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Health & Science3h 23m ago
The Murchison meteorite, which fell on an Australian town in 1969, contains grains of silicon carbide dating back roughly 7 billion years, making them older than the Sun and the most ancient solid material ever held in a human hand.
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Murchison, Victoria, Australia
Who
Philipp Heck, a team led by cosmochemist Philipp Heck
What
The Murchison meteorite, which fell on an Australian town in 1969, contains grains of silicon carbide dating back roughly 7 billion years, making them older than the Sun and the most ancient solid material ever held in a human hand.
When
Wed, 17 Jun 2026 03:10:14 GMT · 3h 23m ago
Where
Murchison, Victoria, Australia ·
Why
These grains formed in the outflows of stars that died before the Sun was born and drifted through interstellar space for hundreds of millions of years before being swept into the cloud that formed the Sun.
The Frontline Impact
How this affects you
The discovery of these presolar grains provides physical evidence supporting the hypothesis that star formation in the galaxy occurs in bursts, offering new insights into the early history of the Milky Way and our solar system. This material represents the oldest known solid matter available for study on Earth.
Story chain
6 events in this thread- Health & Science3h 23m agoThe Murchison meteorite, which fell in Victoria, Australia, in 1969, contains grains of silicon carbide formed around 7 billion years ago, predating the Sun by 2.5 billion years.Open article
- Health & Science3h 23m agoGrains of silicon carbide found in the Murchison meteorite, which fell in 1969, are 7 billion years old and are the oldest solid material ever held in a human hand.Open article
- Health & Science3h 23m agoIn 1969, a fireball broke over the Victorian town of Murchison and scattered carbon-rich stones across the paddocks, which contain grains of silicon carbide that condensed in dying stars roughly 7 billion years ago.Open article
- Currently Reading3h 23m agoThe Murchison meteorite, which fell on an Australian town in 1969, contains grains of silicon carbide dating back roughly 7 billion years, making them older than the Sun and the most ancient solid material ever held in a human hand.
- Health & Science3h 23m agoThe Murchison meteorite contains grains of silicon carbide formed around 7 billion years ago, making them older than the Sun, Earth, or anything else in this solar system.Open article
- Health & Science3h 23m agoGrains of stardust 7 billion years old, predating the Sun itself, were found inside the Murchison meteorite that fell in Victoria, Australia, in 1969.Open article