The Moon is 40 million years older than previously thought

Led by researchers at the Field Museum and the University of Glasgow, the study was made possible by Northwestern University's atom-probe tomography facility, which"nailed down" the age of the oldest crystal in the sample. By revealing the age of these telltale zircon crystals -- found hidden within dust collected from the Moon -- researchers were able to piece together the timeline of the Moon's formation.

Isheim is a research associate professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and manager of Northwestern's Center for Atom-Probe Tomography . David Seidman, the Walter P. Murphy Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at McCormick and founding director of NUCAPT, also co-authored the study. Heck is the Field Museum's Robert A.

"In atom-probe tomography, we start by sharpening a piece of the lunar sample into a very sharp tip, using a focused ion beam microscope, almost like a very fancy pencil sharpener," Greer said."Then, we use UV lasers to evaporate atoms from the surface of that tip. The atoms travel through a mass spectrometer, and how fast they move tells us how heavy they are, which in turn tells us what they're made of.

The study,"4.46 Ga zircons anchor chronology of lunar magma ocean," was supported by NASA and the Field Museum's Women's Board Women in Science Graduate Fellowship. NUCAPT is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research and the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy.Why the Day Is 24 Hours Long: Astrophysicists Reveal Why Earth's Day Was a Constant 19.

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