2023-10-25 20:45:06
The age that until now has been assumed for the Moon seems to be incorrect, judging by the unexpected results of a recent study.
By analyzing tiny lunar crystals collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, the authors of the new study have recalculated the age of the Moon. Although previous assessments estimated the Moon to be 4.425 million years old, the new study has found that it is actually 4.46 billion years old, or a little older.
The study was led by researchers from the Field Museum of Natural History in the United States and the University of Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom. To carry out the study, the use of a laboratory at Northwestern University in the United States was vital, where the age of the oldest crystal in the sample was determined. By revealing the age of these telltale zircon crystals (which were hidden in dust collected from the Moon), researchers were able to reconstruct the chronology of the Moon’s formation.
No less than 4.46 billion years ago, when the solar system was still young and the Earth had not yet completed its formation, a star the size of Mars collided with the Earth.
As a result of the collision, a part of the Earth broke away from it and then formed the Moon. The energy of the impact melted stone matter that ended up forming the lunar surface.
Jennika Greer, from the research team, working in the Northwestern University laboratory during the new study. (Photo: Dieter Isheim / Northwestern University)
The research team, led by Jennika Greer of the Field Museum of Natural History, lays out the technical details of their new measurement in the academic journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters, under the title “4.46 Ga zircons anchor chronology of lunar magma ocean.” (Source: NCYT from Amazings)
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