How old can an interstellar comet be relative to the universe?

An interstellar comet could be almost as old as the universe itself, like a baby who was born just after the very first stars.

Imagine you have a big box of crayons, and you’ve been drawing pictures with them since you were tiny. Some of those crayons are still brand new, while others are so worn down they barely make a mark anymore. The universe is like that big box of crayons, it’s been around for a very long time, and some things in it are almost as old as the universe.

The universe is about 13.8 billion years old, that's like having a birthday party every year for over 13 billion years!

Now, an interstellar comet is like one of those crayons. Some comets are newcomers, just recently formed in our solar system. But others might have been traveling through space since the beginning, like they were born when the universe was still a baby.

So, how old can an interstellar comet be? Well, it could be almost 13.8 billion years old, that's really ancient! An interstellar comet could be almost as old as the universe itself, like a baby who was born just after the very first stars.

Imagine you have a big box of crayons, and you’ve been drawing pictures with them since you were tiny. Some of those crayons are still brand new, while others are so worn down they barely make a mark anymore. The universe is like that big box of crayons, it’s been around for a very long time, and some things in it are almost as old as the universe.