Researchers at Arizona State University have found evidence that some features on the surface of the moon may be considerably younger than previously thought.

The group found there have been small eruptions on the lunar surface within the last 50 million years. The features they create are relatively small — the biggest one is about three miles long, but they average about 500 meters. The findings are published in the journal “Nature Geoscience.”

Sarah Braden, the paper’s lead author, said she and her colleagues were able to see the features were very young, as far as lunar geologic history goes.

"Previously, scientists thought that the lunar surface was much older than that — by a billion years, basically. And so, this new evidence is quite interesting and stunning, both to us, and then also, hopefully to the rest of the lunar science community, and people in general," Braden said.

Braden says the next thing to do would be to visit the moon, and bring back a sample from one of the fields to study its composition and get a better sense of how old the material is.