FILE - In this June 20, 2016 file photo, the full moon rises behind a tree next to the ruins of the ancient marble Temple of Poseidon, built in 444 BC, at Cape Sounion, southeast of Athens, on the eve of the summer solstice. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, a California-led research team reported that the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system. Previous estimates ranged within 100 million years, all the way out to 200 million years of the solar system’s creation. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
FILE - In this June 20, 2016 file photo, the full moon rises behind a tree next to the ruins of the ancient marble Temple of Poseidon, built in 444 BC, at Cape Sounion, southeast of Athens, on the eve of the summer solstice. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, a California-led research team reported that the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system. Previous estimates ranged within 100 million years, all the way out to 200 million years of the solar system’s creation. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) Credit: Petros Giannakouris

Cape Canaveral, Fla. — It turns out the moon is older than many scientists suspected: a ripe 4.51 billion years old.

That’s the new estimate, thanks to rocks and soil collected by the Apollo 14 moonwalkers in 1971.

A research team reported on Wednesday that the moon formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system. Previous estimates ranged within 100 million years, all the way out to 200 million years after the solar system’s creation, not quite 4.6 billion years ago.

The scientists conducted uranium-lead dating on fragments of the mineral zircon extracted from Apollo 14 lunar samples. The pieces of zircon were no bigger than a grain of sand.

“Size doesn’t matter, they record amazing information nonetheless!” lead author Melanie Barboni of the University of California, Los Angeles said.