Produced by: BT Desk Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Around 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet named Theia collided with Earth, ejecting material that formed the Moon and other debris.
The Theia impact led to the formation of the Moon, with debris either returning to Earth or leaving the Earth-Moon system entirely.
Evidence of Theia’s remnants is found in Earth’s mantle and lunar rocks, confirming the dramatic collision that shaped the Earth-Moon system.
A new study from the University of Nevada suggests that, after the Moon’s formation, the Earth briefly hosted polar moons, known as circumbinary particles.
The study highlights that stable polar orbits existed right after the Moon’s formation but vanished as the Moon moved farther from Earth over billions of years.
According to the research, the stability of these polar moons was influenced by nodal precession, a slow shift in orbital parameters of the Earth-Moon system.
The Kozai-Lidov oscillations, caused by perturbations from the Sun, also impacted the polar moons’ orbits, playing a role in their eventual disappearance.
As tidal forces pushed the Moon farther from Earth, these once-stable polar orbits were erased, reshaping the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system.
The research on polar moons offers new insights into exoplanet studies, helping scientists understand how highly eccentric planet-moon systems might function.