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Origin of the Moon by Fission

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Abstract

Reasons why the Moon could not have originated from the Earth have been accumulating for half a century. Most recently, MacDonald (1964) makes a powerful case against the theory by re-evaluating energy and dynamics of the Earth-Moon system. However, there are still uncertainties in the underlying assumptions on which the dynamic criticisms are based. In addition, the major qualitative features of the Moon are most readily explained by the fission hypothesis. Consequently this paper is a quiet plea for caution against premature rejection of fission from among our current working hypotheses of lunar origin.

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© 1966 Plenum Press

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Wise, D.U. (1966). Origin of the Moon by Fission. In: Marsden, B.G., Cameron, A.G.W. (eds) The Earth-Moon System. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8401-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8401-4_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-8403-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-8401-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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