Earth Once Had A Small Second Moon

Researchers are now suggesting that a low speed collision is to blame for the mysterious mountains on the far side of our moon. The scientists believe the slow speed of the crash was crucial in adding material to the rarely-seen lunar hemisphere.

CREDIT: Martin Jutzi and Erik Asphaug

Scientists have been trying to figure out why the near side of the Moon, the one we see from Earth, is flat and cratered while the far side that is rarely seen is heavily cratered and has mountain ranges higher than 6,000 feet.

Some studies suggest that tidal heating, caused by the pull of the Earth on the ocean of liquid rock that once flowed under the lunar crust, may have been the cause of the mountain ranges.

Researchers other  theory is that the Earth was struck about four billion years ago by another planet about the size of Mars. This is known as the global-impact hypothesis. The resulting debris eventually came together to form our Moon.

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