Important Innovations Collection

Stardust 5 to 7 Billion Years Old Found in a Meteorite in Australia Source:  NASA Meteorite  Stardust Material That's Older than the Sun This is an extraordinary scientific discovery just announced by a team of astronomers led by University of Chicago Professor Dr. Philipp Heck. In a meteorite that fell from space in Australia 50 years ago, there is awesome stardust dating back 5 to 7 billion years.  This stardust predates the Sun. Heck and his team analyzed the contents of the meteorite.  They found it to be the oldest, solid material ever found on Earth.  Their work has just been published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. What This Discovery Opens Innovative Views On The scientists say this stardust will tell us how parent stars were formed in our galaxy. It will tell us about the origins of the oxygen that we breathe and provide the opportunity to trace materials back before the creation of the Sun. The stardust ...

Stardust Discovered Source:  Stock Image Antarctic Interstellar News Australian scientists have discovered large amounts of stardust in Antarctica snow, likely from the explosion of a supernova that had been close to the Sun.  The explosion rained down particles of a unique iron isotope discovered in melted snow from the South Pole.  The discovery of the rare isotope, iron-60, which is not native to Earth, was made by a scientific research team from Australian National University. South Pole Supernova The researchers have ruled out any chance that the isotope was created by human activity.  They say the only explanation is that it was created by an interstellar rock hitting the Earth.  The team melted more than 1000 pounds of snow and analyzed the contents of the melt - large amounts of isotope iron-60.  Their next focus is to determine the age of the isotope and to dig deeper for more samples in the icepack.  Their remarkable findings were ...