How old is he really? It is not known exactly… although a study by the University of California provided important progress. They believe when the collision that gave rise to the emergence of the natural satellite occurred. The true age of the Moon would be about 4.51 billion years. Older than believed.
The accepted thesis was that the star would have been born about 4.35 billion years ago. It was the product of the collision between the early Earth and a protoplanet the size of Mars. Research published in the journal Nature this week argues otherwise. The satellite would have suffered an episode of intense heating and a “remelting” that has hidden its true age.
Overheated
The thing is that the chronology known until now was calculated from rock samples supposedly crystallized after the impact between the celestial bodies. It was believed that its formation occurred about 200 million years after the formation of the solar system. But it is now thought that a massive collision at that time was unlikely. And it is considered that about 4.35 billion years ago a “remelting” possibly occurred driven by the orbital evolution of the satellite. This would have reset its geological clock and apparent age. The true age of the Moon was hidden by its geological processes.
This process would explain the frequent appearance of lunar rocks whose age is 4.35 billion years. For example, those collected by the American Apollo mission and other similar ones. The “remelting” would be explained by the attraction of the Earth’s tides, which caused general geological upheaval. And, at the same time, an intense warm-up. Therefore, “rocks should not be found anywhere on the Moon that are significantly older.”
unstable orbit
At some periods in its early years, the Moon’s orbit would have been unstable. It caused strong tides originating from the Earth. They could give rise to warming episodes, altering the geology of the star.
Additionally, the researchers argue that “recasting” would explain why there are fewer lunar impact basins from the first bombardments than one would expect. These would have been erased during one of the warm-up phases.
