In the Past, the Earth Had Two Moons?

A small moon ever else there is the possibility of a satellite orbiting our Earth before it finally crashed into the bigger moon and formed the Moon around the Earth is always faithful. Collision between the two moons of incredible enormity of it may explain why both sides of the satellite the moon that we see today is so different from each other.

Although not yet proven, the idea of "two moons" that made Martin Jutzi and Erik Asphaug of the University of California at Santa Cruz caught the attention of many astronomers. The theory may explain why the side of the moon facing the Earth is dominated by the "sea" of ancient lava that has hardened and formed a smooth surface and wide. Conversely, the back side of the moon filled the mountainous highlands.

"The idea is so intriguing," said David Smith, deputy principal investigator GRAIL at MIT. "This idea could be an explanation for one of the biggest puzzles in the Earth-moon system, namely an asymmetric form of the moon."

This new study reveals the possibility that, in the past, the Earth had ever two months. Astronomers said the second month that surrounds the Earth's diameter may be 1.200 kilometers and can be formed from the same collision between a planet and an object suspected of Mars helped create the moon that we see in the sky at this time, about four billion years ago.

War of the gravitational force of attraction between Earth and moon slows the rotation, so that what is now always seen only one side of the moon. Other side of the moon's face remained a mystery for centuries civilized until 1959, when the Soviet spacecraft, Luna 3, preserve it for the first time. Side is often mistakenly referred to as the dark side, though it also experienced the moon face day and night like the side we see.

The other side of the moon's face is very different than the side closer. For example, the plain of volcanic rock that is widespread, and was named "Maria" or the sea in Latin, covering most parts of the nearest month, but few maria visible on the far side. While the near side of the moon surface is generally low and flat, the far side of the high-colored hills, with the surface of the moon rises an average of 1.9 km.

Simulation of the four stages of the collision between the moon and the companion moon, only 4 percent of the mass of the Moon, about four billion years ago. (Picture from: http://www.impactlab.net/)

Computer simulations predict the second moon it widened as pie when it collided with the larger moon. "That explains why the moon seems to have two different faces," said Asphaug. *** [SPACE | KORAN TEMPO 3756]