Sounds much more impressive than “Moon may be 1% older than previously thought”
It may sound like a crazy discovery but do remember that the earth itself is around 4.5 billion years old. 40 million years is nothing. The rocky mountains in the US are upwards of 80 million years old and that’s considered “young”
Better update the tide tables
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Scientists made their discovery by studying crystals within lunar dust that was brought back in 1972 as part of the Apollo 17 mission – the last time astronauts set foot on the moon.
Around 100m years after the formation of the solar system, when the planets had already formed, it is thought a Mars-size body struck Earth, ejecting a large mass of material that eventually became the moon.
The energy involved in the impact meant its surface was initially molten, but as the lunar magma ocean cooled the material solidified.
They suggest samples of such crystals which give rise to the conclusion of a younger age could be down to the loss of lead in the material after crystallisation, skewing the resulting dating.
The revelation, he added, suggests the giant impact with Earth from which the moon formed likely occurred a few tens of million years before that point.
“More than 50 years after these samples were returned we are still making key discovery about the moon and the inner solar system as technology continues developing.”
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