Collision That Formed The Moon

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Over five decades ago, Apollo astronauts brought back to Earth a wide variety of rocks from the Moon. Analysis of these rocks gave rise to a set of ideas describing the origin of the Moon called the Giant Impact Theory. In the last decade, scientists like Robin Canup have been testing a number of predictions of this theory using a new generation of powerful supercomputers.
In this video, Dr. Canup showcases her recent results. The visualization is a work in progress produced for the upcoming giant screen fulldome film "Birth of Planet," with funding from the National Science Foundation.

[@slooob23]

My great grandfather told me about this, he saw it happen. They had to live underground and eat canned food for a few million years, but he said having a moon in the sky made it worth the wait.

[@jayman_g1215]

lol

[@warrenbuffett920]

Oh my 🤣

[@gavinmatahari]

Have you read 'Cosmicomics' by Italo Calvino? If not, I recommend.

[@vicbertfartingclack4559]

You funny!

[@thea.8817]

Weh

[@AP-ob9pm]

This makes you think on how rare life must be.The sequence of events that makes life possible, it's really mind blowing

[@Puleczech]

+Augusto Totally agree. On the other hand, it is us who need 24hour day cycle, Moon, seasons, water cycle etc. Life could as well exist in much less delicate systems than ours, living only in specific parts of the host planet (after all, there are places even here on Earth where humans and most of the life forms cannot live). Or life elsewhere could be totally dependent on other things that we don't have or need - like the proximity of huge gas giant, five moons, methane volcanoes etc. My point is that life could be pretty abundant in the universe, and tough as shit in general. But always evolved only for the very slim set of delicate conditions of its environment, unable to live elsewhere without technology. I'd say that the sequence of events that lead to actual technology is what's mind blowing. Universe might be full of worms and jellyfish, but we might be the only one with technology so far.

[@snoortpod6462]

gcjerryusc - that's very 'meta,' but has the distinction of being in line with the increasingly accepted view of Platonic ideals and values inherent within the fabric of space and time. See Penrose/Hameroff. The idea is that these ideals reach actual conscious realisation at our scale of existence where the supposedly 'blind' fumbling of evolution seeks the required 'conscious' form for self-actualisation to occur - in other words, our brains are (presumably) the best example of this ultimate coagulation of matter at this stage in the evolution of the universe.

[@DForce26]

Rare events happen all the time - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

[@Yesica1993]

Gee, it's almost like it was created that way...

[@MrLaTEchno]

...really???...

[@Levi-fd3sj]

It's just amazing thinking how if the moon was bigger or smaller, closer or farther away could change our earth entirely.

[@insylem]

Its getting farther away every year

[@CountArtha]

It also slows the Earth’s rotation as its gravity steals momentum from the Earth’s spin. Because the Earth spins west to east (the direction of the Moon’s orbit), that momentum throws the Moon into a slightly higher orbit every day.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

I think you mean Theia. If the collision was even at a slightly different angle - we wouldn't exist. Gaia and Theia would've either been completely destroyed and the solar system acquires another asteroid belt, or the orbit is destabilized and we have no seasons, or Gaia suffers a second collision from the debris, or gains 90%-100% the mass from Theia and loses its entire atmosphere and oceans.

[@andypacmanperez]

@@abloogywoogywoo Crazy to think about

[@show_me_your_kitties]

Well we wouldn't have tides and we would have very dark nights. That's about it, we would be okay.

[@stanzigo]

That animation was amazing!

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

@stanzigo 100% agree!

[@Nograp]

stanzigo j

[@Mrbfgray]

Best I've seen on the subject so far.

[@poppidisappeared_]

Yas

[@PsychomachineryEBM]

Animation? That happened for real. The cameraman did a great work there 😉

[@tonicastel2390]

Excellent video. She did a brilliant job of explaining everything concisely & simply. Beautiful recreations.

[@twelge15]

Best plannet impact animations ever!

[@gertieshaw90]

Yes but I had to turn the commentary off.

