Chaos and Order
How the Moon formed is something astronomers have been wondering for ages. The best idea is that put
forward by Bill Hartmann – an astronomer and fellow space artist – and Donald Davis. They assert
that a massive protoplanet slammed into Earth just after it had formed, creating a ring of debris
around the young planet. The Moon then formed later as the material in this disc clumped together.
This picture shows the process in three stages.