Because of the strong similarity in orbits, physical structure, and chemical composition of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, and Mars, the origin of the Earth—Moon system is most naturally studied within the context of the formation of the terrestrial planets as a whole, which requires in turn an understanding of the events that led to the formation of the entire solar system. While we certainly cannot claim to have a fully developed theory of solar system formation at this time, we do know enough to outline at least one chain of events through which the terrestrial planets may have formed, namely, through the collisional accumulation of a population of smaller sized bodies, termed planetesimals.
The starting point for modern theories of planet formation is the solar nebula, a flattened, rotating disk of gas and dust surrounding the early Sun. The solar nebula (q.v.) was formed from the collapse of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust, a process that took on the order of 100 000 years...
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Boss, A.P. (1997). Earth—moon system: Origin . In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_119
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