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The Moon is a sterile rock created billions of years ago when a planet, the size of Mars, is crushed on Earth. At least that's what the main theory says. This collision shattered pieces of molten metal and rocks, which eventually fused to form the Moon.
But one thing is not added: the composition of the Moon is almost identical to that of the Earth.
Sarah Stewart, world scientist at the University of California to look for alternative explanations, then came up with a new theory: Earth born the moon (paywall). This week, Stewart received a MacArthur Fellowship for this job.
Like Moon's classical theory, Stewart's theory is also based on a celestial body colliding with the Earth. What she sees as happens next is a little more complex: the energy of the collision has turned a rock into gas, and this rock vapor has sped much faster than the current Earth, creating a new planetary form. Stewart and his collaborator Simon Lock nicknamed a synestia. The synestias were donuts of molten rocks being formed as a result of collisions, and Stewart claims that when the synestia generated by the Earth has cooled for hundreds of years, some debris in rotation merged into the Moon.
To test this new theory, Stewart's lab plays with cannons. By throwing stones and minerals, researchers can learn about the behavior of celestial bodies in collisions and reconstruct the formation of our solar system.
The new theory of moon formation would explain why its composition is so similar to that of the Earth. The high temperatures – from 4,000 to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit – at which the Moon was formed vaporized some elements while leaving the others intact.
Stewart tells The Sacramento Bee that she was shocked after receiving the call for the MacArthur Foundation's "Engineering Scholarship." "It took a few hours for my hands to stop shaking," she said.
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