On the Origin of the Moon

(Disclaimer : This theoretical approach is a long time thought project of mine. It exists here currently not as a complete work, rather as a project that will be iterated upon. I don’t write this as a factual claim, but simply as a possibility to consider, just as any other. I am not presenting this with any scientific background other than general curiosity, contemplation and a genuine passion for our Moon. I don’t endorse promoting the work as scientific literature. I do not intend or desire to discredit any currently accepted theories of the formation of the Moon, but I believe this concept deserves a spot in the realm of candidates.)

Preface

The origin of the Moon has been held solely in theory throughout the pondering of humanity. I personally find our satellite and the mysteries embedded in its existence fascinating. I experience marvel in looking at our orbiting companion, in its unchanging appearance, except that of our own shadow draping over it. Some nights appearing so distant and cold, yet other nights so full and vibrant, displaying the abstract mosaic of the impacts withstood throughout the millennia strewn about its face. Sitting there peacefully, a mesmerizing orb, often instilling an uncanny otherworldly feeling within me. The theories developed to explain how it formed, when, and if it is even a natural structure all cover a range of plausibility and absurdity that I think exemplify the potency of her intrigue. Luna, our closest neighbor could possibly keep her history to herself for the entirety of our species’ reign, but I still believe it to be a topic worth exploring.

There are cultures around the world that hold myths of a time before the Moon’s arrival. This concept drives some of the more outlandish claims on how our planet acquired the Moon. For the record, I don’t mean outlandish with any negative connotation, I think any possibility is worth considering. I don’t mean to discredit the claims, but there do seem to be more likely events that could have resulted in the Moon’s more astonishing and baffling features.

From what I’ve observed, our Moon is a bit enigmatic, anomalous even. I think the unlikelihood of it existing as it does is part of what shrouds it in such thick veils of mystery. Despite being our closest neighbor though, little research has been conducted since the lunar landings that captivated the world at the time. I wish I could have experienced that era, the sheer excitement as the world watched man taking the first steps on the Moon’s surface. Whether you believe we actually planted our feet there is up to you, regardless, even if we didn’t, we still haven’t actually nor pretended to visit it again since then. We have sent unmanned probes to conduct research, but the satellite has been desolate otherwise.

What we have successfully concluded though, is that the composition of the Moon is not what intuition would lead you to believe. Time and time again I have heard mention of the observation that the Moon ‘rings like a bell when struck’, displaying bizarre seismic activity that can’t be easily explained. Some believe that it has an outer shell, some believe it is entirely hollow, or just less dense below its crust. My personal theory can help cater to these possibilities.

The Secretion Theory

Section 1 - The Planet of Eden

At the preface of my theory, we must dive into the origins of the Earth itself. To understand the formation of the Earth, we must understand the prospect of where our Solar System came from. Consider this - A single planet containing the vast majority of the mass our Solar System contains now. This planet, let’s call it Eden, held a size similar to that of our Sun, for it was our Sun. Eden orbited a star of it’s own, long long ago. With a rich atmosphere, and abundant resources, this planet was teeming with life. Evolution on Eden looked very similar to the process we’ve observed here on Earth. As with any star though, collapse would come. The star that Eden orbited would have been absolutely massive, orders of magnitude larger than our Sun, thriving for an incomprehensible number of years. The demise however would have brought catastrophe instantaneously.

The collapse of Eden’s star likely resulted in a explosive blast shattering the structure of the system surrounding it. If there was intelligent life on Eden, they either knew they had to escape their impending doom, or the entirety of the species the planet held were lost in the blink of an eye. The entire history of a long standing system, wiped entirely from recognition.

The explosive force of Eden’s star would have ejected entire celestial bodies into the void of space. This is where Eden would spend millions, perhaps billions of years, drifting ever deeper into a vast empty expanse, slowly reforming, slowly collecting debris that trailed.

Over time the remnants of Eden would cool, lightyears away from the star that had collapsed. Possibly it collapsed into a black hole, perhaps it still glows faintly to this day, a distant echo of our origin. As Eden cooled, due to the tremendous mass the celestial body held, the inner core would have been subject to immense pressure building over time. The crust spent millennia squeezing the contents within, until the tipping point was reached, and natural fusion was achieved. This single bond would set off a chain reaction, setting the sum of mass ablaze into a nuclear hellscape. Every particle of Eden would be converted to plasma in a short period of time, ending the era of solid matter for the planet.

The time of silence for Eden comes to an end in an inferno - The birth of a new star - Our sun.  This explosion wasn’t taking life, it was setting the stage for a new era of it. From the farthest edges of the blast radius, where the gasses and lighter matter were ejected, to the inner quadrants of our newly formed solar system where the heavier materials lie, our home began to take shape. Over billions of years, order settled into the chaos, planets formed from debris, finding their rightful place in orbit around our sun.

Section 2 - The Early Earth

Earth formed as a single entity. Originally a molten orb, with an orbit much less stable than what we observe today, it was a featureless wasteland. It’s more elliptical orbit put the planet through seasons of extreme heat as it passed by the sun, out into a more distant orbit, where it spent most of it’s time cooling, slowly over time. The remnants of gasses in the inner orbits were collected over time, providing atmosphere to the planet, further intensifying these orbital seasons. The Earth, bearing an incredible amount of mass, underwent stages of hardening of the crust year after year, ultimately cooling and stabilizing in orbit.

The Earth at that time had significantly more mass than what we have today in our planet. This lead to a process similar to what Eden underwent. Cooling, squeezing, pressure building, Volcanic activity was the most common event on the surface of the planet, aside from the bombardment of meteors and asteroids depositing minerals and water. All of this activity building more atmosphere for the Earth, with the heat radiating from the infernal core vaporizing some asteroids before they were even able to reach the surface.

At this time, the flat featureless surface began to become more pronounced. Slowly, mountains began to tower in the hottest spots of the surface. One in particular grew exponentially. This supermassive volcano stretched higher than any mountain we can see or imagine on the face of Earth today. As the planet continues to cool, the natural formation continues to rise.

Again, one day, a tipping point is met. The internal pressure of the core can no longer be contained by the crust formed around the Earth that is squeezing every molecule of matter within the rocky mass.

Section 3 - Eruption Day

Image Generated By Dall-E 3 / ChatGPT

The supermassive volcano is the point of pressure release for our planet. Millions of years of pressure built up spews from the top of the mountain, reaching escape velocity. The contents from within the Earth is secreted into orbital heights, enveloping our planet in a ring of molten Earth. Some of the contents of every layer of our planet slowly drift and coalesce in orbit., some plummeting back to the surface, while a small amount escapes into the void. The less dense of the materials, being the first to form the inner core of the newly birthed Moon are later blanketed by the more dense contents that followed in the eruption. This reverse ordering buildup of the celestial body is what gives our Moon the bizarre characteristics we see today.

The bulge left by our now obliterated mountain settles, forming an elevated plateau, a land mass we will one day know as Pangea. The continent hasn’t yet been surrounded by water, but rather the molten contents of the eruption, slowly smoothing out the feature. As the planet stabilizes itself after the eruption, the contractions rippling through the planet cause powerful earthquakes that crumble what was once a towering mountain.

The Moon, sharing the same relative momentum of the Earth lead it to be tidally locked very early in its formation. The trajectory of the eruption dictated the orbital velocity. Still holding a minuscule amount of the momentum from the eruption, it slowly creeps its way farther from the Earth. Over time both bodies cool, stabilizing, developing to be the marvels we are blessed with now.