Moon is 4.51 billion years old, scientists say

CAPE CANAVERAL — It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old.

A research team reported Wednesday that the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system.

The scientists conducted uranium-lead dating on fragments of the mineral zircon extracted from Apollo 14 lunar samples.

“Size doesn’t matter, they record amazing information nonetheless!” lead author Melanie Barboni of UCLA said in an email.