The origin of the Solar System

How did it all come together? Five major theories about the formation of the Solar System.

The origin of the Solar System

How did the Sun, planets and moons in the Solar System form? There is a surprising amount of
debate and several strong and competing theories, but do scientists have an answer?

What are the theories for the origin of the Solar System?

Any theory about how the Solar System came to be has to account for certain, rather tricky facts.
We know that the Sun sits at the centre of the Solar System with the planets in orbit around it,
but these throws up five major problems:

1. The Sun spins slowly, and only has 1 percent of the angular momentum of the Solar System - but
99.9 percent of its mass. Why is this?
2. Terrestrial planets have solid cores - how did they form?
3. What about the gas giant planets like Jupiter - were they formed differently?
4. How did planetary satellites like the Moon come into being?
5. Bode's law states that the distances of the planets from the Sun follow a simple arithmetic
progression. Why should this be?

Taking all these issues into account, science has suggested five key theories considered to be
'reasonable' in that they explain many (but not all) of the phenomena exhibited by the Solar
System. Find out more below.

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The origin of the Solar System

How did it all come together? Five major theories about the formation of the Solar
System.

Explore by themeThe origin of the Solar System

The origin of the Solar System

How did the Sun, planets and moons in the Solar System form? There is a surprising
amount of debate and several strong and competing theories, but do scientists have an
answer?

What are the theories for the origin of the Solar System?

Any theory about how the Solar System came to be has to account for certain, rather tricky
facts. We know that the Sun sits at the centre of the Solar System with the planets in orbit
around it, but these throws up five major problems:
 1. The Sun spins slowly, and only has 1 percent of the angular momentum of the Solar
System - but 99.9 percent of its mass. Why is this?
2. Terrestrial planets have solid cores - how did they form?
3. What about the gas giant planets like Jupiter - were they formed differently?
4. How did planetary satellites like the Moon come into being?
5. Bode's law states that the distances of the planets from the Sun follow a simple
arithmetic progression. Why should this be?

Taking all these issues into account, science has suggested five key theories considered to
be 'reasonable' in that they explain many (but not all) of the phenomena exhibited by the
Solar System. Find out more below.

The Moon Exhibition: book now and save

The Accretion theory

The Sun passes through a dense interstellar cloud and emerges surrounded by a dusty,
gaseous envelope.

The problem is that of getting the cloud to form the planets. The terrestrial planets can form
in a reasonable time, but the gaseous planets take far too long to form. The theory does not
explain satellites or Bode's law and is therefore considered the weakest of those described
here.

The Protoplanet theory

A dense interstellar cloud produces a cluster of stars. Dense regions in the cloud form and
coalesce; as the small blobs have random spins the resulting stars will have low rotation
rates. The planets are smaller blobs captured by the star.

The small blobs would have higher rotation than is seen in the planets of the Solar System,
but the theory accounts for this by having the 'planetary blobs' split into planets and
satellites. However, it is not clear how the planets came to be confined to a plane or why
their rotations are in the same sense.

The Capture theory

The Sun interacts with a nearby protostar, dragging a filament of material from the
protostar. The low rotation speed of the Sun is explained as being due to its formation
before the planets, the terrestrial planets are explained by collisions between the
protoplanets close to the Sun, and the giant planets and their satellites are explained as
condensations in the drawn out filament.

The Modern Laplacian theory

French astronomer and mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace first suggested in 1796 that
the Sun and the planets formed in a rotating nebula which cooled and collapsed. The theory
argued that this nebula condensed into rings, which eventually formed the planets and a
central mass - the Sun. The slow spin of the Sun could not be explained.

The modern version assumes that the central condensation contains solid dust grains which
create drag in the gas as the centre condenses. Eventually, after the core has been slowed,
its temperature rises and the dust evaporates. The slowly rotating core becomes the Sun.
The planets form from the faster rotating cloud.

The Modern Nebular theory

The planets originate in a dense disk formed from material in the gas and dust cloud that
collapses to give us the Sun. The density of this disk had to be sufficient to allow the
formation of the planets and yet be thin enough for the residual matter to be blown away by
the Sun as its energy output increased.

In 1992 the Hubble Space Telescope obtained the first images of proto-planetary disks in
the Orion nebula. They are roughly on the same scale as the Solar System and lend strong
support to this theory.

