CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A series of cosmic collisions may have spawned multiple moonlets that morphed into the one big moon we know today.

Israeli scientists reported Monday that rather than one giant impact that knocked off part of early Earth and created the moon, a number of smaller collisions may have produced lots of mini-moons. And those mini-moons, over millions of years, may have clumped together to make one large one.

The researchers conducted nearly 1,000 computer simulations and estimate about 20 impacts could do the job. They say that would explain why the moon seems to be composed of material from Earth, rather than some other planet, too.

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