New research suggests that dust from meteorites contains a "fossil record" dating back to the formation of the sun. The research reveals that magnetism played a far greater role in the birth of the solar system than had previously been suspected.
Around 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of gas and dust, known as a solar nebula. Over the next few million years, this cloud began to flatten, forming a donut-shaped ring or torus with a budding star gathering mass at its core. Eventually, planets would form within this so-called protoplanetary disk.
Scientists have always theorized that gravity was the main sculptor during this early era. But the new study suggests that gravity had major assistance from magnetism. The signature of this additional cosmic artist was found within grains of dust sealed in DOM 08006, a meteorite recovered from Antarctica in 2...
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