[@ainternet239]

Apart from the "sound in a vacuum" thing.

[@randomsearches5675]

Yeah

[@entropicorder9501]

By far the best moon forming/simulation video Ive ever seen. Great job.

[@spaceboffin]

Fantastic final animation. Well done to the team involved.

[@Meinstein]

The best explanation, illustration and demonstration of this theory I've seen to date. Bravo!

[@LimmingKenny]

Anyone who promotes this theory never gets into *how moons formed around other planets*, so it's not a good theory. I think planets and moons generally form at the same time as each other and the star which they orbit. moons, planets, stars, and black holes are pockets in space where mass concentrated. One more thing, I think that they become a sphere shape when they have *enough mass that the core becomes molten* and the structure caves into a sphere shape. With enough mass a brown dwarf is created, otherwise only the center becomes a hot core. A planet moves up to a brown dwarf with the hot core extends to the surface. Jupiter 13 times larger would be a star in that it would glow and emit light visible spectrum light due to the hot core extending all the way up to the surface

[@thinkbeforyouvote]

@@LimmingKenny Oh they most certainly have but you have ignored it because it doesn't fit your confirmation bias. Other planets with different masses and different compositions. Stop conflating. Stop comparing apples to oranges.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@LimmingKenny This isn't a theory on "how moons form around other planets" though. It's the theory of why Earth's natural satellite is large compared to the main planet, their compositions, why there's seasons, tectonic activity, volcanism, etc.

[@wizzardofpaws2420]

I remember visiting the moon rock years and years ago and they had it where you could actually touch it I don't know if you can still touch it or not. But it was amazing to be able to touch a moon rock

[@djhutcherson6761]

When I visited the Smithsonian back in 2000 they had a small sample of a moon rock on display that you could touch. Not sure if it's still there or not.

[@kevinbaird7277]

I mean , that impact, that's a bad day for everybody if that happened today, i would have liked 2 moons, not one, is that asking too much?, i could have listened to this woman for hours, intelligent, expressive, on point, the ingredients for the perfect educator.

[@Guest-nb4en]

Theia was the planet to collide with earth, that brought earth ring of beautifulness also this was not an normal impact, it's a supermassive impact Here are some examples of damage roles :) -Low Impact is caused by an asteroid crashing to an planet -Impact is normal damage, nothing much to say here -Huge Impact is an huge asteroid/makemake-sized thing that crashes to an planet -Supermassive impact is an theia-sized thing/planet that crash to an planet -heavy bombaredent is an asteroid shower

[@exotickevil2599]

Actually theia was a proto planet

[@shade9592]

4:20 Earth rise in high definition... Fucking awesome! Thanks for the video SpaceRip!

[@JoTheVeteran]

That's the best moon birth illustration I've seen to this day. Good job!

[@JoTheVeteran]

@Willie Gordon I'd guess the shockwave would be enough to kill all life on the planet instantly, and maybe in the closest planets as well, if sound could proliferate though the vacuum of space. So.. loud enough

[@IslandRyland]

Awesome video. Can't wait to see more. Knowledge is power!

[@levi_ackerman_119]

Dang, that gravity well after impact was so beautifully conveyed.

[@DPRX99]

Everything is moving, everything is spinning, everything is about sweet-spots. Everything.

[@error.418]

@bogen broom You're right, I'm not spinning at 1000 mph, the earth is. I'm moving through space at that speed, plus the rotation of the earth around the sun, plus the motion of the solar system relative to the galaxy, plus the motion of the galaxy relative to the galaxy cluster, plus... but relative to the earth I'm standing still. This may just be too hard for your to understand so you simplify to something incorrect and think that a doctor can somehow help, which is not the typical expertise of a doctor. Please seek therapy.

[@XFourty7]

Amazing video, thanks for sharing.

[@3800S1]

Awesome! That simulation looks and resulted pretty much exactly like some of the ones I have run.