Conclusion

There have been many attempts to develop theories for the origin of the Solar System.
None of them can be described as totally satisfactory. We do believe, however, that we
understand the overall mechanism.

The Sun and the planets formed from the contraction of part of a gas/dust cloud under its
own gravitational pull and that the small net rotation of the cloud created a disk around the
central condensation. The central condensation eventually formed the Sun, while small
condensations in the disk formed the planets and their satellites. The energy from the young
Sun blew away the remaining gas and dust, leaving the Solar System as we see it today.

Appendix 4:

The Origin of the Solar System

by Frank Crary, CU Boulder

Here is a brief outline of the current theory of the events in the early history of the
solar system:
1. A cloud of interstellar gas and/or dust (the "solar nebula") is disturbed and
collapses under its own gravity. The disturbance could be, for example, the
shock wave from a nearby supernova.
2. As the cloud collapses, it heats up and compresses in the center. It heats
enough for the dust to vaporize. The initial collapse is supposed to take less
than 100,000 years.
3. The center compresses enough to become a protostar and the rest of the gas
orbits/flows around it. Most of that gas flows inward and adds to the mass of
the forming star, but the gas is rotating. The centrifugal force from that
prevents some of the gas from reaching the forming star. Instead, it forms an
"accretion disk" around the star. The disk radiates away its energy and cools
off.
4. First brake point. Depending on the details, the gas orbiting star/protostar
may be unstable and start to compress under its own gravity. That produces a
double star. If it doesn't ...
5. The gas cools off enough for the metal, rock and (far enough from the forming
star) ice to condense out into tiny particles. (i.e. some of the gas turns back
into dust). The metals condense almost as soon as the accretion disk forms
(4.55-4.56 billion years ago according to isotope measurements of certain
meteors); the rock condenses a bit later (between 4.4 and 4.55 billion years
ago).
6. The dust particles collide with each other and form into larger particles. This
goes on until the particles get to the size of boulders or small asteroids.
7. Run away growth. Once the larger of these particles get big enough to have a
nontrivial gravity, their growth accelerates. Their gravity (even if it's very
small) gives them an edge over smaller particles; it pulls in more, smaller
particles, and very quickly, the large objects have accumulated all of the solid
matter close to their own orbit. How big they get depends on their distance
from the star and the density and composition of the protoplanetary nebula.
In the solar system, the theories say that this is large asteroid to lunar size in
the inner solar system, and one to fifteen times the Earth's size in the outer
solar system. There would have been a big jump in size somewhere between
the current orbits of Mars and Jupiter: the energy from the Sun would have
kept ice a vapor at closer distances, so the solid, accretable matter would
become much more common beyond a critical distance from the Sun. The
accretion of these "planetesimals" is believed to take a few hundred thousand
to about twenty million years, with the outermost taking the longest to form.
8. Two things and the second brake point. How big were those protoplanets and
how quickly did they form? At about this time, about 1 million years after the
 nebula cooled, the star would generate a very strong solar wind, which would
sweep away all of the gas left in the protoplanetary nebula. If a protoplanet
was large enough, soon enough, its gravity would pull in the nebular gas, and
it would become a gas giant. If not, it would remain a rocky or icy body.
9. At this point, the solar system is composed only of solid, protoplanetary
bodies and gas giants. The "planetesimals" would slowly collide with each
other and become more massive.
10. Eventually, after ten to a hundred million years, you end up with ten or so
planets, in stable orbits, and that's a solar system. These planets and their
surfaces may be heavily modified by the last, big collision they experience (e.g.
the largely metal composition of Mercury or the Moon).

Note: this was the theory of planetary formation as it stood before the discovery
of extrasolar planets. The discoveries don't match what the theory predicted. That could
be an observational bias (odd solar systems may be easier to detect from Earth) or
problems with the theory (probably with subtle points, not the basic outline.)

Origin of the Solar System:

The basic premise in the understanding of our origins, and the properties of all the planets
we have studied this term, is that natural forces created and shaped the Solar System. And
that there is a continuity to that process, i.e. it is not a sequence of random events.

Any model or theory for the formation of the Solar System must have a set of
explanations for large-scale and small-scale properties.

