PAPER 1 OF THE LEF SERIES
The Model
The Moon was built from the Earth while attached to it, and released where the Earth's rotation had already given it orbital speed
Abstract
We propose that the Moon was built from terrestrial material while still attached to the Earth, and was released where the Earth's rotation had already given it orbital speed. The LEF model (Lunar Elevation and Fission) is a process model. It sets out a sequence of physical events, and for each event the series shows that standard physics permits it under the computed conditions, gives the number that sets it, and names the observation that tests it. A hot young Earth rotating once in 5.5 hours holds a source pressure of about 150 GPa, enough to raise a light, volatile-rich melt to the corotation line, the distance at which turning with the Earth already means orbiting it. The pressure raises a bulge that is drawn into a pear of the Earth's own material, with its base in the central Pacific. The body that becomes the Moon sits on its tip, fed from within and covered from without by the Earth's outer shell, which records the craters of material returning from nearby openings. The body flattens and rounds again while attached, which crowds the craters of its poles. Heat entering through Imbrium and Serenitatis raises the far-side dome that becomes South Pole–Aitken. At release the day is 5.77 hours, and the system holds 1.007 times today's angular momentum. The orbit starts tilted by the latitude of departure, 22.5°, and decays to the observed 5.145°. This paper presents the whole process and the part each of ten companion papers supplies. It ends with the tested observations, the requirements of the model and the work that remains open.
Keywords: Moon; lunar origin; corotation radius; Earth–Moon system; angular momentum; lunar maria; lunar craters; South Pole–Aitken; Pacific Ocean; Mars moons
How to cite
Duran, Z. (2026). The Model: The Moon was built from the Earth while attached to it, and released where the Earth's rotation had already given it orbital speed. Paper 1 of the LEF series. https://lef-model.com/paper01.html