The origin story of the Moon is metal like anything.
Ron Miller
The fifth largest satellite in our solar system, Earth’s beloved moon it is believed to have formed after a gigantic collision between Earth and an ancient planet the size of Mars called “Theia”. A metal origin story for sure, but additional details have emerged about its formation, and it seems that early researchers may have had an origin story for our moon. little a little bad
According to a new study, published in the journal Science Advances on Friday, the moon is actually 85 million years old. younger than we ever thought.
The age of the moon is a controversial topic. In 2017, a study by UCLA researchers claimed that the moon was older than we thought. Back then, the team suggested the moon was 4.51 billion years old, having formed only 60 million years after the formation of our solar system.
But new research, conducted by researchers at the German Aerospace Center, pushes back the moon’s formation to 4.425 million years ago. It seems like a small difference in perspective, but 85 million years is a long time in anyone’s book.
To determine age, the scientists used a new computer model, designed to more precisely examine how long it took for the moon’s gigantic ocean of magma to cool and crystallize. Yes, that is correct. The moon was home to a gigantic ocean of magma.
“The model results show that the Moon’s ocean of magma was long-lasting and took nearly 200 million years to fully solidify in the mantle rock,” says Maxime Maurice, the scientist who led the study.
“The time scale is much longer than that calculated in previous studies,” added Nicola Tosi, co-author of the study. “The oldest models gave a solidification period of only 35 million years.”
Which also means that the moon hosted a terrifying ocean of primordial magma for longer than we thought. Gnarly
