What major outcome might have resulted if Theia had struck Earth in a perfectly head-on smash?
Answer
Much of Theia's material might have simply merged with Earth, or both bodies vaporized entirely
The specific geometry of the impact was critical for the formation of the Moon as observed today. If the collision had been perfectly head-on, the kinetic energy transfer would have been maximized and directed inward or centrally. Under such an extremely energetic scenario, the outcome would have been binary: either the material from Theia would have merged directly into the bulk structure of Earth, contributing little to an orbiting debris disk, or the sheer scale of energy involved would have vaporized both the protoplanet and the early Earth completely, leaving no planetary remnants or a newborn Moon.
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