How old are the stars and planets that light up our universe? Age is more than just a number in the world of astrophysics; it unravels the history, evolution, and potential for life in faraway worlds. Yet, determining the age of these celestial objects is more complex than you might think.
Imagine trying to guess the age of a person who remains visually unchanged from childhood to old age - that's the kind of challenge scientists face when studying objects in space. This article delves into the ingenious methods and tools astronomers employ to decode the chronology of the cosmos.
By Adam Burgasser - Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, San Diego
Image Credit: EBstudio via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci
Measuring the ages of planets and stars helps scientists understand when they formed and how they change – and, in the case of planets, if life has had time to have evolved on them.
Unfortunately, age is hard to measure for objects in space.
Stars like the Sun maintain the same brightness, temperature and size for billions of years. Planet properties like temperature are often set by the star they orbit rather than their own age and evolution.
Determining the age of a star or planet can be as hard as guessing the age of a person who looks exactly the same from childhood to retirement.
Sussing out a star’s age
Fortunately, stars change subtly in brightness and color over time. With very accurate measurements, astronomers can compare these measurements of a star to mathematical models that predict what happens to stars as they get older and estimate an age from there.
Stars don’t just glow, they also spin. Over time, their spinning slows down, similar to how a spinning wheel slows down when it encounters friction. By comparing the spin speeds of stars of different ages, astronomers have been able to create mathematical relationships for the ages of stars, a method known as gyrochronology.
Researchers estimate the Sun is 4.58 billion years old - (Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/SDO)
A star’s spin also generates a strong magnetic field and produces magnetic activity, such as stellar flares – powerful bursts of energy and light that occur on stars’ surfaces. A steady decline in magnetic activity from a star can also help estimate its age.
A more advanced method for determining the ages of stars is called asteroseismology, or star shaking. Astronomers study vibrations on the surfaces of stars caused by waves that travel through their interiors. Young stars have different vibrational patterns than old stars. By using this method, astronomers have estimated the Sun to be 4.58 billion years old.
Piecing together a planet’s age
In the solar system, radionuclides are the key to dating planets. These are special atoms that slowly release energy over a long period of time. As natural clocks, radionuclides help scientists determine the ages of all kinds of things, from rocks to bones and pottery.
Using this method, scientists have determined that the oldest known meteorite is 4.57 billion years old, almost identical to the Sun’s asteroseismology measurement of 4.58 billion years. The oldest known rocks on Earth have slightly younger ages of 4.40 billion years. Similarly, soil brought back from the Moon during the Apollo missions had radionuclide ages of up to 4.6 billion years.
Craters on the surface of the moon - (Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
Although studying radionuclides is a powerful method for measuring the ages of planets, it usually requires having a rock in hand. Typically, astronomers only have a picture of a planet to go by. Astronomers often determine the ages of rocky space objects like Mars or the Moon by counting their craters. Older surfaces have more craters than younger surfaces. However, erosion from water, wind, cosmic rays and lava flow from volcanoes can wipe away evidence of earlier impacts.
Aging techniques don’t work for giant planets like Jupiter that have deeply buried surfaces. However, astronomers can estimate their ages by counting craters on their moons or studying the distribution of certain classes of meteorites scattered by them, which are consistent with radionuclide and cratering methods for rocky planets.
We cannot yet directly measure the ages of planets outside our solar system with current technology.
How accurate are these estimates?
Our own solar system provides the best check for accuracy, since astronomers can compare the radionuclide ages of rocks on the Earth, Moon, or asteroids to the asteroseismology age of the Sun, and these match very well.
Stars in clusters like the Pleiades or Omega Centauri are believed to have all formed at roughly the same time, so age estimates for individual stars in these clusters should be the same. In some stars, astronomers can detect radionuclides like uranium – a heavy metal found in rocks and soil – in their atmospheres, which have been used to check the ages from other methods.
Astronomers believe planets are roughly the same age as their host stars, so improving methods to determine a star’s age helps determine a planet’s age as well. By studying subtle clues, it’s possible to make an educated guess of the age of an otherwise steadfast star.
Sources and further reading on space & exploration:
How big is the universe? (Universal-Sci)
How far does light travel in a year? (Universal-Sci)
What is time – and why does it move forward? (Universal-Sci)
Too busy to follow science news during the week? - Consider subscribing to our (free) newsletter - (Universal-Sci Weekly) - and get the 5 most interesting science articles of the week in your inbox
FEATURED ARTICLES:
The way you prepare your vegetables affects their nutritional value. What is the healthiest method to prepare them?