• Question: What caused a planet to crash into Earth and create the Moon?

    Asked by T-Dog to RocketRich on 11 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Richard Moss

      Richard Moss answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      Gravity. At the start of our solar system, all the matter was scattered in orbit around the Sun. Gravity pulled the pieces together, forming planets, moons, and asteroids. You are right, it is believed at this early time, a planet or asteroid collided with Earth and knocked off enough material to form our Moon. Today all the planets are settled into their orbits but sometimes small asteroids can still collide. Small ones create the “shooting stars” you can sometimes see at night, as they burn in our atmosphere.

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