Scientists have identified ancient grains found in a meteorite as stardust — grains of silicon carbide formed in the gasses of a dying star — that are 7 billion years old, more than 2 billion years older than the solar system.
7-billion-year-old stardust is the oldest stuff on Earth
Microscopic grains of dead stars are the oldest known material on the planet — older than the moon, Earth and the solar system itself. By examining chemical clues in a meteorite’s mineral dust, researchers have determined the most ancient grains are 7 billion years old — about half as old as the universe. Rocks don’t get much more classic than this.
The researchers studied minerals in the Murchison meteorite, a large space rock that disintegrated in 1969 above cow pastures in Murchison, Australia. Dairy farmers collected the fragments and sold kilograms of the meteorite to museums and universities.
This is amazing stuff we humans can do when we put our minds to it and work together. Something to remind us that there are other things in life besides politics.