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Did a giant object collide with Earth to form the moon?

Known as the giant-impact hypothesis, this proposed event involves a collision between Earth and a hypothetical Mars-sized protoplanet astronomers call Theia.
What If on MSN

If Earth tilted on its side, life would get strange fast

During Earth’s early days, a gargantuan collision left our planet spinning at an angle. That slight incline allowed life as ...
Newstrack

Fire in the Belly of the Earth: Where Does All This Heat Come From?

From the primordial heat left behind by Earth’s formation to the continuous energy released by radioactive decay, discover ...

Stellar collision may explain why Orion Nebula's planet-forming disks appear younger than its stars

The Orion Nebula is a large star-forming region visible to the naked eye. Some of the young stars in the nebula are ...

Hera Closes in on Asteroid Pair to Study the Impact Damage of NASA’s DART Strike

In September 2022, a NASA spacecraft violently smashed into a tiny asteroid as a test of planetary defense. Now, a new probe ...
The Debrief

Scientists Are Preparing for a Tunguska-Sized Asteroid Threat in a New Planetary Defense Exercise

What would happen if an asteroid struck the Earth? We spoke with a NASA planetary scientist who is working to find out.