[@Mfields4517]

Im always surprised at the lack of use of the HD moon walk footage in moon documentaries. Glad to see some clips here

[@dashingdrakula]

5:45 is scarier than any horror movie i have seen.

[@sudorandom4590]

lol that looks sick

[@PhillipUranus]

I see that I’m literally just about to rub one out for the last time... No matter wtf I’m doing at the time lol

[@JustanotherrandomTom]

Interesting, Science!

[@Pintuuuxo]

We are getting closer to solving this mystery. Great Great video! Thanks.

[@Helaman104]

Very well done! Keep up the great work! Thank you.

[@CesareVesdani]

Its amazing how the Moon formed.

[@EugeneSeidel]

2:42 I loves me some of that good ultra-violence

[@rutherford5247]

Im glad Earth won that collision

[@podomuss]

Well, Theia was considerably smaller, and it didn’t really ‘lose’ The two planets just combined together.

[@dleivam]

Awesome video, top notch quality content

[@evorioss]

Moon is yet one mystery in the universe.

[@robustodelucci1850]

If the moon hits again...can we have a half day school?

[@firemangan2731]

Yes. And no school day because we’d all be dead.

[@petterlarsson7257]

i love how this video uses both the most realistic simulations and the least realistic *animations* at the same time

[@heroncortizo1993]

I totally agree with you, Dr. Canup. The formation of the moon and its angle impact was fundamental for life exists how it is today. Specially for us as inteligent beings.

[@sidewind131258]

Inteligent and inteligent beings .... bob bob :D

[@bacefookdat6525]

Heron Cortizo ...and you are CERTAIN of this because...? PEACE.

[@error.418]

@@bacefookdat6525 He just said he agrees, not that he's certain. This is called the Giant-impact hypothesis. A scientific theory has the highest level of certainty of any scientific knowledge. Whereas a hypothesis is just a proposed explanation for a phenomenon that requires further study.

[@bacefookdat6525]

Username No matter how much more "studying" is done regarding this subject it will always remain unknowable and unprovable...HONEST people have no problem admitting this. PEACE.

[@KvDenko]

My God 😍 how incredible and terrifying

[@playboy7500]

You are also incredibly beautifull

[@playboy7500]

@Lion Mane why you are so concerned?i dont even remember when i did this comment.white peoples are so dump about peoples thought🙄

[@abdimot]

@@playboy7500 Idiot, do you know him, eh? If not, don't assume someone's race. Stupid little piece of crap!

[@nhunhuhhii9611]

He thought this is youlube not KZbin 🤣

[@kingcarter9975]

What an absolutely horrific event that collision would have been to witness!

[@TxntFPS]

I witnessed it I had popcorn it was spectacular

[@nobodyisperfect5508]

5:45 woowh! I was so into the story and spilled my drink all over, that was insane :0

[@lightsidemaster]

God damn it I love these documentations so much

[@ergodoy7741]

A discussion and maybe animation of proto-Earth and Thea’s orbits would be interesting to get an idea of why objects this big were still able to avoid colliding until that fateful day.

[@Damo2690]

Because space is fucking big

[@ryandepp7640]

Space is massive, much much much more massive than these objects

[@avid0g]

Dr. Robin Canup, You never mention that Earth axis must be tilted so very much in the first place *because* of the Theia planetary collision.

[@windofthenightforests6927]

I first read about this incident in Gurdjeiff’s masterpiece “Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson” and I thought it is just fiction. Now I realized this is really how the Moon was formed!

[@nidhiparth3600]

A big thank you to our moon for being there for us.

[@suck634]

Sailor Moon did it again! :)

[@mikefire3998]

0:51 This is beautiful. Our blue pearl we live on.

[@lightupdarkness]

I think its more gray because of clouds

[@jeremycouncil9632]

Such an interesting concept. I can't get enough of it!

[@bezzlebedeviled4756]

Is there anywhere to view (or download) the full animation?

