Stunning Nasa video shows how the Moon evolved from a flaming ball of fire

The evolution of the Moon from a ball of fire 4.5 billion years ago into the satellite we see at night has been turned into a video by Nasa.

The video was created at its Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and shows in 2.41min the changes from its early molten beginnings to the rugged silver-grey piece of rock that Neil Armstrong first set foot on in 1969.

It was released to mark the 1,000th operational day of Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Scientists believe that its remarkable journey began after a large chunk of rock - the size of Mars - smashed into Earth causing part of our planet to be flung out into space.

The force of the collision was so powerful it turned the chunk into a spinning ball of molten lava which slowly cooled over time.

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A combination of volcanic activity and repeated bombardment from other objects is what has given the Moon its heavily-cratered appearance – including a 2,500km-wide dent in its surface known as the South Pole Aitken Basin.

Dr Tim O’Brian, from the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, in Cheshire, told Yahoo! News that scientists believe that the size of the rock ripped out of Earth by the impact was equivalent to Australasia. A region made up of Australia, New Zealand, New Guineas and neighbouring islands.

He said: “The heat content is related to the volume of the planet and therefore the rate at which it cools down. As the Moon is small in size, it meant it cooled down more rapidly than other objects in space.”