The lunar dust sample used in the study was brought back by Apollo 17 astronauts in the last crewed mission to the Moon in 1972. It contains crystals that formed billions of years ago
Crystals brought back by Apollo astronauts in 1972 suggest the Moon is 40million years older than scientists thought, according to new research. More than four billion years ago a giant object the size of Mars crashed into the Earth, causing a piece to break off of the early Earth and form the Moon.
Senior author Philipp Heck, a professor at the University of Chicago, USA, and curator in charge of the meteorite and physical geology collections at the Field Museum, said: “These crystals are the oldest known solids that formed after the giant impact. And because we know how old these crystals are, they serve as an anchor for the lunar chronology.”
, and researchers say these are a tell-tale sign of when the Moon must have formed. When Earth was hit by the Mars-sized object, the energy of the impact melted the rock that eventually became the Moon’s surface. Because the crystals must have formed after the magma ocean cooled, determining their age would reveal the Moon’s minimum possible age. A previous study by co-author Bidong Zhang suggested this age, but the most recent study marks the first use of an analytical method called atom probe tomography to identify the age of this oldest known lunar crystal.
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