Moon's Age Found In A Speck Of Highland Rock

摘要

A speck of the mineral zircon that's older than any yet found on Earth has been recovered from a rock sample brought back by Apollo 17 astronauts. The grain has helped pinpoint the age at which the molten moon solidified.rnLunar zircons were not studied at the time of the Apollo missions because the technology to date them did not exist, says geologist Clive Neal of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. "It's serendipitous to find this, and really emphasises the [value] of sample returns," he says.rnZircon previously found in lunar rocks was dated at between 3.90 and 4.35 billion years old, the same as the oldest zircon found on Earth.