Large-Scale:

1. the planets are isolated in orderly intervals

2. orbits are nearly circular
3. orbits are in the same plane
4. all planets revolve prograde

Small-Scale:
 1. most planets rotate prograde
2. the systems of moons can be divided into regular objects (spherical) with
direct orbits versus irregular objects with eccentric orbits
3. terrestrial planets have
i. high densities
ii. thin or no atmospheres
iii. rotate slowly
iv. rocky, poor in ices and H/He
4. jovian worlds have
i. low densities
ii. thick atmospheres
iii. rotate rapidly
iv. many moons
v. fluid interiors, rich in ices, H/He
5. most of outer SS objects (not just jovian worlds) are ice-rich

Also note that the overall architecture of our Solar System is orderly and the ages
of its members uniform. All indicators point to a single formation event about 4.6
billion years ago.

The above is not to ignore the fact that a great deal of evolution occurred in the Solar System
after it formed (see below). For example, the origin secondary atmospheres of the terrestrial
worlds underwent a large amount of chemical processing (Venus was baked, Mars was
frozen, Earth developed life). There was also orbital evolution as well, rings were formed,
moons captured, tidal locking between worlds (e.g. Pluto and Charon). So the Solar System
is not a static system, it is dynamic.

How does one test a hypothesis?

To answer scientific questions requires the formulation of a hypothesis. The hypothesis is

tested against the facts to look for contradictions that rule out or require modification to the
hypothesis. Note that the process of hypothesis formulation and then theory building is a
lengthy, career dependent operation. So the sociology of science requires that a hypothesis
be tested and confirmed by many scientists since the creator of the hypothesis has a strong
psychological attachment to his work.

Encounter Hypothesis:
One of the earliest theories for the formation of the planets was called the encounter
hypothesis. In this scenario, a rogue star passes close to the Sun about 5 billion years ago.
Material, in the form of hot gas, is tidally stripped from the Sun and the rogue star. This
material fragments into smaller lumps which form the planets. This hypothesis has the
advantage of explaining why the planets all revolve in the same direction (from the
encounter geometry) and also provides an explanation for why the inner worlds are denser
than the outer worlds.

However, there are two major problems for a theory of this type. One is that hot
gas expands, not contracts. So lumps of hot gas would not form planets. The
second is that encounters between stars are extremely rare, so rare as to be
improbable in the lifetime of the Universe (15 billion years).

Nebular Hypothesis:

A second theory is called the nebular hypothesis. In this theory, the whole Solar System starts
as a large cloud of gas that contracts under self-gravity. Conservation of angular
momentum requires that a rotating disk form with a large concentration at the center (the
proto-Sun). Within the disk, planets form.

While this theory incorporates more basic physics, there are several unsolved
problems. For example, a majority of the angular momentum in the Solar System
is held by the outer planets. For comparison, 99% of the Solar System's mass is in
the Sun, but 99% of its angular momentum is in the planets. Another flaw is the
mechanism from which the disk turns into individual planets.

Protoplanet Hypothesis:

The current working model for the formation of the Solar System is called the protoplanet
hypothesis. It incorporates many of the components of the nebular hypothesis, but adds
some new aspects from modern knowledge of fluids and states of matter.

Meanwhile in the inner Solar System:

Note that as the planet's began to form they grew in mass by accreting
planetesimals. Since force of gravity is proportional to mass, the largest
planetesimals are accreted first. The early proto-planets are able to sweep the
early Solar System clean of large bodies.

Notice also that the lighter compounds are vaporized in the inner Solar System. So where did
all the outgassing material come from? The answer is comets that fall from the outer Solar
System after the planets form.

Meanwhile in the outer Solar System:

The Jovian worlds, having an early edge on gathering mass in the colder outer
solar disk, were the most efficient at capturing planetesimals, which only served
to increase their already large masses. As the planetesimals shrink in average
size, collisions with proto-planets lead to fragmentation. So quickly the Solar
System divided into large proto-planets and smaller and smaller planetesimals
which eventually became the numerous meteors we see today.

Any leftover large bodies were captured as moons or ejected by gravity assist into the Oort
cloud. The start of thermonuclear fusion in the Sun's core created enough luminosity so that
the remaining hydrogen and helium gas in the solar disk was removed by radiation pressure.

The only remaining problem is the distribution of angular momentum. The current
explanation for the fact that most of the angular momentum is in the outer planets is that, by
some mechanism, the Sun has lost angular momentum. The mechanism of choice is magnetic
braking.

