NAGGING doubts about how the Moon formed may have been laid to rest, thanks
to a new computer simulation.
Astronomers think that the Moon was born about 4.5 billion years ago when a
stray planet walloped into the young Earth. Debris was flung out into space,
forming an orbiting ring around the Earth in which little moonlets clumped
together, eventually forming the Moon.
But computer models of the process have seemed overcomplicated. Some suggest
the initial impact must have been followed by a second giant impact to explain
the total angular momentum of the Earth and Moon today. Others hint…
