How old is the moon?

Question

How old is the moon?

Answer 1

It is the oldest celebrity in the world. Like really old.

Answer 2

  4.6 Billion years old

Answer 3

Somewhere in the region of four billion years, the same age as the Earth.

A current dominant theory for the Moon's origin, given its size and composition, are that the early Earth and another planetoid collided (at a very lucky angle) producing a new planet and, out of some of the debris, the moon.  It would have taken some time to coalesce, but on the time scale that the Solar system has existed it wasn't all that long.

All of this took place during the period during which all the planets in the Solar system formed.  There are some interesting theories emerging about just when that was, but the standard view is something in the region of four billion years - though I do not recall the closest estimate.

Answer 4

I don't know. I do know it isn't 4.6 billion years old because the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old. But there is a mythology that Earth and a planet the size of Mars crashed into each other a few billion years ago and the leftover material from the crash formed the moon. The other planet was destroyed. If that doesn't help, Google search it!

Answer 5

Our knowledge is not advanced enough to predict how old the moon is.

Answer 6

A total of 382 kg of rock samples were returned to the Earth by the Apollo and Lunar programs. These provide most of our detailed knowledge of the Moon. They are particularly valuable in that they can be dated. Even today, many years after the last Moon landing, scientists still study these precious samples.

Most rocks on the surface of the Moon seem to be between 4.6 and 3 billion years old. This is a fortuitous match with the oldest terrestrial rocks which are rarely more than 3 billion years old. Thus the Moon provides evidence about the early history of the Solar System not available on the Earth.

Answer 7

The moon rocks brought back from the Apollo program have been dated, and the age of the rocks are consistent with the ages of the oldest rocks on earth.  It's possible that the age of the whole body is more than the ages of any rock that you can find on it, but all evidence points to an age of 4.2 - 4.6 billion years for both earth and moon, and the rest of our solar system, too, for that matter.    The galaxy is much older.