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How many comets?
Dear all, I wonder what the thoughts of some of our more learned IISers might be on this question that has bugged me for a while.
From some of my reading, my understanding is that current theories of the formation of the moon involve the Earth being struck by a mars sized object and that the moon formed from the debris and that the heat from this collision would have vaporized all of the Earth's water. The articles that I've read suggest that all of the water we now have came from comets colliding with the Earth.
My queries are 1) How many comets would it take to provide the vast amount of water on this planet? 2) Assuming that the Earth wasn't the only planet to experience this deluge of comets, how many comets would there have been in the early solar system to provide this kind of bombardment of the planets and presumably the Sun.
I'm not really expecting numeric answers, but if the theory is true, its pretty mind boggling. What do others think? Or, have I misunderstood?
Any thoughts appreciated!
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