New research suggests that Theia, the object whose collision with Earth is theorized to have caused the formation of the moon, came from closer to the sun.

"During the early solar system's game of cosmic billiards, Earth was struck by a neighbor,” said Dauphas. “It was a lucky shot. Without the moon's steadying influence on our planet's tilt, the climate ...

Earth and the planetary object that gave rise to the Moon were likely born in the same region of the solar system.

Apollo samples provide evidence: Researchers analyzed Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions and, for the first time, ...

To our best of our understanding, the Moon formed from Earth following a colossal impact. A Mars-sized world we nicknamed Theia slammed and merged with the primordial Earth, throwing material into ...

Little is known about the long-destroyed moon-forming planet, Theia. But it may have been born in the inner solar system—just like Earth—a new study suggests ...

According to researchers, the composition of a planet or celestial body holds the entire story of its formation and origin.

Scientists have gone back and forth about explanations for the moon's formation for decades, with the general consensus being that it formed during some type of cosmic collision between Earth and a ...

A crucial difference in the “fingerprints” of Earth and the moon confirms an explosive, interconnected past Within the first 150 million years after our solar system formed, a giant body roughly the ...

The Moon's formation may not just have smashed Earth -- it may have stretched our planet into a potato for millions of years afterwards. Share on Facebook (opens in a new window) Share on X (opens in ...

Eons ago, in the frigid depths of our solar system, a dramatic collision occurred between two icy worlds. Instead of a catastrophic smash-up, the two bodies "kissed," merging temporarily like a ...