Moon formation
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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",…