Astronomers suggest that the solar system was formed some 4.6 billion years ago due to a relatively small supernova explosion.

A team from the University of Minnesota analyzed meteorites possessing decay products from Beryllium-10 nuclei. They determined that this is evidence of a supernova which triggered a gravitational collapse of a massive gas and dust cloud some 4.6 billion years ago. This supernova apparently originated from a dying star 12 times bigger than our sun. This collapse triggered the birth of the sun and planets in our solar system.

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Researchers suggest that the presence of Beryllium-10 nuclei in meteorites indicate crucial patterns about how our solar system was formed. These nuclei were once abundant during the infant stages of our solar system.

According to the lead author of the study, Yong-Zhong Qian of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, this is direct forensic evidence that helps explain how our solar system was formed.

Past studies have suggested why Beryllium-10 decay products in meteorites were abundant, identifying a process known as "spallation," where high energy particles strip away protons and neutrons from a massive nucleus, due to powerful cosmic rays.

However, in this new study, Qian challenges this theory and suggests that Beryllium-10 can be created within a supernova and that this kind of cosmic process can explain why Beryllium-10 is still present in meteorites as some "nuclear fingerprint."

Qian explains that these new findings can explain the abundance of Beryllium-10 and how this serves as crucial evidence of a low mass supernova, including other short-lived nuclei like Calcium-41 and Palladium-107 that are also found in meteorites.

Further studies will now investigate the presence of Lithium-7 and Boron-11 in meteorites which can also indicate neutrino spallation in supernovae. If all of these elements are detected, it will provide enough evidence that a supernova explosion gave birth to our solar system.

This new study was published in the journal, Nature Communications.