The early Sun had a much heavier flow of solar winds particles. Many of the
particles in the solar wind are charged, and are effected by the laws of motion as
well as electromagnetic forces. As the solar wind leaves the solar surface, they
are ``dragged'' by the magnetic field, which in turn slows down the Sun's
rotation.

Migrating Planets:
The protoplanet hypothesis explains most of the features of the Solar System; however, the
outer solar system is still strange, especially the properties of Pluto/Charon. One explanation
is that the Solar System was not born in the configuration that we see today. That the planets
in the outer Solar System migrated to their present positions.

Migration requires some interaction between the planet and a fairly large body or the
gravitational forces are too weak. Early in the formation of the Solar System, there were lots
of Moon-sized to Mars-sized bodies, especially in the outer SS. A large planetesimal that
crosses near Neptune will lose some energy, fall down near Jupiter, gain energy to be ejected
into the Oort Cloud.

This will have the effect of decreasing the size of Jupiter's orbit, and expanding the size of
Saturn, Uranus and Neptunes' orbits. As Neptune moves outward, it will beginning to perturb
the orbits of the trans-Neptunian objects (large ice covered astroids of which Pluto/Charon
are a member). This pushes Pluto/Charon into a highly eccentric, inclined 3:2 resonant orbit
that it occupies today.
All the leftover planetesimals near Neptunes orbit are pushed into a torus shaped region
called the Kuiper belt. Smaller planetesimals are thrown farther out into the Oort cloud.
Habitable Zone:

One of the main ingredients for life as we know it is liquid water. Water exists as a liquid
between 273K and 373K (unless the pressure is too low, in which case the water sublimates
into gaseous water vapor). The region on the solar system (or any planetary system) where
the temperature is in this range, is called the habitable zone.

Planets are in equilibrium with their surroundings: they are neither getting hotter nor
colder. All planets absorb incident radiation from the Sun (this heats them up); to maintain
equilibrium, they must radiate away the same amount of energy. The temperature of a planet
can be approximated by assuming that it is a black body.
Planets do not absorb all incident light; much gets reflected. The albedo is the fraction of
incident light reflected, not absorbed. The albedo of the Earth is 0.37; that of Venus is 0.65;
that of the Moon is about 0.12 (clouds are highly reflective, basaltic rock is not). You must
multiply the solar irradiance by the albedo. This extends the inner edge of the habitable zone
inwards

Another complication is that planets are not ideal black bodies. Carbon⁸ dioxide, water
vapor, and other atmospheric gases are opaque in the near-IR (where the peak of the black
body emission would be). A less-than-ideal radiator must be hotter than a black body to
radiate the same amount of luminosity. This extends the outer edge of the habitable zone
outwards.

Origin of the Solar System

For more than 300 years there has been serious scientific discussion of the processes and
events that led to the formation of the solar system. For most of this time lack of knowledge
about the physical conditions in the solar system prevented a rigorous approach to the problem.
Explanations were especially sought for the regularity in the directions of rotation and orbit of
objects in the solar system, the slow rotation of the Sun, and the Titius-Bode law, which states
that the radii of the planetary orbits increase in a regular fashion throughout the solar system. In
a similar fashion the radii of the orbits of the regular satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus
increase regularly. In modern times the slow rotation of the Sun has been explained as resulting
from the deceleration of its angular motion through its magnetic interaction with the solar wind.
Thus this feature in itself should not have been considered a constraint on theories of the origin
of the solar system.

