Scientists have determined that Earth and the moon most likely could not formed together when

the solar system was created. The first debunked theory is the fission hypothesis. This theory claims that that while the Earth was forming, due to its heat and rotation, a piece broke apart and formed the moon. However, this requires too great of a spinning force to be plausible. Another debunked theory is the possibility that earths gravitational field captures and already existing moon as it passed by. However, the atmosphere of Earth would need to be much larger for this to be correct. Scientists have also debunked the capture theory, which proposed that Earth might have captured a passing planetoid and kept it as its own moon. This could not have occurred because the moon is so big that it would have kept going past Earth.

Scientists have found many large craters on the moon's surface, especially on its dark side, indicating numerous major impacts from other objects in the solar system. They have evidence that objects have hit the moon, Earth, and the other planets throughout the solar system's existence. The most promising moon theory involves a planet very close in mass to Earth, known as an
Orpheus. Scientists say that a primordial planet such as this could have had an orbit that existed to closely to Earths, and at one point in its orbit, it path crossed that of Earths and the two collided and fused. Following this collision, debris from Orpheus and pieces of Earth may have fallen into orbit around earth, and in time formed the moon. Assuming that Orpheus hit Earth at an oblique, off-

center angle, the moon would have formed after two consecutive impacts. The new moon would have accumulated debris and coalesced into its current form within 100 years. As the moon becomes more distant from Earth, days become longer and tides are less frequent.
Recent studies show that the Earth is moving away from us at a steady pace of 1.5 inches per year. But how do they know? By measuring comparing the ellipses of the current day to those of past years, scientists realized that more of the sun is shining around the moon nowadays. Also by firing lasers at the moon and reflecting them back via fraction difference, scientists are able to calculate this rate numerically. Scientists have investigated the path of totality of a solar eclipse 2,000 years ago and

found that, since the line of totality doesn't match what we would expect it to be, the days must have been shorter by 1/20 of a second.

If the Earth had no moon, it would lose all stability. The axis of the Earth would wobble, and the planet would wobble anywhere in the spectrum of 90 degrees. Also, these huge shifts in obliquity would result in huge temperature shifts of up to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, possibly reversing the climates of any present continents (Antarctica could be a barren desert and the Savanna a frozen landmass). We will have the hottest summer, and the coolest

If we had no moon, Earth's climate would fluctuate dramatically because Earth would wobble on its axis. The moon's gravitational pull keeps Earth at an average tilt of 23 degrees. Mars, which has no moon, has a tilt that varies from 0 to 90 degrees. Earth's tilt would fluctuate like that of Mars if it weren't for the moon. One example of the climatic variation that might occur is that

Antarctica could be a very hot region at some times and cold, as it is today, at other times. These fluctuations wouldn't be rapid but would take place over millions of years.
When the earth was much closer, the extreme tides caused by its gravitational pull could have very well sparked the creation of organic DNA biomolecules. Without the moon, these pulls would have been nonexistent, and there fore not worked.

A new, radical theory proposes that, when the protoplanet Orpheus collided with Earth, the impact blew off half of Earth's oceans and created a new atmosphere. Existing life forms would have died out. The theory holds that the two planets' iron cores mixed, and the new iron on Earth reacted with water, produced hydrogen, and formed a reducing atmosphere, which is essential for starting life. Lightning hit the young atmosphere, sparking life.
If earth had never been hit by Orpheus, not only would there be no life, but this planet as we know it would not exist. The surface would be completely covered by water, with only a few landmasses peeking out every once in a while. It would be a cataclysmic place, with much faster days, and catastrophic winds and deluges.

If Earth hadn't been hit by Orpheus, it would be covered by ocean, with perhaps a few mountaintops emerging through the water. There would be no humans, but there could be other forms of life. Earth would rotate rapidly, as the moon would not be present to produce the tidal friction that slows Earth's rotation today. Our days would be three times shorter than they are now. Earth would have a very harsh climate, and the most likely place for intelligent life to form would be in aquatic environments.