[@papwithanhatchet902]

The Earth mounted the remains of its vanquished foe in the sky like a moosehead on the wall. Savage.

[@tomkelly8827]

I propose we take Mercury and smash it into Venus at just the right speed and angle to create yet another livable planet in the goldilox zone loke us, on an orbit that is opposite to ours so we don't smash into each other

[@sovideo_]

5:43 Don't we love the sounds of the cosmic space? :D :D And those echoes!

[@jasonwelch6265]

This made me think about playing Mass Effect again.

[@phsal5182]

Truly amazing. Thank you

[@jerrypolverino6025]

Billions of years after this occurred a great ape walked the earth and invented gods to explain his surroundings.

[@zaparine]

I don’t believe in god but I understand how some people do. This video shows the earth collided into another planet and I’m pretty sure there was no life on earth at that time. However, how did the first organism exist from non living things? It had to function properly to maintain its life and can even reproduce. If you don’t see how miraculous it was, imagine a storm blows everything in a scrapyard and turns it into a robot. Not to mention that robot has to function and reproduce. That sounds impossible. For years humans try to deliberately make living things from non living things with organic compounds in the labs and fail every time. That’s not the proof for god’s existence but nature can be ridiculous sometimes.

[@jerrypolverino6025]

@@zaparine Read the scientific explanations rather than assume magical reasons.

[@zaparine]

There must be scientific explanation for this but it doesn’t make how life began on earth any less amazing. Without human intervention, nature tends to be more chaotic. However, living things seem to work against the laws of thermodynamics. As I said nature can be weird, ridiculous and amazing sometimes.

[@chbrules]

SpaceRip FTW! More content!

[@nicoladellino8124]

Unbelievable, very nice video, TNX

[@GiraffeParty]

Outstanding mini-documentary

[@phillipbrown1467]

3:38 How I felt when I saw Keanu in 2077.

[@arvilmogensen1945]

A very interesting presentation, leaving me wanting to know more. But first, thank you for taking time to prepare and post this video. Now on to a couple of simple questions with perhaps very complicated possible answers. 1. Is our Moon, which seemingly does not rotate a uncommon but not unique circumstance for plants? 2. A liquefied molten earth and a similar situation on the Moon after impact, could have many possibilities for rotation such as clockwise, anti-clockwise, a planar rotation, or some other perpendicular rotation. Any simple justification for a fixed, non-rotating Moon as we see today? While all thoughts include controversy, at least it would seem Astrophysics has not allowed school children and politicians to flood the world news with unsubstantiated opinion. I am very grateful to those working in the scientific world who share their technical work for us to consider.

[@jayfredrickson8632]

@J B I think I he commenter meant planets, i.e. is this unusual for planets. In which case it's not unique.

[@Chris.Davies]

Planets and moons tend to become what is known as "tidally locked", with several modes. The Moon is tidally bound to Earth in a 1:1 periodicity, which means it rotates once on its axis each time it travels around the Earth. This means one face of it always points towards Earth. It is gravity and tides which causes this to happen over very long periods of time. In the Moon's case, it will not have had much rotation at all when it formed, and it did not take long for the liquid interior to drag on the crust until rotation reduced to tidally locked. Moons can also adopt different episodes of tidal locking. They may also adopt 3:2 ratio, or 2:1 ratio over time. In the case of the Earth and Moon, it is the water on the surface of Earth, and its extra bulge in the tide which accelerates the moon in its orbit, and which influenced it's rotation rate. The possible outcomes of planets colliding is always limited by the initial rotational speeds, impact speeds and angles, and so things tend to stay in planes due to conservation of momentum.

[@mjszczepankiewicz8496]

Outstanding

[@stevestarr9769]

Watching this, it's a bit of a miracle that we don't have more than 1 moon. Ah, what could have been. Very cool stuff.

[@elvin2010ify]

Nah, it affects oceans too so we would be drwoned most likely

[@000swift1]

We’d have the worst weather ever experienced also...

