101 SCIENCE
CNN Indonesia
Monday, 30 Oct 2023 08:31 IWST
Illustration. The moon is older than previously thought. (AP/Ringo HW Chiu)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Moon turned out to be older than previously thought. Results Education who examined rocks from the moon proved that theory.
Being close to Earth, the Moon has been an object of research for many years. The question of how old the moon is is still being investigated by researchers.
The first clue to the creation of the Moon was the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. At that time, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin brought 21.6 kilograms of moon rocks and dust when they returned to Earth.
The sample is known to come from around 4.5 billion years ago. These clues suggest that the Moon was created in a period of about 150 million years after the formation of the solar system.
In published studies European Association of Geochemistry, researchers examined the age of zircon crystal formations from lunar surface samples. This is done to determine the age of the particle.
“We conclude that the weighted mean date of 4460 ± 31 Ma (2σ) obtained for this zircon is consistent with its crystallization age,” the researchers said in the journal.
“Therefore, the minimum age for the formation of this old zirzone population represents the oldest evidence discovered to date for lunar zircon crystallization.”
Quoted from Engadget, samples of the lunar surface were obtained from aircraft in NASA’s Apollo program. From this research, there is a theory that the moon is 40 million years older than previously thought.
The research concluded that the Moon appeared 110 million years after the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. The researchers came to this conclusion after using mass spectrometry analysis techniques to determine the molecular content in rocks.
Another method of analysis is atomic tomography to detect the amount of radioactivity in the sample. This method can determine the age of crystals in rocks.
NASA theorizes that Mars-sized rocks collided with Earth several billion years ago, forming the Moon. This understanding gave researchers the idea to find out the exact time the event occurred.
The Apollo 17 mission in 1972 was the forerunner of this research by bringing 243 pounds or 110.2 kilograms of lunar material to Earth for examination and finally the research came to light 51 years later.
NASA has reportedly launched 105 robotic aircraft to explore the Moon, so the opportunity to find new answers is very possible.
However, the closest mission carried out by NASA is said to be carried out again at least in early 2025. So, the public will have to wait longer to find out about new discoveries about the surface of the Moon.
(ikw/arh)
2023-10-30 01:31:58
#Moon
