Moon could give all
their water, "germ" of the Earth, scientists believe
New studies are missing
puzzle to place the theory of formation of the moon as a result of the
collision of Earth with a space object - a theory which has long been
considered the primary version of the origin of the natural satellite of our
planet. Both new research explain why the moon and the Earth have identical
chemical composition, but the collision model described in these studies differ
greatly, according astronews.ru.
According to one
theory, proposed by scientists from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence Institute) the rapid rotation of the Earth in the early solar
system - the duration of the day on our planet then was only 2-3 hours - has
meant that the collision had been thrown into space huge portions material from
which the Moon formed later. In this version, scientists assumed that the
object was a collision object with a mass of 5-10% of the mass of the Earth.
Another group of scientists
from the Southwest Research Institute, Colorado, USA, said that the size of the
object hit was comparable to the size of Earth, and its mass was about 50% of
Earth's mass.
Until and that and the
other versions are their supporters, but the researchers are confident that in
the near future they could accurately recreate the whole picture of a giant
cosmic collision, despite the fact that it was a few billion years ago.
Scientists believe that
the moon contains heavier zinc-66 than the rocks of the Earth and the asteroid.
In particular, the proportion of zinc-66 in lunar stocks Zn is 3-4 times higher
than for the Earth and Mars. This discovery has surprised astronomers -
according to modern theories of formation of the solar system, the ratio of zinc
in rocks rocky planets and asteroids were laid in the early stages of its
formation and since then nothing has changed.
Experts have tried to
find the cause of the difference in the isotopic composition of terrestrial and
lunar rocks, following the changes in the chemical composition of the moon in
different scenarios of its formation.
It was found that the
current ratio of zinc-64 and zinc-66 occurs only in cases where all or most of
the moon melts and turns into a cloud of hot matter. According to scientists,
such an event could have occurred during the formation of our planet's
companion, when her father-Theia collided with the "germ" of the
Earth.
When such a collision
matter Teyi and future Earth melted, and some of this gas-dust mixture was
thrown into orbit. As explained by the astronomers, the ratio of the isotopes
of zinc dust and gas will be different - the solid matter will be more severe
zinc-66, and in the gaseous mass - light zinc-64 - because of the difference in
mass of isotopes. This gas will gradually disappear from the Earth's orbit with
it contained zinc-64, which explains the difference in the isotopic composition
of the Moon and the planet.
"Where did the
water on earth? This is an important question, because the answer will help us in
the search for planets with Earth conditions. Understanding what is necessary
for the formation of such conditions on the planet is very important to answer
the question - how life arises" - concludes Day and his words were quoted
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