Moon is just a chunk of the Earth and not mainly part of an ancient planet as previously thought, scientists claim

THE moon is just a chunk of the Earth and not mainly part of an ancient planet as previously thought, scientists claim.

Experts had believed our satellite was created when hypothetical body Theia hit our planet 4.5 billion years ago.

Molten debris from the smash was believed to have bound together to form the moon.

But a new study suggests it is instead made primarily from material spat out from the Earth’s mantle — the layer beneath the crust, where temperatures can hit 3,700C — in the collision.

Researchers at the University of Göttingen in Germany compared rock samples from the moon and Earth.

The likeness led them to conclude the satellite must have formed entirely from the same material when Theia hit.

Study lead Professor Andreas Pack said: “One explanation is that Theia lost its rocky mantle in earlier collisions and then slammed into the early Earth like a metallic cannonball.

“If this were the case, Theia would be part of the Earth’s core today, and the Moon would have formed from ejected material from the Earth’s mantle.

“This would explain the similarity in the composition of the Earth and the Moon.”

They say the study has also cast doubt on theories that water only arrived on Earth after the moon was formed.