<The whirlpool and eddies analogy sounds good and may often be how it happens, particularly around the gas planets and in the coalesence of planets around a star.

But:

Are you saying that you do not buy into the collision theory of our moon's formation?

We appear to be the only rock planet known to have a moon, or do you not subscribe to D&P being captured asteroids and P&C out of the mix entirely.

How is the surface of Venus like the surface of the moon, other than being rocky and mountainous like all the others?

I am a big fan of symmetry but chaos can have a certain symmetry of it's own and of course there are always exceptions to prove the rule.

Regards,
FLC



Hi Frank,

I agree chaos is never truly chaos - but the result of som balancing out somewhere else.

No, I don't buy the collision theory of our moon, primarily because it is too symmetrical and spherical. I know some folks believe that our oceans were once filled with a land mass and that this mass was ejected and formed our moon. I think this is very unlikely.

I think that both our moon and the earth were formed at similar times with the moon starting out slightly after the earth but it's core dying out quicker. I think the nature of the eddy theory illustrates that the moons will generally die out before the planet core will - as eddys usually weaken and dissipate first when the primary vortex slows down. Again an exceptional circumstance might arise where two core-driven object are similar in size. Theoretically the slightly smaller one 'the moon' of the two may siphon more energy and become the primary vortex.

Deimos and Phobos, both in their diminutive size and non-spherical nature are not true 'moons' in my opinon, but are the remnants of some collision - likely with Mars itself. Mars surface features denote a huge impact or perhaps a massive atmospheric explosion - unlike the surface of the earth - and so I find the collision theory much more applicable for these objects. I believe that whatever collided with Mars, stripped its atmosphere and left Deimos and Phobos orbiting the planet. I do not think they have cores or layered structures but will be found to be the same material throughout.

As for Venus and it's similarity to our moon, yes the mountainous landscape and volcanic activity indicate they both have cores. The extreme atmosphere on Venus is a symptom of its very slow rotation( 243 days ) which I believe will eventually be stripped like the moon's atmosphere by the solar wind once such rotation stops in its entirety. Its lack of a magnetic field also tells me that the planet's core is 'dying'.

One of the peculiar things about Venus which is like our moon is that it always shows us the same face when it is closest to the earth. A cosmic coincidence? Or perhaps this is some sort of synchronicity and magnetic parallaxes in evidence as the planets in our system balance?

Callisto, Io, Europa and Ganymede of Jupiter, Triton of Neptune and Titan of Saturn all, in my opinion, formed alongside their host planets. The very spherical shape and symmetry indicate they all have cores similar to planets and were not captured asteroids, nor formed as the result of a collision.

Triton - even though maintaining a temperature cold enough to freeze methane has volcanic activity - ice volcanoes. This again is evidence of its active core.

I think that major collisions occur less often than we think - and I would even go so far as to say that these collisions may be spawned by objects or influences from outside the solar system - much as the flowing eddys get disrupted and change with the influx of another outside influence into the kiddy pool.

Mars and the Kuiper belt seem to be linked as well - and the pieces of a puzzle seem to exist - perhaps a large planet sized passing asteroid - with attendant objects in tow through our system or some such. I wish I had Calvin and Hobbes time machine to go back in 'time' and check it out - it must have been terrifying to observe. ;-)

Best wishes,

SDAI-Tech1