Slashdot Mirror
New Moon Formation Model
msheppard writes "This ariticle at Scientific American describes a new computer model describing the formation of the moon. "It is also strikingly similar to the first proposed impact theory 25 years ago, before computer simulations were available.""
Space.com has another version with more graphics.
Except the article refers to a consensus reached 25 years ago, but I believe the actual "collision with a Mars-sized body" consensus came from the Kona, Hawaii meeting in 1984. So that's only 17 years... And basically this model is just an incremental improvement (will a big increment - 20,000 body simulation instead of 3,000) over previous simulations of the process. Still interesting though!
It does lend some
Energy: time to change the picture.
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And the brethren went away edified.
What have miserable string instruments got to do with this?
The easiest way to explain the difference was to claim that the Earth was hit by another object which sloughed off part of the surface, leaving the core largely unchanged. The problem has been getting the timing and mass right: this simulation shows that it had to be about a Mars-sized object at a specific time - any bigger or smaller, or at a different time, and you need multiple collisions to obtain the Earth and moon as we see them today.
-dair (like I say, not an astronomer - just going by what I read in the paper this morning)
All you need is enough size in the object. A molten interior helps, but I don't think is essential. If you think of the planet as a loose collection of many objects rather than a single solid object, gravity tends to act just as with a liquid or gas, bringing everything to an 'equipotential surface', i.e. a sphere. The spinning of the Earth actually distorts its shape slightly from a sphere. But it's basically a matter of size (and density). As you get down to smaller bodies, in particular the asteroids, they get less and less spherical - you've probably seen pictures of Eros from the NEAR mission: basically a dumb-bell shape, not a sphere at all.
Energy: time to change the picture.
Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!)
(emphasis mine)
But then our friend goes on to claim:
There is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950.
Nice try, but you just referenced Joshua 10:12 in the Old Testament (written WAY before 1950, something that EVERYONE will agree on...):
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon."
I'm not a journalist, but I play one on slashdot
While it isn't likely that present day Earth will encounter another impactor such as may have formed the moon, legitimization of the theory behind this model goes a long way to giving planetary astronomers a better understanding of how planetary systems are formed. If they can't explain how WE got here, then its really difficult to conclude one way or another that similar systems are or are not out there.
Or pinball.
Hang on, I think I've heard this one before... Seems like c.s.s. folk are infesting slashdot these days ;).
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
Showing that something works is inconclusive . . . showing that everything else doesn't work is better.
Example: Two is the only even prime number. Proof: Two can be divided by one and two. Viola!
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I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
Hmmm...
The impact theory is really nice because it explains why the moon seems to have so many fewer minerals and a core that's aparrently rocky instead of metallic.
Still, addicted to eyecandy as I am, I would haved liked to have seen a computer rendered avi or something...
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)
Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.
Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!
Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.
I don't know where you got that. It was in neither the SciAm article nor the Cosmos series. It sounds like you have confused Carl Sagan with the crackpot Immanuel Velikovsky, which no doubt has the former turning in his grave.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
I'd personally start with density myself. They know there's something heavy down there, and the most logical choice being iron (?).
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
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And the brethren went away edified.
Billiards.
Earth-ball in the corner pocket...
Check out this moron. Paint the moon!
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Damn and I thought my summarization was so insane that people would know I was kidding.
Eek.
"And like that
You are Robert Novak and I claim my five pounds.
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And the brethren went away edified.
Then how do they eat soup in the Ma-- oh. moon.