User:Pginer-WMF/Test

The giant impact hypothesis is that the Moon was created out of the debris from a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized protoplanet. This is the favoured scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon.

The Moon as seen from Earth. This is a nearly full moon.

Evidence for this hypothesis comes from Moon samples which show that:


 * 1) the surface of the Moon was once molten
 * 2) the Moon's apparently relatively small iron core and a lower density than the Earth, and
 * 3) evidence of similar collisions in other star systems (which result in 'debris disks')\

There are several unanswered issues with this hypothesis. Lunar oxygen isotopic ratios are essentially identical to Earth, with no evidence of a contribution from another solar body.

The colliding body is sometimes called Theia for the mythical Greek Titan who was the mother of Selene, the goddess of the moon.