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Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact

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Canup, Robin M.·2012·Science

DOI 10.1126/science.1226073PMC PMC6476314

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Abstract

Forming the Moon from Earth It is thought that the Moon formed after a Mars-sized planet hit Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. Computer simulations of this event predict that the Moon was produced primarily from material from the impacting planet. However, the Moon has a similar composition to that of Earth, and the impacting planet would likely have had a different composition. Prior models assumed that the impact left the Earth-Moon system with the same angular momentum as it has today (see the Perspective by Halliday ). Ćuk and Stewart (p. 1047 , published online 17 October; see the cover) show that the angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system could have decreased by half after the Moon-forming impact, opening the door to new impact models. For example, simulations suggest that high-velocity impacts onto a fast-spinning early Earth can lead to a Moon formed primarily from Earth's mantle. Canup (p. 1052 , published online 17 October) considered instead lower-velocity impacts by planets comparable in mass to the proto-Earth, which could generate a Moon and an Earth with similar compositions.

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Authors: Canup, R. M.
Affiliations: Southwest Research Institute (US)
Corresponding author: Canup, Robin M.
ORCID: Canup, Robin M.
Venue: Science
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published: 2012-11-23
Volume: 338
Issue: 6110
Pages: 1052-1055
ISSN: 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
1095-9203
DOI: 10.1126/science.1226073
PMC: PMC6476314
OpenAlex: W2156821519
Cited by: 656
References: 30
Citations by year: 2026: 32 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 56 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 3
FWCI: 22.24
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Locations: Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX13AJ66G)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Astro and Planetary Science
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Planetary Science and Exploration
Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › History and Developments in Astronomy
Keywords: Moon formation, giant impacts, Earth-Moon system, angular momentum, impact velocity, Earth's mantle, Moon composition, impact simulation

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Forming a Moon with an Earth-like Composition via a Giant Impact

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