The numerous theories concerning the origin of the solar system that have been
advanced during the last three centuries can be classified as either dualistic or monistic.
One common feature of dualistic theories is that another star once passed close to the
Sun, and tidal perturbations between the two stars drew out filaments of gas from which
the planets condensed. Theories of this type encounter enormous difficulties in trying to
account for modern information about the solar system, and they have generally been
discarded. By contrast, monistic theories envisage a disk of gas and dust, called the
primitive solar nebula, that formed around the Sun. Many of these theories speculate
that the Sun and the planets formed together from the primeval solar nebula. This type
of theory has dominated thinking about the origin of the solar system since World War
II. Photographs taken of nearby stars, such as Beta Pictoris, appear to show systems
forming in this way from disks of surrounding materials.
The large amount of activity that has taken place in more recent years in the renewed
exploration of the solar system has also provided a great impetus for renewed studies of
the origin of the system. One important component of this research has been the
detailed studies of the properties of meteorites that has been made possible by modern
laboratory instrumentation. The distribution and abundance of the elements within
different meteoritic mineral phases has provided much information on the physical
conditions present at the time the solar system began to form. Discoveries of anomalies
in the isotopic compositions of the elements in certain mineral phases in meteorites may
provide information about the local galactic interstellar environment that led to the
formation of the solar system. Investigations of the properties of other planets has led to
the science of comparative planetology, in which the differences observed among the
planets pose precise questions concerning the mechanisms by which they may have
been formed.
Studies of the stars within our Galaxy have shown that the galaxy's age is much greater
than the age of the solar system. Therefore, processes observed in the current
formation of stars within our galaxy are likely to be found relevant to the formation of our
solar system. Stars appear to form in groups or associations, as a result of the
gravitational collapse of clouds of gas and dust in the interstellar medium. Modern
monistic theories envisage the gas and dust in the primitive solar nebula to be the
collapsed remnant of such materials.
There has been much discussion of how the planets might have formed from the
primeval solar nebula. In recent years attention has focused on the possibility that two
types of gravitational instabilities might have played an important role in this process.
One type is a gravitational instability in the gas of the primitive solar nebula, from which
there would be formed giant gaseous protoplanets whose evolution could lead, in the
outer solar system, to the giant planets observed today. In the inner solar system, giant
gaseous protoplanets could have formed rocky cores at their centers, which survived
the stripping away of the gaseous envelopes caused by gravitational and thermal forces
from the growing Sun.
The other form of gravitational instability involves the condensed materials in the solar
nebula. Small dust particles that may have been present in the gas of the solar nebula
could be expected to settle toward the midplane of the nebula if the gas were not
subject to extensive turbulent churning. Gravitational instabilities acting on a thin dust
layer might have formed bodies ranging from tens to hundreds of kilometers in radius.
Collisions among these bodies may have played a major role in accumulations of
material to form the planets. Computer-model studies conducted in the final years of the
20th century suggested that the arrangement of planets in the solar system as it now
exists is dramatically different from the configuration of the system when it first formed.
Origin and Evolution of the Solar System

The solar system was formed 4.6 ± 0.1 × 10 9years ago. Astronomers have recognized
a number of observable facts about the solar system that are not otherwise the result of
obvious physical laws (for example, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, which are the
direct result of the nature of gravity). But the foundation of science assumes that every
observable property must result from some cause. These features must therefore be the
direct result of how the solar system formed. The following list outlines these observable
facts:

 All planetary orbits lie nearly in a single plane; in other words, the solar system is
flat (the orbit of Pluto is an exception).
 The Sun's rotational equator is in the same flat plane.
 Planetary orbits are nearly circular (exceptions are Mercury and Pluto).
 The planets and Sun all revolve in the same direction, that is, a motion that is
west to east across the sky as viewed from Earth (what astronomers refer to
as direct motion).
 The Sun and planets all rotate in the same direction with obliquities (the tilt
between the equatorial and orbital planes) generally small (exceptions are
Venus, Uranus, and Pluto).
 Planets and most asteroids have similar rotational periods (exceptions are
Mercury, Pluto, and Venus).
 Planets are regularly spaced (this is often expressed in the form of a simple
mathematical progression, known as Bode's law).
 The major moons in planetary satellite systems resemble the solar system on a
smaller scale (circular orbits, uniform direction of revolution, in a flat plane with
regular spacing).
 Most angular momentum (∼ mass × velocity × orbital radius) of the solar system
is in the planets (99.8%), whereas most of the mass of the solar system is in the
Sun (99.8%). This may be expressed alternatively as a question: Why does the
sun rotate so slowly?
 Differences in chemical composition exist throughout the solar system, with
dense, metal‐rich (terrestrial) planets found close to the sun, but giant, hydrogen‐
rich (gas) planets only in the outer part of the solar system. In addition, the
chemical composition of meteorites, while similar, is not identical to all known
planetary and lunar rocks.
 Comets exist in a much larger, spherical cloud surrounding the solar system.

