Regional Source of the Earth-Moon Progenitors

Different hypotheses including renegade planets, co-accretion, and precipitation have been proposed for the formation of the Earth-Moon system. However the Giant Impact hypothesis currently explains the most details concerning the mean density, isotopic variations, and high system angular momentum. Other studies have been performed that constrain various conditions of the impact. However, few have probed the initial orbital state of the impactor. E. J. Rivera [PhD Thesis Stony Brook Univ. 2002] began an investigation assuming, initially, a 5 inner planet Solar System where 2 planets experienced an encounter to produce the Earth-Moon system. We extend this investigation to include updated numerical techniques and a more general parameter space. An initial configuration of giant planets akin to the current Solar System is used to explore where the Earth-Moon progenitors likely originated. Future extensions of this work will also be discussed, including the consideration of a debris rich environment and alternate initial configurations of the giant planets commensurate with the Nice model.