![THE CRASH THAT MADE OUR MOON](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/15256/499540/5f44995bc1ad3/THE-CRASH-THAT-MADE-OUR-MOON.jpg)
It’s the brightest thing in our night sky. Over the course of history it has been revered as a god, trampled across by 12 men and immortalised in poetry. The Moon is our steadfast companion, our only natural satellite as we endlessly orbit the Sun. Yet for an object that has received such scrutiny, arguments rage about where exactly the Moon came from. A suitable explanation needs to take into account what is perhaps the Moon’s greatest oddity: its size. It is the fifth-largest moon in the Solar System, trumping most of the satellites of our much bigger planetary neighbours. If you compare the size of moons to the size of their host planet, ours comes out at the very top. Many of the smaller moons of the Solar System are thought to be captured worlds – bodies that wandered too close to a planet before getting snared in its gravitational pull. Given the size of our Moon, it’s hard to imagine that’s how it ended up circling Earth.
As far back as 1878, George Darwin – the astronomer son of famous naturalist Charles Darwin – instead proposed that Earth and the Moon were once one body and that the latter formed from material thrown off the spinning Earth. This, he said, would explain why the Moon was moving a little further away from us each year. Supporters of this idea even pointed to the lack of land in the Pacific Ocean – which stretches across half of our planet – as the birthplace of the Moon. However, scientists later realised that any force capable of dislodging such a large amount of Earthly material would likely have destroyed the rest of our planet at the same time.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 107 من All About Space.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 107 من All About Space.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
![LONG AGO, A LAKE ON MARS MAY HAVE BEEN SPRAWLING WITH MICROBES](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/KBMk_Cfs41719993738326/LONG-AGO-A-LAKE-ON-MARS-MAY-HAVE-BEEN-SPRAWLING-WITH-MICROBES.jpg)
LONG AGO, A LAKE ON MARS MAY HAVE BEEN SPRAWLING WITH MICROBES
Curiosity discovered manganese oxide in bedrock in a Martian region that may have been a shoreline billions of years ago
![MOON TOUR HELL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/ht0gO_mHi1719993459712/MOON-TOUR-HELL.jpg)
MOON TOUR HELL
Finding this fascinating crater isnt as hard as its name suggests...
![THIS MONTH'S PLANETS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/-7K-H52mO1719993250345/THIS-MONTHS-PLANETS.jpg)
THIS MONTH'S PLANETS
Most of the planets are tricky targets this month, but our guide will help you locate them
![UNIVERSE BEFORE TIME](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/cHFLjjJOS1719991851680/UNIVERSE-BEFORE-TIME.jpg)
UNIVERSE BEFORE TIME
Could the existence of a mirror-image cosmos before the Big Bang solve some of the biggest mysteries in astronomy?
![CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/Se3Bbyf0G1719991384386/CLIMATE-CHANGE-IN-THE-SOLAR-SYSTEM.jpg)
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Alongside Earth, our planetary neighbourhood is changing, but it’s not for the better…
![Stars give tiny planets a gravitational 'squeeze' to strip away their atmospheres](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/QMnZ5oBmH1719991224194/STARS-GIVE-TINY-PLANETS-A-GRAVITATIONAL-SQUEEZE-TO-STRIP-AWAY-THEIR-ATMOSPHERES.jpg)
Stars give tiny planets a gravitational 'squeeze' to strip away their atmospheres
A scientist has learned more about the violent processes that rip atmospheres away from planets, finding that squashing and squeezing by a parent star can contribute to this process.
![The Milky Way's halo is filled with ‘magnetic doughnuts' as wide as 100,000 light years](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/zhhazHOyf1719991166108/THE-MILKY-WAYS-HALO-IS-FILLED-WITH-MAGNETIC-DOUGHNUTS-AS-WIDE-AS-100000-LIGHT-YEARS.jpg)
The Milky Way's halo is filled with ‘magnetic doughnuts' as wide as 100,000 light years
The outer halo of the Milky Way is filled with magnetic fields that take the shape of vast doughnuts with diameters ranging from 12,000 to 100,000 light years, with the heart of our galaxy at their centre.
![The Pentagon wants the commercial space reserve to support military satellites in orbit](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/RRDjAi68P1719991027212/THE-PENTAGON-WANTS-THE-COMMERCIAL-SPACE-RESERVE-TO-SUPPORT-MILITARY-SATELLITES-IN-ORBIT.jpg)
The Pentagon wants the commercial space reserve to support military satellites in orbit
The US Department of Defense is developing a plan to use the ever-growing American commercial space industry for national security purposes.
![DOES A COSMIC 'GLITCH' IN GRAVITY CHALLENGE ALBERT EINSTEIN'S GREATEST THEORY?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/qd-Mswgsf1719990737533/DOES-A-COSMIC-GLITCH-IN-GRAVITY-CHALLENGE-ALBERT-EINSTEINS-GREATEST-THEORY.jpg)
DOES A COSMIC 'GLITCH' IN GRAVITY CHALLENGE ALBERT EINSTEIN'S GREATEST THEORY?
Gravity changes once you reach a cosmic scale
![DEEP SKY CHALLENGE : STELLAR TREASURES OF THE ARCHER AND SCORPION](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1729654/kQkKImKfQ1719990358327/DEEP-SKY-CHALLENGE-STELLAR-TREASURES-OF-THE-ARCHER-AND-SCORPION.jpg)
DEEP SKY CHALLENGE : STELLAR TREASURES OF THE ARCHER AND SCORPION
Summer skies are stuffed full of amazing objects for your telescope - if you're prepared to stay up late