[@error.418]

@@000swift1 Eh, we'll have that soon enough :P

[@culwin]

We're down to our Final Four terrestrial planets!! WHICH ONE WILL TAKE IT ALL

[@Archman155]

Nothing because we are in stable orbits now

[@ishurao3855]

@@Archman155 stable orbits ? you wisj

[@Archman155]

@@ishurao3855 ? We are in stable orbits and we have been like that for millions of years. no more planets are gonna collide without some special force because our orbits no longer intertwine and change and do weird stuff.

[@carsoncyrus9786]

@@Archman155 give it a few million years

[@ameter6422]

spacerip ✅✅

[@xanaduxanadu3605]

What really freaked me out about the Apollo missions is reading recently that the astronauts flung bags of their garbage onto the moon before they left. For 8 minutes on one mission and they threw garbage out. That is just wrong! And four bags of poop alone. A sterile clean place and we go there and what did we do? We pooped on it! Armstrong left his poop on the moon. Yay.

[@TiberiusNCC1701]

I am wondering, when in the moon's "fingernail growth" speed retreat from earth in it's orbit, how long ago was the moon in a geosynchronous orbit, and since the moon's orbit and the earth's rotation was affected by the tides, if at that time, the tides were only affected by the sun, how long did the moon's orbit stay in that configuration?

[@TheTalemaster]

Ah...space ballz.

[@pauldavies8638]

Space snooker

[@pauldavies8638]

@aaronsdavis should of put more back spin on the cue ball

[@clevelandcavalier5653]

1st. Great video. I love SpaceRip.

[@mikeh615]

awesome video. good job

[@GrantH2606]

That animation is superb

[@Goossen015]

Now i know how the Earth became flat. Thanks SpaceRip, keep uploading more space content : )

[@error.418]

Nope.

[@Anuojat]

Birht of the Moon: Well you see kids when 2 planets, one smaller and one bigger BANG against each other very much...

[@jordanbstone]

Fascinating!

[@WalterWhiteFootballSharing]

I'll never forget seeing the Theia collision at the Hayden Planetarium NYC Museum of Natural History on a class trip. When Covid ends Im celebrating going there and Intrepid Aircraft carrier museum, the MET, MOMA, I miss all the shit I used to do winter weekends before Covid. 2020 I feel like I was moved without my consent a few hours away from any city and its amenities.

[@artemiseritu]

I can't remember where I heard it from, but I heard a long time ago, that the moon was placed here on purpose... and that the tilt angle, speed, and rotation of the moon and earth is on purpose, and statistically, could only be on purpose. It has to do with "tital lock", which is not possible without external intervention, or preemption. So basically, without that preemption, there would be chaos, and no earth/moon/sun system.

[@dennenboomblaadje1537]

Everybody knows the moon is made of cheese

[@sidewind131258]

And a Cheddar cheese at that :P

[@bartacomuskidd775]

haaaavarti.... mmmmm

[@FedralBI]

Swiss you heathens, cant you see the holes all over it!

[@stephenyutuc9468]

This is a teen titans go reference just so you all know

[@zombiespartan73]

Funny

[@colinp2238]

Thank you for this information it is the most informative video I have seen on this subject albeit the shortest. For ages I have been commenting on similar videos asking what happened to Thea, the impactor but never before had an answer. This scientist has said that it was absorbed by the collision but I always had the impression that it would veer over like a snooker ball because it impacted off centre.

[@snoortpod6462]

You can still retain your original point of view. There's nothing wrong with it.

[@colinp2238]

I'm suffering from Mandela effect here I already answered this comment. Thanks as this was the first time I had heard of the absorption, I thought that it may have flown off to the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud but I suppose that it could have quite easily ended up in the Sun.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

What happened to Theia and Gaia? _We're standing on them._

[@colinp2238]

@@abloogywoogywoo That ignores my comment on Thea hitting and veering off like a snooker ball.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

@@colinp2238 This is astronomy, not sport. Planetary collisions are violent and messy.

