What Crystals Older Than the Sun Reveal About the Start of the Solar System - Quanta Magazine

Microscopic crystals extracted from meteorites that predate the Sun preserve isotope signatures from before the solar system formed, showing high aluminum-26 and very little iron-60—consistent with material swept up in the wind-driven shell of a massive star rather than from a nearby supernova. Fresh meteorite samples could expand these isotope studies, but require careful handling to preserve their signatures. The recent discovery of a novel crystal produced by the 1945 Trinity nuclear blast highlights that extreme, rapid formation events—whether astrophysical or human-made—can lock in distinctive structural and chemical records, offering complementary analogs for interpreting cosmic grains.