Theories Of The Origin Of The Moon :: essays research papers fc

The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. The distance from Earthis somewhat 384,400km with a diameter of 3476km and a mass of 7.35*1022kg. Through history it has had numerous names Called Luna by the Romans, Selene andArtemis by the Greeks. And of course, has been known through prehistoric times. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. Due to its sizing and composition, the Moon is sometimes classified as a terrestrial " planet"along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.Origin of the Moon Before the modern develop of space exploration, scientists had three major theories for the origin of the moon fission from the human race formation in worldly concern orbit and formation far from earth. Then, in 1975, having studied moonrocks and close-up pictures of the moon, scientists proposed what has come to be regarded as the most verisimilar of the theories of formation, planetesimalimpact or giant impact theory.Formation by fission from the Earth Th e modern version of this theory proposes that the moon was spun off from the earth when the earth was young and rotating rapidly on its axis. Thisidea gained support partly because the density of the moon is the same as thatof the rocks just below the crust, or upper mantle, of the earth. A majordifficulty with this theory is that the angular pulse of the earth, in order toachieve rotational instability, would have to have been such(prenominal) greater than theangular momentum of the present earth-moon system.Formation in orbit Near the EarthThis theory proposes that the earth and moon, and all other bodies of thesolar system, condensed item-by-itemly out of the huge cloud of cold gases andsolid particles that comprise the primordial solar nebula. Much of thismaterial finally collected at the center to form the sun.Formation Far from Earth According to this theory, independent formation of the earth and moon, asin the above theory, is assumed further the moon is supposed to h ave formed at a opposite place in the solar system, far from earth. The orbits of theearth and moon then, it is surmised, carried them contiguous each other so that the moonwas pulled into permanent orbit just about the earth.Planetesimal Impact First published in 1975, this theory proposes that early in the earthshistory, well over 4 billion years ago, the earth was touch by a large body calleda planetesimal, about the size of it of Mars. The catastrophic impact blastedportions of the earth and the planetesimal into earth orbit, where debris from the