How a vaporized Earth might have cooked up the moon
New simulation suggests the moon formed when Earth turned into a squishy doughnut
![illustration of early Earth](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/022818_HT_moon-formation_main.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
COOKIN’ After colliding with a planet-sized rock, the early Earth may have existed as a hot cloud of vapor and rock (illustrated), from which the moon also may have formed.
S. Stewart/UC Davis based on NASA rendering