Scientists have found nickel-60 scattered throughout the solar system, particularly in meteorites dating back to the formation of the solar system. By measuring the amount of nickel-60, astronomers can turn back the clock and determine when the solar system was first flooded with iron-60. it is the remnant of a supernova explosion.
The first approach is to look for the oldest in the solar system. The technique scientists use is called nucleocosmochronology, and when you finish deciphering the Greek prefixes, you'll find that this strategy involves using nuclear radioactivity to determine the age of things in space.Another entirely separate approach to measuring the age of the sun involves understanding stellar life cycles. Stars live so long that we cannot follow a single star throughout its life. But we see billions and billions of stars around us. Some of these stars were born recently while others were born a long time ago. So we have snaps of different stars at different stages of their lives.Imagine taking a picture of a million different people, completely at random. You see babies just starting to crawl, middle-aged people coming home from work, seniors enjoying their retirement, and everything in between. While you can't follow a single person, you can probably get a general picture of how people look and act as they get older.
By studying millions of stars and applying our knowledge of physics (particularly the physics of nuclear fusion in stellar cores), astronomers have created a kind of map: if you give them a star of a certain mass and magnitude, they can estimate its years. If they apply this mapping to our own sun, they get the same answer they get from radioactive material.These two and other techniques all point in the same direction: a sun just over 4.5 billion years old.
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