Moon formation

When Earth Danced with Polar Moons

The origins of the Moon have been the cause of many a scientific debate over the years but more recently…

4 months ago

Did An Ancient Icy Impactor Create the Martian Moons?

The Martian moons Phobos and Deimos are oddballs. While other Solar System moons are round, Mars' moons are misshapen and…

7 months ago

Massive Rocky Planets Probably Don’t Have big Moons

The Moon has orbited Earth since the Solar System's early days. Anyone who's ever spent time at the ocean can't…

3 years ago

Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020 – Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming to NASA/US Space Policy?

https://youtu.be/d3_CZD2PhhA We are pleased to once again welcome Casey Dreier from the Planetary Society to the WSH. Casey will update…

4 years ago

Evidence that Mars Used to Have a Ring

Mars only has two moons: Phobos and Deimos. They're strange, for moons, little more than lumpy, potato-shaped chunks of rock.…

4 years ago

Gas and Dust Stop Planets From Eating Their Moons

A team of Japanese researchers have created a new model for moon formation that explains how planets like Saturn end…

5 years ago

The Moon is Older Than Scientists Thought

The most comprehensive and widely-held theory of how the Moon formed is called the 'giant impact hypothesis.' That hypothesis shows…

5 years ago

Here’s a First. Astronomers See a Moon Forming Around a Baby Exoplanet

Astronomers have discovered, for the first time, moons forming in the disk of debris around a large exoplanet. Astronomers have…

5 years ago

Without the Impact that Formed the Moon, We Might Not Have Life on Earth

The Earth wasn't formed containing the necessary chemicals for life to begin. One well-supported theory, called the "late veneer theory",…

6 years ago