Researchers revised the age after analysing a mineral "relic" buried deep within the meteorite, known as an inclusion, found in the Sahara desert in northwest Africa.
These minerals, from a 1.49-kilo (3.2-pound) meteorite found in the Moroccan desert in 2004, are among the oldest solid materials formed following the birth of the Sun.
Experts said dating them could provide one of the most precise estimates of the age of the formation of the solar system.
Researchers from Arizona State University used a technique that relied on forms of lead atoms called isotopes to determine the age of this particular inclusion.
They found it formed 4.5682 billion years ago, which was between 300,000 and 1.9 million years earlier than previous estimates.
This age makes the inclusion the oldest material from the solar system that has been dated so far, according to the finding published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday.
"The age of the solar system can be defined as the time of formation of the first solid grains in the nebular disc surrounding the proto-Sun," said Dr Audrey Bouvier, a space scientist from the university's Centre for Meteorite Studies, who led the study.
Read more at The Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment