A facelift can save you a few years. Only in appearance. Because your age will not change. The same is the case with our moon. Researchers believe that it was volcanic in its past, making it appear younger than it actually is.
A Mars-sized object colliding with our Earth and ejecting molten material. This is a theory that has emerged since the late 1980s to explain the formation of our Moon. But the question of TimingFor its part, there is much debate in the scientific community. Because the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions put our moon at about 4.35 billion years old. It would have formed about 200 million years after the birth of our solar system.
However, planet formation experts are skeptical. At that point, in fact, their models showed that the planets had already largely cleared away the largest debris fields that appeared in the early solar system’s disk of gas and dust, which He had made a great impact like the one who gave birth. On our moon, which is impossible to say the least.
The moon is rejuvenated by tidal forces.
In one “Reflective Studies” Recently published in the journal The natureA geophysicist, chemist at the University of California (United States). Max PlanckMax Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany) and A MathematicianMathematician A new explanation is presented by the CNRS. Our Moon would have taken a similar shape 4.35 billion years ago. A volcanic face that makes her look younger than she actually is.
The researchers started a process that scientists know as global warming. the wavethe wave. According to his model, in fact, at the beginning of its history,orbitorbit The Moon would not only be closer to our Earth, but also quite unstable. Enough to subject our natural satellites to intensity. Sea forcesSea forces Potentially leading to significant warming events, which change substantially. GeologyGeology of our moon. The AstronomersAstronomers Remember that this is what they always see on Io, Jupiter’s moon. Its volcanic activity is fueled by tidal forces. Big planetBig planet. Extensive volcanic activity that constantly reshapes its surface.
A hypothesis that remains to be confirmed.
And enough to make the radioactive elements hidden in the rocks literally lose their memory. Thus the samples were brought back. AstronautAstronaut d’ApolloApollo Won’t they give the age of our Moon, but only when the last major oceanic heating event occurred? This explanation would put the Moon’s age at between 4.43 and 4.53 billion years. An age that is more consistent with models of the formation of our solar system.
It still remains to be explained how such an acceleration could reset the Moon’s geological clock. Samples brought back from the Moon by the Chinese Chang’e 6 probe, for their part, may confirm this idea of a global reset event caused by ocean heating. If these rocks can also be dated to 4.35 billion years old.
do you know
The American-German-French team is not the only one to hypothesize the recrystallization of lunar rocks. Researchers from the University of Arizona and Towson University (United States) also recently published the idea of the effects of giving birth to the Moon when our solar system was about 50 million years old and about 150 million years later.
“As more data become available, especially from current and future lunar missions, understanding of the Moon’s past will continue to evolve.University of California professor Francis Nimmo concluded in a press release. We hope our findings will spark further discussion and research, ultimately leading to a clearer picture of the Moon’s place in the larger story of our solar system. »
