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Earth and the Moon are born

Around 4.5 billion years ago the earth was formed. Claire Patterson found evidence of this dating in 1956. Ten years before Claire, Canadian geologist Reginald Daly suggested a hypothesis in which the moon is the result of a collision between a Mars-sized body referred to as Theia and the proto-Earth. The collision added mass to the Earth and the debris coalesced into the moon.

Source: Edward Belbruno and J. Richard Gott III 2005 AJ 129 1724

Artist's concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the size of Mercury
Artist's concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the size of Mercury
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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!