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Presolar grains are dust grains dating from before the birth of the Sun. The term is used for grains found within meteorites with isotope abundances that suggest other than a solar system origin. The grains are presumed to result from the stellar wind of other stars long ago, and from other processes that create dust; thus they provide information relevant to stellar structure and stellar evolution models. The IPM's dust grains remain for a relatively short time and no longer include such ancient grains. Meteoroids/meteorites are our best provider of presolar grains.
The term stardust is similar, but in its more specific usage, refers to dust from stars, e.g., the product of stellar wind.