[@thunkjunk]

Thanks SpaceRip!

[@LordHeg]

When you already know about every single detail about the creation of the solar system but you’re just here for the angry people that say “god made the earth”

[@pauldavies8638]

That's what I was looking for, some philistines to get going.

[@genericguy_]

So, you telling me ''god' didn't create moon?? 😜😜

[@AviChetriArtwork]

Yes.

[@catchang8234]

Thank you for the video

Earth + Theia: still a better love story than Twilight.

[@GoodTimesWithHO]

LMAOOOOOO

[@mobiltec]

Kinda blows the flat earth theory out of the park LOL...

[@questioneverything2152]

mobiltec You are so wrong, this is what made earth flat, lol 😂

[@mobiltec]

Everyone knows that the earth is shaped like a doughnut...

[@hector119autum]

mobiltec exactly. See they made a little calculation error. The colliding planet actually went straight through the centre of the earth, not only making it a doughnut, but a flat doughnut. It's been a pleasure to share this lost knowledge with you all.

[@bartacomuskidd775]

What Theory

[@TheHelghast1138]

But what about the hexagon Mars Society???

[@ozinusa]

don't tell the snowflakes about this

[@lucastaylor2321]

The fact that we have got to the stage of development that we can theorise and explain the formation of earth & the moon is astounding. Just a few centuries ago, deities and Gods were credited with everything.

[@ChrisS310]

Awesome video.

[@bacefookdat6525]

Sheriff What's the definition of speculation?

[@error.418]

@bogen broom cool story

[@amitgarg8393]

Its like By evaluating a drop water from Ocean, You are concluding How Oceans are made :P

[@MrLewooz]

There are still creationist invading the comments with high level writings. They don't know that they have to disappear or evolve...

[@Alessandro-B]

Trolls be trollings, that's what they're there for.

[@ruanhuman]

Definitely one of my favourite moon formation theories yet!

[@jeffbattle6554]

I wanted to use this in my science class, but because you have un-skippable mid roll ads I can't use it. I will bet a lot of teachers feel the same. You could generate a lot more revenue with beginning clip and end clip ads.

[@yugurthabouziad4416]

Every human have to see this

[@xeno9889]

Me: What is Theia? Earth: *I haven't heard that name in years...*

[@ant3484]

2:44 BOOM (new sub)

[@TIRFemcel]

I was there when this happened, this is pretty accurate

[@davidorasanin3800]

When will we see cosmic jurneys again? Now that was awsome siries..i love it..

[@normanhill4028]

I sense a disturbance in the force.

[@Dolores5000]

Fantastic

[@somekid1928]

when we leave earth we need to take the moon with us

[@shyguy929]

The moon formed when the earth got sucker punched by a rouge planet

[@negativeindustrial]

It was first suggested in the 40’s. It was in the 70’s that it was first taken seriously.

[@DaviMKim]

Mesmerizing

[@GamersHolyArmy]

I love how this video has the conspiracy video link to basically the moon landing.

[@wildmanjeff42]

how much mass do they think accumulated on the planet/moon after collision due to asteroids. comets, and meteorites?

[@ochoatv567]

If a civilization would have existed before the impact we would never ever know no proof would exist that's scary and its even more scary knowing that can happened to us at any moment

[@Guest-nb4en]

2:06 i like the transition of that strange asteroid piece became asteroid

[@paulhanspaul]

„What you would have seen - an enormous object aproaching“ 😀 Let's assume that the object appeared from nowhere and didn't come to closer contact to proto-Earth gravity field anytime before... What you would have seen at first is probably some enormous tectonic event / major earthquake / mega tsunami, preceeding the impact by a few minutes, as such object disbalances proto-Earth gravity field. So an eventual observer could be quite busy with a disaster caused by such effect and wouln't notice any approaching object :) Anyway, big thanks for this perfect simulation!! 👍 The best I've seen among the other "photoshop-level" animations 👍