A closer look
Our solar system is a relatively young whippersnapper compared to the ancient dust trapped inside meteorites. When the Murchison meteorite slammed into Australia in 1969, scientists cracked it open to find microscopic specs of silicon carbide that literally predate the existence of our local star. These indestructible little grains were forged in the dying gas clouds of ancient, distant stars roughly 7 billion years ago, surviving interstellar travel to end up as rocks in a museum.
