Almost-planet Theia lives on.
Astronomers have long suspected that the Moon formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago when a hefty planet-in-the-making called Theia collided with a young Earth. Now, researchers have found evidence that massive blobs deep within Earth are actually relics from long-lost Theia. If true, other planets may also be filled with parts of their ancient foes.
Scientists call Theia’s strike the Giant Impact. This was probably the last major event during Earth’s accretion phase when it was growing larger and regularly getting bombarded by space material. The Giant Impact is time zero on the clock for Earth and the Moon. This is why Qian Yuan, a geodynamicist at the California Institute of Technology who is interested in what makes some planets friendly to life, led a team of researchers to look into this ancient phase.
“So far, Earth is still the only habitable planet, but we do not know why Earth is habitable and others are not. As a modeler, I believe that the initial condition is crucially important, and it is widely believed that the Moon's formation set the initial condition of Earth,” Yuan tells Inverse. READ MORE FROM INVERSE
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