Astrophysics study suggests Venus may have swallowed its moon

If correct, the finding reshapes how scientists view the evolution of terrestrial worlds and could influence models of exoplanet habitability. The claim positions planetary scientists to reassess the history of Earth's nearest neighbor and its angular momentum balance. The study links Venus' unusually slow rotation to an unstable lunar orbit, making a collision effectively unavoidable.

Reuters carried the core conclusion, while heise online and Universe Today stressed the inevitability of impact. Independent.co.uk highlighted the rotation‑moon connection, and EarthSky reported that the moon may have persisted for almost two billion years before its demise. The paper's modeling shows that over billions of years the diminishing orbital energy would culminate in a collision, a scenario the outlets agree marks the moon's inevitable fate.

Without direct measurements, scientists cannot confirm whether fragments survived, leaving the planet's present lack of a moon as the primary evidence.