Earth's collision with giant object created moon?

Giving credence to what is called "Giant Impact Hypothesis", researchers have found new evidence that the moon of our home planet was indeed created by a collision between earth and a planet-sized object some 4.5 billion years ago.

The earth was hit by a huge object called "Theia" which led to the moon's formation, the findings showed.

The idea that the moon was a result of such a collision has been called the "Giant Impact Hypothesis".

For the study, scientists studied moon rocks gathered by astronauts nearly a half-century ago in the Apollo 11, 12 and 16 moon missions.

They analysed various kinds of oxygen atoms and found the moon rocks have a different makeup than that of the earth.

"I think that most people believe in the Giant Impact Hypothesis," Daniel Herwartz, a geologist at University of Gottingen in Germany was quoted as saying.

The results also suggest that the moon may be a 50-50 mix of material from this object and from the earth.

The study appeared in the journal Science.