A new analysis suggests the moon may be 4.46 billion years old or 40 million years older than previously thought.
A recent study suggests that the age of the Moon may be much older than previously thought. Who would have thought that the moon would be millions of years older than we imagined.
Researchers working on samples collected by the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 have conducted analyzes that suggest the moon may be 4.46 billion years old, or 40 million years older than previously thought.
Reporting from Digital Trends (30/10), the research was carried out on zircon crystals, which are small mineral crystals found in samples of dusty material from the lunar surface, called regolith.
“This study is evidence of the extraordinary technological progress we have achieved since 1972, when the last manned mission to the moon returned to Earth,” said one of the researchers, Dieter Isheim of Northwestern University, in a statement.
“These samples were brought to Earth half a century ago, but only now do we have the tools necessary to perform microanalysis at the required level, including atomic probe tomography.”
Researchers work by counting individual atoms in a sample to see which atoms have undergone radioactive decay.
The time it takes for certain elements to decay is well known, so by looking at the proportion of decayed and undecayed atoms, researchers can estimate the age of a sample.
“Radiometric dating works like an hourglass,” explains lead researcher Philipp Heck of the Field Museum. “In an hourglass, sand flows from one glass ball to another, with the passage of time indicated by the accumulation of sand in the lower glass ball.
“Radiometric dating works in the same way as counting the number of parent atoms and the number of daughter atoms that have been transformed. The passage of time can then be calculated because the rate of transformation is known.”
The research, published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters, found 4.46 billion year old crystals indicating that the moon is older than previously thought at 4.42 billion years.
The moon is thought to have formed when a giant object the size of Mars hit Earth, releasing chunks of material that later became the moon.
This event is considered important for the formation of life on Earth, because the moon helps stabilize the climate by stabilizing the tilt of the planet on which we live.
2023-10-30 08:00:33
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