Published in Nature · View the paper (DOI)
A new research paper suggests that the impact that formed the moon also caused calamitous changes to Earth's rotation and tilt. The model indicates that the remaining anomalies in the moon's orbit are relics of the Earth-moon system's explosive past, with a large tilt of up to 80 degrees.
Coverage from 2 institutions
- New model explains the moon's weird orbit University of Maryland · Oct 31, 2016 · first to report
- New theory explains how the moon got there University of California - Davis · Oct 31, 2016