Astounding new findings from the asteroid Bennu are turning heads in the world of planetary science, revealing that some of its material is composed of what scientists refer to as "stardust."

According to Jessica Barnes, a planetary scientist from the University of Arizona, this discovery implies that Bennu was formed through a collision with a larger asteroid during the formative years of our solar system.

"These incredibly tiny grains of dust come from other stars, and we can identify them in the samples because they are unlike anything we have in our solar system," Barnes states.

The groundbreaking samples were retrieved by the UA-supported OSIRIS-REx mission, which brought back cosmic treasures that are rewriting the narrative of our solar system's history. Barnes has also noted that Bennu bears the scars of micrometeorite impacts over its staggering 4.6-billion-year existence.

The meticulous analysis was conducted using advanced instruments at the Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis, capable of revealing chemical elements at an astonishing nanometer scale. This level of detail allows scientists to uncover secrets about our solar system that have remained hidden for eons.