Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
PLANETARY SCIENCE: Beating Up on a Young Earth, and Possibly Life
Abstract:
Lunar meteorite analyses reported on page 1754 of this issue reveal a burst of impacts on the moon 3.9 billion years ago and nothing before that; the cosmochemists conclude that the moon and Earth endured a storm of impacts 100 times heavier than anything immediately before or after. Such a lunar cataclysm would have scarred the moon with the great basins that now shape the man in the moon. On Earth, the same bombardment would have intervened in the evolution of life, perhaps forcing it to start all over again.
Related Concept Videos
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
Acceleration due to Gravity on Other Planets
Astronomical observations are thus used to measure the acceleration due to gravity on other planets. This can be determined by observing the effect of a planet's gravity on objects close to it. The crucial factor that helps in this...
Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion
Polish astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus put forth a theory that stated a heliocentric model for the solar system. According to this heliocentric theory, all the planets, including Earth, orbit the Sun in circular orbits.
On the other hand,...
Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion
While in an elliptical orbit, the total energy of the planet is conserved. Therefore, the planet slows down when it is at apogee and...
Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion

