The moon was thought to be just under 4.56 billion years old but it seems that was not correct.
New research indicates the right number may have been around more like 4.4 billion years.
Not much of a difference you say?
That extra 100 million years can make a real difference for your complexion.
Richard Carlson is a geochemist at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He told the Los Angeles Times "back in the 1970s, you couldn't distinguish between 4.45 and 4.55 billion years. Today, we can, and everything we are seeing suggests the 4.4 billion number."
Carlson pointed out to Space.com the information is important for more than aesthetic reasons.
“If the Earth was already differentiated prior to the giant impact, would the impact have blown off the primordial atmosphere that formed from this earlier epoch of Earth history?"
Huh?
For more of an explanation, click here.