Beiruting News

Moon's age revealed: 'Geological clock' shows satellite is 4.51 billion years old

It's long been thought our moon formed after Earth was hit by a planet the size of Mars billions of years ago - but the time of formation has been fiercely debated.

Some scientists believe it occurred approximately 30 million years after the formation of the solar system, while others claim it happened up to 100 million years later.

Using measurements from the interior of Earth coupled with computer simulations, an international team of planetary scientists claim it was the latter - and have discovered what it is calling a 'geological clock.'

Using measurements from the interior of Earth, coupled with computer simulations, an international team of planetary scientists claim the moon, pictured, formed 95 million years after the formation of the solar system, 4.6 billion years ago - plus or minus 32 to 39 million years

From these geochemical measurements, the newly established clock dates the moon to approximately 95 million years after the beginning of the solar system - with an uncertainty of between 32 and 39 million years.

The solar system is believed to have formed around 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of part of a molecular cloud.