To our best of our understanding, the Moon formed from Earth following a colossal impact. A Mars-sized world we nicknamed Theia slammed and merged with the primordial Earth, throwing material into space. Some fell back onto the planet, while some spread out and formed the Moon. New analysis is providing novel insights into Theia and where it came from. It was a lot closer than expected. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

According to the new work, Theia formed in the inner Solar System closer to the Sun than the Earth is and was. To establish that, the team looked at the isotopic composition of the Earth and the Moon. Isotopes are versions of the same chemical elements but with a different number of neutrons in their n

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