Quote:
Originally Posted by Stonius
Theia is the hypothesised minor planet that smashed into the earth 4.5MY ago, creating the earth-moon system.
The question is whether the impact would have changed the earth's orbit around the sun.
For example, I think I'm right in saying that if the earth weighed twice as much, it couldn't follow the same path around the sun as it does now.
So if the earth suddenly gets a moon, does that extra mass in the Earth-Moon system shift the orbit?
I guess then you have the vectors of the actual impact too which would alter the orbital dynamics.
But presuming it's fair to say that the earth was once in a different orbit. Is there any way of surmising what that ancient orbit would be?
Markus
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Do you mean 4.5 Billion years ago?
Cheers
