Our Solar System is approximately 4.6 billion years old. This age is based on evidence from the oldest meteorites and the formation of the Sun and planets from a collapsing molecular cloud, known as the solar nebula. Radiometric dating of meteorites, which are remnants from the early Solar System, indicates an age around 4.568 billion years, with some refinements suggesting it might be slightly older by about 1.1 million years

. The formation process began with the gravitational collapse of a region within a giant molecular cloud, leading to the Sun forming at the center and a protoplanetary disk around it, from which the planets and other bodies accreted

. This nebular hypothesis has been supported by multiple scientific disciplines and observations. In summary, the consensus age of the Solar System is about 4.57 billion years, with the oldest solid materials dating back to roughly 4.568 billion years ago, marking the beginning of planetary formation