The Mysterious Origins of the Moon

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If the moon formed from the molten core of Thea, then the rocks from the moon should look like rocks from another planet. But when scientists went looking for evidence of Thea in the chemical composition of these moon rocks, they found that the moon and the Earth looked the same. If Thea didn't exist, then what could have formed the moon with so much force? And if it did exist, then where is it now? It's after the break.

In all our searching of the universe, we’ve never seen another moon like ours. It's big, it's weird, and it has played a huge role in shaping our planet. But how did we get it? Every possible story points to cataclysm.

This episode originally ran on June 15, 2022. It is part of our Lost Worlds series exploring scientific mysteries buried in the deep past.

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