Scientists have rewritten the age of the Moon - it is 40 million years older
Miscellaneous / / October 23, 2023
But the satellite is still younger than the Earth.
Zircon nanocrystals collected on the Moon in 1972 as part of the Apollo mission allowed scientists conclude that our natural satellite is noticeably older than previously thought - about 40 million years.
About it it says in a new study from the University of Chicago, whose scientists believe the Moon is at least 4.46 billion years old. It turns out that the satellite is only slightly younger than the Earth (4.54 billion years).
The Moon is believed to have been formed by the collision of Earth with a Mars-sized planet called Theia. The crystals in the rocks collected by the astronauts could only form during the cooling process of the satellite. Accordingly, it is quite possible to calculate the time that has passed since that moment.
These crystals are the oldest known solids, formed after a giant impact. And since we know how old these crystals are, they serve as an anchor for the entire lunar chronology.
Philipp Heck
lead author of the study
To determine the age of the zircon nanocrystals, the team needed to measure how much uranium and lead the samples contained. Uranium turns into lead over time, and by looking at the proportions, scientists can determine how old the crystal is. But the first step is to extract the atoms. This approach is called atom probe tomography.
In atom probe tomography, we start by sharpening part of the lunar sample to a very sharp tip using a focused ion beam microscope, almost like a very fancy sharpener for pencils
We then use UV lasers to evaporate atoms from the surface of this tip. Atoms pass through a mass spectrometer, and the speed at which they move tells us how heavy they are, which in turn tells us what they are made of.
Jennika Greer
one of the study authors
Once the composition of the sample was established and the team measured the number of atoms, they were able to determine the age of the crystal and, therefore, the Moon. This method is known as radiometric dating. This method works like an hourglass, added Philipp Heck.
It is worth noting that the age of the Moon is updated not so rarely, but they all differ by millions of years. One other recent study estimated it to be 4.425 billion ±25 million years.
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