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New research published in the journal Nature reveals that the Moon might be more than 100 million years older than previous estimates, which were based on rocks brought back from its surface. The study suggests that the Moon’s surface underwent a “remelting” process 4.35 billion years ago, which made the lunar rocks appear younger. This theory supports the idea that major collisions, which could have formed the Moon, likely happened much earlier in the solar system’s history, within its first 200 million years.
Remelting Theory Offers New Insights
Francis Nimmo, a planetary scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz, explained to Space.com that the early Moon might have experienced intense heating and upheaval due to Earth’s tidal forces. This heating could have caused the lunar rocks to seem younger than the Moon’s true age. Such remelting events, similar to the activity seen on Jupiter’s moon Io, might have reshaped the Moon’s surface and erased early impact craters.
Support from Rare Lunar Minerals
Rare zircon minerals found on the Moon indicate that it likely formed around 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after the solar system began. This timeline fits with models of the early solar system, which suggest that most large celestial bodies formed by 4.4 billion years ago. However, earlier analysis of lunar samples from the Apollo missions had suggested the Moon was about 4.35 billion years old.
China’s Chang’e 6 Mission Could Test Findings
The study’s predictions could be confirmed by lunar samples that China’s upcoming Chang’e 6 mission plans to collect from the Moon’s far side. Nimmo emphasized that new lunar samples would be crucial for refining these findings. Future studies are planned to evaluate how tidal heating specifically affects lunar geology.
This research underscores the interconnectedness of planetary science, bridging the gap between competing theories from geochemistry and orbital dynamics.
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