Moon's sole parent is Earth, challenging theory of interplanetary romance

GlobalPost

The moon may not be the spawn of a collision between Earth and another planet, says a new study that looked at isotopes found in lunar minerals.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the most prevalent theory is that a Mars-sized planet called 'Theia' crashed into Earth, releasing magma that later cooled and shrank into what is now called the 'moon.'

This prior theory was called the 'giant impact' hypothesis, which helped to explain the moon's mysterious creation over four billion years ago.

Science reported that the new research by geochemists led by Junjun Zhang at the University of Chicago and a colleague at the University of Bern in Switzerland, looked at titanium isotopes in 24 separate samples of lunar rock and soil.

The study found that the isotopes once thought to be from 'Theia' actually came from Earth, particularly, the element titanium.

"This basically calls for a re-examination of the existing model that predicts the moon was formed from two parents," said Nicolas Dauphas, an associate professor of geochemistry at the University of Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.

It is still largely unknown how the moon came into being.

History reported that many theories have been posited over the last few hundred years, including that a chunk of Earth that is now the Pacific Ocean broke off and floated to space or that Earth ensnared an existing moon floating around the solar system.

Many of these past theories have been discredited but the origins of the moon still seem shrouded in mystery.

The new research was published online today in the journal Nature Geoscience.

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