Throughout the years, people have come up with a variety of theories to explain the
observable features of the solar system. Some of these theories include so‐
called catastrophe theories,such as a near collision of the Sun with another star.
Modern theory of planetary origins also explicitly rejects any idea that our solar system
is unique or special, thus ruling out catastrophe theories. The solar nebula theory (also
known as the planetesimal hypothesis, or condensation theory) describes the solar
system as the natural result of the operation of the various laws of physics. According to
this theory, before the planets and Sun were formed, the material that would become
the solar system existed as part of a large, diffuse cloud of interstellar gas and dust
(a nebula) composed primarily of hydrogen and helium with traces (2 percent) of other,
heavier elements. Such clouds can be stable for very long periods of time with simple
gas pressure (pushing outward) balancing the inward pull of the self‐gravity of the cloud.
But British theoretician James Jeans showed that the smallest disturbance (perhaps an
initial compression begun by a shock wave from a nearby stellar explosion) allows
gravity to win the competition, and gravitational contraction begins. The fundamental
inability for gas pressure to permanently balance against self‐gravity is known as
the Jeans Instability. (An analogy would be a yardstick balanced on one end; the
slightest displacement upsets the balances of forces and gravity causes the yardstick to
fall over.)

During the nebula's gravitation collapse ( Helmholtz contraction), gravity accelerated

particles inward. As each particle accelerated, the temperature rose. If no other effect
were involved, the temperature rise would have increased pressure until gravity was
balanced and the contraction ended. Instead the gas particles collided with each other,
with those collisions converting kinetic energy (the energy of a body that is associated
with its motion) into an internal energy that atoms can radiate away (in other words, a
cooling mechanism). About half the gravitational energy was radiated away, and half
went into heating the contracting cloud; thus, gas pressure stayed below what was
needed to achieve balance against the inward pull of gravity. As a result, the contraction
of the cloud continued. The contraction occurred more quickly in the center, and the
density of the center mass rose much faster than the density of the outer part of the
nebula. When the central temperature and density became great enough,
thermonuclear reactions began to provide significant energy—in fact, enough energy to
allow the central temperature to reach the point where the resulting gas pressure could
again supply balance against gravitation. The central region of the nebula becomes a
new Sun.

A major factor in the formation of the Sun was angular momentum, or the momentum
characteristic of a rotating object. Angular momentum is the product of linear
momentum and the perpendicular distance from the origin of coordinates to the path of
the object (≈ mass × radius × rotational velocity). In the same manner that a spinning
skater revolves faster when her arms are pulled inward, the conservation of angular
momentum causes a contracting star to increase in rotational velocity as the radius is
reduced. As its mass shrank in size, the Sun's rotational velocity grew.

In the absence of other factors, the new Sun would have continued rapidly rotating, but
two possible mechanisms slowed this rotation significantly. One was the existence of
a magnetic field. Weak magnetic fields are present in space. A magnetic field tends to
lock into material (think of how iron filings sprinkled onto a sheet of paper on top of a
magnet line up, mapping out the pattern of magnetic field lines). Originally the field lines
would have penetrated the stationary material of the nebula, but after it contracted, the
field lines would have been rapidly rotating at the central Sun, but very slowly rotating in
the outer part of the nebula. By magnetically connecting the inner region to the outer
region, the magnetic field sped up the movement of the outer material, but slowed the
rotation ( magnetic braking) of the central solar material. Thus momentum was
transferred outward to the nebular material, some of which was lost to the solar system.
The second factor to slow the early Sun's rotation was most likely a powerful solar wind,
which also carried away substantial rotational energy and angular momentum, again
slowing the solar rotation.

Beyond the center of the nebula, angular momentum also played a significant role in the
formation of the other parts of the solar system. In the absence of outside forces,
angular momentum is conserved; hence, as the radius of the cloud decreased, its
rotation increased. Ultimately, rotational motions balanced gravity in an equatorial
plane. Above and below this plane, there was nothing to hold up the material, and it
continued to fall into the plane; the solar nebulaexterior to the new central Sun thus
flattened into a rotating disk (see Figure 1). At this stage, the material was still gaseous,
with lots of collisions occurring between the particles. Those particles in elliptical orbits
had more collisions, with the net result being that all material was forced into more or
less circular orbits, causing a rotating disk to be formed. No longer significantly
contracting, the material of this protoplanetary disk cooled, but heating from the center
by the new Sun resulted in a temperature gradient ranging from a temperature of
approximately 2,000 K at the center of the nebula to a temperature of approximately 10
K at the edge of the nebula.

Figure 1

Collapse of interstellar cloud into star and protoplanetary disk.

