Ancient stardust in a 1969 meteorite predates the Sun by billions of years

Tiny silicon carbide grains sealed in the 1969 Murchison meteorite were dated via cosmic-ray exposure, revealing stardust that formed about 7 billion years ago—older than the Sun and the Earth; most grains formed around 4.6–4.9 billion years ago, indicating they originated in earlier generations of stars before the solar system.