Researchers use ancient crystals to determine the moon's real age (it's older than we thought!)

Researchers use ancient crystals to determine the moon's real age (it's older than we thought!)
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Scientists in France had a smashing time shattering ancient quartz crystals in an attempt to determine the true age of the moon.

Evidence suggests that the moon was formed after the Earth was hit by an object the size of Mars back in the solar system's earliest days. Dust from that object, named Theia, and the Earth then flew out into space and formed the moon. Researchers recently looked inside of 2.7 billion to 3.4 billion-year-old crystals, which trapped bits of the Earth's atmosphere, to determine the age of our post-impact atmosphere, the Los Angeles Times reports. That in turn allowed the scientists to ascertain the real age of the moon.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.