(Newser)
– It is not such a big change in the cosmic scheme of things, but the researchers say that the moon is millions of years younger than we thought. Specifically, a new model presented at Scientific advances establishes its creation 4.425 million years ago instead of the generally accepted figure of 4.51 million years ago, according to Phys.org. That would make the moon 85 million years younger than previously thought. The model follows the theory that the moon formed when a rock the size of Mars collided with Earth, and the resulting debris froze on our familiar satellite.
“The results of our latest model suggest that young Earth was hit by a protoplanet about 140 million years after the birth of the solar system 4.567 million years ago,” says Maxime Maurice of the German Aerospace Center. “According to our calculations, this happened 4,425 million years ago, with an uncertainty of 25 million years, and the moon was born.” A publication in Futurism notes that this means that the moon formed at approximately the same time as the Earth’s core. The team concluded by modeling how the composition of the lunar rocks changed as their ocean of giant magma cooled and solidified. (Read more stories of the moon).
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