Scientists closer to understanding the Sun's birth

A research team have investigated the solar system's prehistoric phase to understand more and better about the events that led to the birth of the Sun. Its the team of Dr. Maria Lugaro and Professor Alexander Heger from the Monash University, Melbourne. They used radioactivity to date the latest time when heavy elements like silver, gold, platinum, lead and rare-earth elements were added to the overall solar system matter. These elements are said to be first produced by some of first-born stars according to some theories.

"We can now tell with confidence the final one per cent of gold, silver and platinum, were added to the solar system matter roughly 100 million years before the birth of the Sun," Lugaro said. "Using heavy radioactive nuclei found in meteorites to time these final additions, we have got a clearer understanding of the prehistory of the solar system,".

This suggests that some time after these heavy elements were added to the solar system, it went to an "incubation period", during which Sun and other stars were born. Clouds of dusts, gases and radiations, portions of star nurseries, all collapse under the impact of gravitational forces to form young stars.

"We now know this incubation period could not have lasted more than 30 million years. This offers us the chance to determine the lifespan of the nursery where the sun was born, how massive it was and how many stars were born there together," Lugaro said. The study was published in the journal Science.