A Clemson University astrophysicist is featured in this Friday's Science , the prestigious weekly journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this week's Perspective column, Clemson's Bradley S. Meyer examines a possible chemical clock that may reveal the early history of our solar system. The cosmic chronology is based on an abundance of aluminum isotope decay products found on ancient meteorites. Scientists theorize that the original isotope came from a massive star that exploded just before the sun was created and injected its debris into the solar cloud. If this is the case, the known decay times of the aluminum can be used to time events from the early days of the sun and the birth of the solar system.
More research is needed, however, to answer additional questions.
Meyer is an associate professor in Clemson's internationally-recognized physics and astronomy department.