London:
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.