Formation theories for the Moon have come and gone due to the discovery of new knowledge. The fission theory postulated that the Moon separated from the Earth in the vicinity of what is now the Pacific Ocean. Why is this early 20th century notion totally discredited today? What discovery in the mid-1960s provided the evidence to disprove this theory? [Hint: The first clue came from Alfred Wegener. His theory was at first ridiculed but was later shown to be true from research in the 1960s–1970s. Wegener’s theory was renamed as what? Our current model also explains earthquakes. To answer this you will have to Google.]

Formation theories for the Moon have come and gone due to the discovery of new knowledge. The fission theory postulated that the Moon separated from the Earth in the vicinity of what is now the Pacific Ocean. Why is this early 20th century notion totally discredited today? What discovery in the mid-1960s provided the evidence to disprove this theory? [Hint: The first clue came from Alfred Wegener. His theory was at first ridiculed but was later shown to be true from research in the 1960s–1970s. Wegener’s theory was renamed as what? Our current model also explains earthquakes. To answer this you will have to Google.]