The Moon is older than we thought

Scientists conducting a new study of lunar dust have determined that the Moon is about 40 million years older than previously believed. They analyzed zircon crystals in the dust, which was collected in 1972 by astronauts from NASA (the US space agency). Previous research pinned the Moon’s age at about 4.425 billion years old, but the research team found that the Moon is at least 4.46 billion years old. Scientists believe the Moon was created when a smaller planet called Theia crashed into Earth. Debris from this massive collision formed the Moon, and the intense pressure and heat generated by the crash melted rock that became the lunar surface. Once the surface cooled, the zircon crystals, which are made from a mineral, began to form. The researchers were from Northwestern…

You're reading a preview of

The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 189

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.