Murchison meteorite holds 7-billion-year-old stardust grains

Grains of silicon carbide inside the Murchison meteorite, which fell on an Australian town in 1969, formed around 7 billion years ago. That makes them roughly 2.5 billion years older than the Sun and the oldest solid material ever held in a human hand. The meteorite is a CM2 carbonaceous chondrite rich in organic compounds.