Why the Moon is Essential for Life on Earth: Formation and Lunar Structure Explained

KOMPAS.com – As the brightest and largest object in the night sky, the moon makes Earth a more habitable planet.

The Moon produces a relatively stable climate on Earth. The moon also causes the tides, creating rhythms that have guided humans for thousands of years. Thus, the moon has a very important role for life on Earth.

When did the moon form?

The Moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago, when an object, perhaps the size of Mars, hit Earth and threw up enough molten debris, which then evaporated into space and created the Moon.

From this theory, it is thought that Earth’s moon was formed through a powerful collision. A giant object, named Theia after the Titan of Greek mythology, crashed into Earth, throwing material into space that later became the Moon.

The early solar system was probably a chaotic and scary place. Debris left over from the sun’s formation coalesces into a disk around the star, creating clumps that range in size from specks of dust to small planets.

Also read: Why does NASA want to build a nuclear reactor on the moon?

Gravity pulls these objects together, causing them to collide with each other, violent collisions that can end in the annihilation of new, larger objects.

These fused objects formed the planets, moons, asteroids and other solar system objects that we know today.

The newly formed moon was still in a molten state, but within about 100 million years, most of the “magma sea” had crystallized, with less dense rock drifting upward and eventually forming the moon’s crust.

Lunar structure

Earth’s Moon has a core, mantle, and crust. The Moon’s core is proportionally smaller than the cores of other terrestrial bodies. The dense, iron-rich inner core has a radius of 240 km, surrounded by a shell of molten iron 90 km thick.

The lunar mantle extends from the upper, partially melted layer to the lower part of the lunar crust. The moon’s mantle is likely made of minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, which are composed of magnesium, iron, silicon and oxygen atoms.

Also read: One of Saturn’s Smallest Moons Holds an Ocean of Secrets

Once upon a time, there were active volcanoes on the moon, but currently these mountains are inactive and have not erupted for millions of years.

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2024-02-28 11:30:00
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