Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Space
Space
Science
Stefanie Waldek

Scientists have dated the moon's oldest, and largest, impact site

A giant orb takes up the majority of the image, bordered on either sitde by black. Its face is riddled with craters, with colors blotched throughout in vibrant blues, greens, yellows, and reds.

You don't need a telescope to see that the moon is riddled with craters. For billions of years, our celestial neighbor has been absolutely bombarded by asteroids and comets, and the assault has left behind a heavily pockmarked lunar surface.

The largest and oldest-known impact site on the moon is the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, stretching across nearly 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) of the far side of the moon. And thanks to new research, scientists have dated the SPA basin to the period between 4.32 and 4.33 billion years ago.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.