Did the giant impact that formed the Moon affect Earth's position in the solar system?

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YoungDreamer
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I am not a scientist, just an observer and an enthusiast.

I have read that the moon was formed by a huge collision between the Earth and another large body. I was wondering if this had any affect on the Earths position in the solar system. Could it have moved the planet at all? With the extra mass in the general vicinity could it have had affects on other planets?
 
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Hi YoungDreamer! Welcome to PF! :smile:

We're still not sure how the Moon was formed, but the best guess seems to be that was in the same orbit as the Earth, at the "L4 or L5 Lagrange point" …

being in the same orbit, no it wouldn't have had any noticeable effect on the Earth's position

(the Earth's position was far more affected by the gravitational effect of Jupiter)

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis#Theia" for some details, and diagrams. :wink:​
 
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