The moon is 85 million years younger than previously thought
By Chelsea Gohd 5 hours ago
This visualization shows the moon being formed from a collision, which, according to a new study,
happened more recently than scientists previously thought. (Image credit: Ron Miller)
It turns out the moon is a little younger than scientists previously thought — about 85 million years younger, to be precise.
In a new study, researchers at the German Aerospace Center found out that, not only did the moon once have a massive, fiery magma ocean, but our rocky satellite also formed later than scientists previously expected.
Billions of years ago, a Mars-size protoplanet smashed into the young Earth and, amid the debris and cosmic rubble, a new rocky body formed — our moon. In this new work, the researchers reconstructed the timeline of the moon's formation. While scientists have previously thought that this moon-forming collision happened 4.51 billion years ago, the new work pegged the moon's birth at only 4.425 billion years ago.
To determine this 85-million-year error in the moon's age, the team used mathematical models to calculate the composition of the moon over time. Based on the idea that the moon was host to a massive magma ocean, the researchers calculated how the minerals that formed as the magma cooled solidified changed over time. By following the timeline of the magma ocean, the scientists were able to trace their way back to the moon's formation.
More:
https://www.space.com/moon-85-million-years-younger-than-thought.html?utm_source=notification
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But reading the article, it's just a little tweak.
