How did the Moon appear? Here’s the latest theory

A giant game of billiards. A heavenly pinball machine. Was the Moon born from an impact between two planets, itself caused by another? That’s the fascinating theory behind a new study.

It has long been assumed that the Moon is born of the collision between a small planet called Theia and Earth, 4.5 billion years ago. Experts believe that as a result of this impact with our planet, Theia was broken into pieces. It would be one of these scattered pieces which would have created the Moon, our famous natural satellite, modeled on our orbit. But what is at the origin of this series of events, absolutely fundamental in the history of our planet? A new study launches a new hypothesis: it could be Jupiter’s fault.

What is the connection between Jupiter and the Moon?

Gas giant planets, like Jupiter or Saturn, are very unstable. And it seems that this instability could have led them to wander chaotically through the solar system at the time of its training. Indeed, at this period, 4.5 billion years ago, the Sun was surrounded by a cloud of gas and dust, which would gradually form the planets. This is where some planets took a little time to find their place. What could have destabilize the orbits of otherslike Theia, eject celestial bodies in different directions, and thus, create collisionslike the one which is at the origin of the creation of the Moon.

According to the study published in Science by the team of CNRS researcher Chrysa Avdellidou, who works at the Côte d’Azur University in Nice, the planets with a relatively fixed trajectory since the dawn of time were previously dangerous racing cars, and this, at a period which coincides with the birth of the Earth’s Mooneither between 60 and 100 million years ago After the birth of solar energy. After this period, the planets could have found, little by little, their definitive orbit, the one we know today. Even if there is no “proof” strictly speaking for an event that occurred so long ago, scientists can provide suggestions, and it is the sum of this work that allows us to evolve. towards a hypothesis which will, ultimately, be commonly accepted. This celestial instability has already been suggested by other studies by the Côte d’Azur Observatory. But this is the first time that the link between Jupiter and the Moon is realised.