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How old the is the solar system?

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Anonymous

14y ago
Updated: 8/19/2019

The Sun is about 4.57 billion years old, so is the solar system.

The age of the Solar System is determined through the radiometric dating of heavy elements such as uranium. Measurement of radioactive decay rates allow us to determine when the elements in the Solar System were formed.

The most current data places the age of these elements at 4.567 billion years old. This gives us an upper limit for the age of the Solar System. However, these 4.567 billion-year-old elements were formed by a nearby supernova, and the time it took them to travel from the location of the supernova site to the hydrogen cloud whose gravitational collapse into the Solar System by these elements is at present uncertain. Also uncertain is the precise amount of time it took for the collapse to complete from beginning to end. However, our best estimates place the age of the Solar System at 4.5 to 4.55 billion years.

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Wiki User

7y ago

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