4.5684 billion years old! The solar system has aged for 1.1 million years, and meteorites have enveloped the solar system
Researchers from Arizona State University in the United States have conducted the latest analysis of small spots on meteorites in the solar system, calculating that the age of the solar system is 4.5684 billion years, instead of the previously thought 4.5673 billion years, indicating that the solar system has "aged" by 1.1 million years. The relevant papers are published in the new issue of the International Journal of Solar System Research.
The earliest confirmed object in the solar system is a calcium rich aluminum inclusion, a small white spot with a diameter of a few millimeters discovered in meteorites, and also the first solid formed from gas nebulae surrounding the young Sun.
Scientists can detect that the package contains a certain amount of elements such as aluminum, calcium, and manganese, and the radioactive decay and quantity of these elements can reveal the age of the solar system. Scientists use a specific ratio of aluminum-26 to aluminum-27 to mark "time zero.".
Researchers point out that not all CAIs form at the same time, but it appears that more than half of them form near that time, with the remaining CAIs forming in a time window of approximately 200000 years. There is still some debate in the scientific community regarding this, which will also affect the determination of the formation time of CAI.
In the latest study, researchers reanalyzed the data of existing meteorites - assuming they are evenly distributed and calculating that the age of the solar system is older than currently based on the age of different elements.
On the time scale of the solar system, 1.1 million years is just a small change, but it does have significant implications for the origin of the early solar system.