Crystals formed in the Moon’s cooling magma ocean suggest the Moon is 40 million years older than previously believed.
The Moon’s crater-covered countenance was previously thought to be a youthful 4.42 billion years old, give or take about 10 million years. But now, samples of crystals taken from the rocky satellite half a century ago indicate that the Moon is about 40 million years older than we knew. The Moon formed over 4 billion years ago, when a body about the size of Mars collided with the primordial Earth.
intends to send humans to the Moon sometime after 2025 and establish a sustained presence there. More: Apollo Astronauts May Have Brought a Piece of Ancient Earth Back From the Moon
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The moon may be 40 million years older than we thought, Apollo 17 samples suggestSharmila is a Seattle-based science journalist. She found her love for astronomy in Carl Sagan's The Pale Blue Dot and has been hooked ever since. She holds an MA in Journalism from Northeastern University and has been a contributing writer for Astronomy Magazine since 2017. Follow her on Twitter at skuthunur.
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Moon is 40 million years older than we thought, tiny crystals from Apollo mission confirmHarry is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. He studied Marine Biology at the University of Exeter (Penryn campus) and after graduating started his own blog site 'Marine Madness,' which he continues to run with other ocean enthusiasts.
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Dust collected by Apollo 17 mission shows moon’s true ageA new analysis of that sample detected zircon crystals and dated them to 4.46 billion years old. Previous estimates put the moon, formed by a massive celestial collision, at 4.425 billion years old…
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