now, new data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft has found large telltale deposits of titanium-iron ore deep beneath the moon's surface, suggesting Theia's other remains did, in fact, form Earth's moon. |