Moon Chemistry Confirms Violent Origin

SPACE.com ^ | 22 August 2006 | Jeanna Bryner

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

If Earth collided with a Mars-sized planet, it's not clear to me how Earth could still have a near-circular orbit around the sun. I would think any such collision would seriously alter the orbit, perhaps even out of the plane of the ecliptic.

It doest have a near circular orbit. Also the earth's orbit is on a slightly different plane of most of the other planets. I think Pluto is the only other planet with a tilted orbit plane. Thank public schools for the dumbed down science books for thinking the orbit is circular.

The fact that the moon always faces the earth on one side and faces away on the other, should have been enough proof that it came from the earth, weather spit out from some huge explosion or a collision with a very large object.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

If Earth collided with a Mars-sized planet, it's not clear to me how Earth could still have a near-circular orbit around the sun. I would think any such collision would seriously alter the orbit, perhaps even out of the plane of the ecliptic.

It doest have a near circular orbit. Also the earth's orbit is on a slightly different plane of most of the other planets. I think Pluto is the only other planet with a tilted orbit plane. Thank public schools for the dumbed down science books for thinking the orbit is circular.

The fact that the moon always faces the earth on one side and faces away on the other, should have been enough proof that it came from the earth, weather spit out from some huge explosion or a collision with a very large object.

[SlowBoat407]

Or else the moon has bones.

Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a moon shuttle conductor!

[bert]

If you look around the universe you will see various examples of rotating bodies. They are all aggregations of matter. They are in pretty well defined structures. Consider the rings of Saturn. As they aggregate and take on more mass they will become spherical and the unequal distribution causes wobbling that eventually stabaiizes as rotation.

The moon was once a ring of particulates flung out by the collision. Time and gravity collected the particles.

[RadioAstronomer]

I think Pluto is the only other planet with a tilted orbit plane. Thank public schools for the dumbed down science books for thinking the orbit is circular.

Nope. The Earth orbit plane is defined by convention as at 0.00. All other planets are tilted, Mercury and Pluto being the most extreme.

[RightWhale]

It's not a strong confirmation, but just a slight encouragement. The moon very likely came from the earth, but it was not a massive interplanetary collision--that is impossible.

[RadioAstronomer]

The fact that the moon always faces the earth on one side and faces away on the other, should have been enough proof that it came from the earth, weather spit out from some huge explosion or a collision with a very large object.

Not quite. The reason the Moon's rotation equals its period is something called tidal lock. Eventually (in about 50 billion years) the Earth would keep the same face to the Moon as well. However, solar physics dictates that the Sun will consume both prior to this event.

[RightWhale]

The moon has five masscons, that is five regions of excess gravity where the density of the material is higher than the rest. That is about as lumpy as it can be since its gravity will otherwise make the body spheroidal. The earth also has masscons and is nearly spheroidal.

[RadioAstronomer]

Actually, the collision was massive (with an object that was about the size of Mars).

[Larry Lucido]

Moon Chemistry Confirms Violent Origin

So the place was inhabited by evil white Europeans?

[RightWhale]

Impossible. The simple answer is that the planet exploded. Eventually planets explode just like stars go nova. It's a phase change and happens in minutes. Earth may be good for yet another explosion although it is kind of small now for that kind of activity.

[lepton]

While scientists have studied samples from the Moon’s near side, the far side and its polar regions have remained in the dark.

apparently you've never been kept in the dark about anything. :P

[RadioAstronomer]

I have to disagree. Exploding planets just does not make sense. Our planetary heat equilibrium is accomplished thru tectonic plate motion.

[RC51]

I wonder what super-religious people would say if they found fossils on the moon?

[Robert A Cook PE]

Info.

[RightWhale]

Here's something to consider: how is it that the recent particle recovery mission Stardust has captured particles that can be formed inside a planet at extreme heat and temperature but not by drifting dust? how can an asteroid that is too small to have any gravity differentiating show layers of material of definite composition?

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Well doesn't that mean that all planets are in the same plane except Mecury, Earth, and Pluto? The same except those extremes.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Not quite. The reason the Moon's rotation equals its period is something called tidal lock.

Total BS. Once in motion it will not stop. Look up Newton.

[RightWhale]

all planets are in the same plane except Mecury, Earth, and Pluto

Pick a coordinate system and stick to it. Since we are on earth most of the time, we pick earth's orbit as the zero-zero. If we were on Mars we would pick Mars' orbit as zero-zero. Or, we could pick the plane of the sun's equator, which until recently was not known as precisely as earth's orbit. Pick one.