When the Earth Had Two Moons: Cannibal Planets, Icy Giants, Dirty Comets, Dreadful Orbits, and the Origins of the Night Sky
Erik Ian
In 1959, the Soviet Luna-3 station took the first photographs of the far side of the Moon. Even in poor resolution, the images stunned scientists: the reverse side looked like a huge expanse of mountain ranges, and not like the vast lava plains that cover the side visible from Earth. Subsequent missions confirmed this discovery with high-quality images. Why does the moon look the way it does, and does it say something about our place in the universe? It turns out that it can - and quite a lot. In When the Earth Had Two Moons, renowned planetary scientist Eric Asfogh takes us on a breathtaking journey to the farthest reaches of our galaxy to find out why the moon is so different. Interestingly written, with provocative arguments, this book is not only a dizzying astronomical tour, but also an in-depth study of the origin of life billions of kilometers from our home.
