US EditionA Collision With Another Planet Could Have Allowed for Life on Earth
Researchers at the University of Bern found that Earth's water and life-essential elements arrived from a planetary collision with Theia, supporting the Giant Impact Hypothesis.
- On August 1, researchers from the University of Bern reported that the chemical makeup of the proto-Earth was finalized within a three-million-year period following the formation of our Solar System 4,568 million years ago.
- This development occurred on a dry rocky proto-Earth and lacked the conditions necessary for life until a later planetary impact, likely from Theia, delivered water and volatile elements.
- Theia's collision formed the Earth-Moon system about 4.5 billion years ago and drastically altered Earth's atmosphere and habitability by adding life-enabling components like water.
- Dr. Simone Marchi emphasized that a rocky planet's potential to support life is influenced by its atmospheric characteristics, which are closely connected to geological processes like plate tectonics and the release of gases from the mantle, underscoring the importance of impact events in planetary development.
- These findings imply that Earth’s life-friendliness arose from a chance late impact event, suggesting such events critically shape terrestrial planet habitability and guide the search for habitable exoplanets.
15 Articles
15 Articles
A Collision With Another Planet Could Have Allowed for Life on Earth
Analysis by researchers at the University of Bern suggests that water and other volatile compounds arrived on Earth from outer space—specifically via a collision with a Mars-sized planet billions of years ago.
The violent collisions that made Earth habitable
Late-stage planetary collisions reshaped Earth and its neighboring planets, delivering water, altering their atmospheres, and influencing their tectonics. New findings suggest these violent impacts were central to both planetary diversity and the origins of habitability.
Life on Earth May Be Thanks to a Lucky Planetary Collision
Early Earth lacked life’s essentials until a collision with Theia added them. This chance event made life possible. After the Solar System formed, it took no more than three million years for the proto-Earth to finish developing its chemical composition, according to a new study from the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of [...]
From The University of Bern [Universität Bern] (CH) Via MyScience: “No collision, no life – Earth probably needed supplies from space”
From The University of Bern [Universität Bern] (CH) Via MyScience 28 August 2025 Artistic illustration of the early formation phase of the Solar System. At that time, the young Sun (in the center) was surrounded by a protoplanetary disk - a rotating collection of gas and dust. © ESO/L. Calçada After the formation of the…
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