4 Theories of How the Moon Is Formed

Heshan Ravihansa
2 min readApr 24, 2020

The moon has an important role in maintaining balance in planet Earth. However, the moon also holds many mysteries that have still not been revealed, including how to form them.

Galileo was the first scientist to show that the moon had a landscape similar to Earth. Over time, other scientists have tried to put forward various theories about how the moon formed.

As reported by the Mother Nature Network (MNN), there are several theories that explain how the moon formed. Here Wow Interestingly, present a review for you.

1. Physiological Theory

In the 1800s, George Darwin, son of Charles Darwin, suspected that the moon looked so similar to planet Earth at some point. Because it rotates too fast, maybe parts of the planet Earth could have shifted from its path, but because there is a moon, the Earth could remain on its axis.

This fission theory presupposes that the Pacific Ocean might be one of the material sources for the formation of the moon that comes directly from the earth. However, after the moonstone has been analyzed, it appears that the moonstone is different from the one in the Pacific Ocean. In short, the Pacific Ocean is too young to be the source of the moon.

2. Capture Theory

This theory states that the moon came from another place in the Milky Way galaxy. When traveling through the earth, the moon is attracted by gravity on our planet. This theory also states that the holes on the moon are caused by the gravitational pull of the earth.

3. Theory Of Condensation

According to the hypothesis of this theory, the moon and the earth formed together when orbiting a black hole. But this theory does not explain why the moon orbits the earth, nor does it explain the difference in density between the moon and the earth.

4. Big Impact Hypothesis

This theory says that there are objects the size of the planet Mars collide with other objects, when the earth was still in formation about 4.5 billion years ago. The object of the planet that hits the earth is called Theia by scientists.

When Theia crashed into the earth, part of our planet was released and finally formed a moon. This theory may be quite reasonable, but it does not explain why the moon and the earth are chemically identical.

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