Learn how planet Earth’s only natural satellite was formed, its weird features like a black sky and extreme temperatures and ...

Over the last few days, night sky observers may have noticed that the moon has been shining extraordinarily brightly. Tonight ...

Some scientists think the moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago after a collision between an early version of Earth and a small planet called Theia. This crash released a huge amount of debris that ...

This glowing ring of debris swirled around the damaged planet. Over time ... the “giant impact” theory involving a body named Theia. Competing ideas—like the moon splitting from Earth ...

The surface of Earth is rocky and bumpy ... but one hypothesis claims that a planet, asteroid or perhaps a comet—called Theia—collided into Earth, resulting in debris flying into space.

Crucially, it also points to the existence of liquid water at the surface—possibly even oceans—during this early period. This timing overlaps with the theorized Moon-forming impact, a colossal ...