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The Question
(Submitted April 02, 1998)
How many stars (or what percentage) in our galaxy are
4.5 billion years old (age of the Sun) or older?
The Answer
The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old now, but its total life is estimated
to be about 10 billion years. Most stars in the Milky Way live at least this
long. And experts estimate that stars have been forming at a similar
rate for most of the history of Milky Way (~10 billion years). This
means about half the stars are older than 4.5 billion years old.
Koji Mukai
for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
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