Temperature affected which materials condensed from the gas stage to the particle
( grain) stage in the nebulae. Above 2,000 K, all elements existed in a gaseous phase;
but below 1,400 K, relatively common iron and nickel began to condense into solid form.
Below 1,300 K, silicates (various chemical combinations with SiO −4) started to form. At
much lower temperatures, below 300 K, the most common elements, hydrogen,
nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen, formed ices of H −2O, NH −3, CH −4, and CO −2.
Carbonaceous chondrites (with chondrules, or spherical grains that never were melted
in later events) are the direct evidence that grain formation took place in the early solar
system, with a subsequent amalgamation of these small solid particles into larger and
larger objects.

Given the range of temperature in the protoplanetary nebula, only heavy elements
were able to condense in the inner solar system; whereas both heavy elements and the
much more abundant ices condensed in the outer solar system. Gases that didn't
condense into grains were swept outward by radiation pressure and the stellar wind of
the new Sun.

In the inner solar system, heavy element grains slowly grew in size, successively
combining into larger objects (small moon‐sized planets, or planetesimals). In the final
stage, planetesimals merged to form the small handful of terrestrial planets. That
smaller objects were present before the planets is shown by the leftover asteroids (too
far from either Mars or Jupiter to become part of those surviving planets) and the
evidence of impact cratering on the ancient surfaces of the large bodies that exist today.
Detailed computations show that the formation of larger bodies in this manner produces
final objects rotating in the same sense of direction as their motion about the Sun and
with appropriate rotational periods. The condensation into a few objects orbiting the Sun
occurred in more or less regularly spaced radial zones or annuli, with one surviving
planet in each region.

In the outer solar system, protoplanets formed in the same manner as those in the
inner solar system, but with two differences. First, more mass was present in the form of
icy condensates; and second, the amalgamation of solid materials occurred in a region
rich in hydrogen and helium gas. The gravitation of each growing planet would have
affected the surrounding gas dynamics until gravo‐ thermal collapse occurred, or a
sudden collapse of surrounding gas upon the rocky‐icy protoplanets, thus forming the
final nature of the gas giants. In the vicinity of the largest developing gas giants, the new
planet's gravity affected the motions of surrounding, smaller objects with the evolution
there being like a smaller version of the whole solar system. Thus, satellite systems
ended up looking like the whole solar system in miniature.

The Origin of the

Solar System

Observed features any origin model of the solar system/planets must explain
1. Disk shape

2. Orbits in same plane,

3. For most planets, direction of motion and orbit are same (note peculiarities of Venus,
Uranus, Pluto however)
4. Two planetary types: Inner terrestrial planets are high density, Jovian outer planets are
low density). Jupiter has liquid metallic core, Uranus and Neptune have slushy core. But
these outer planets are all mostly gas. By contrast, the terrestrial planets have rocky mantle
and are mostly solid.

5. Planetary ring systems for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Also terrestrial planets
have fewer moons compared to outer planets.

6. Debris (more than 20,000 ASTEROIDS, many COMETS, many more METEORS), their
composition and their orbits. E.g. the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter (thought to
be failed version of planet formation).

7. Common ages of 4.6 billion years for Earth, moon Mars, meteorites and the sun.

8. The existence of solar systems other than our own (extra-solar planets).

9. The mysterious lack of angular momentum of the sun

10. Composition of solar exterior

We will eventually see how the solar system formation model can explain all these features.

The leading model for the explanation of the formation of the solar system and these
resulting features is an EVOLUTIONARY model rather than a CATASTROPHIC model.
The former describes a gradual process, while the latter describes an impulsive process.
Buffon's PASSING STAR model where a stellar collision strips off matter which eventually
forms planets is a catastrophic model. This is ruled out because the gas stripped would
would too hot to form planets and also the planets would not like relax into stable orbits
upon formation.

In contrast, the evolutionary model called the NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS is much better at
explaining the observations. In its original form was proposed by Kant and Laplace in the
18th century. Since then it has incurred many modifications. The initial steps of our
modern understanding will be discussed below.

Atoms in your body

Note that much of the material in your body actually originated with in 3 minutes of the very
beginning of the universe billions of years ago. The elementary particles (protons, electrons, neutrons)
formed quickly but were not bound together as they are today. 75% hydrogen and about 25% helium.
Very few heavier atoms were made then.

Most all of the heavier atoms were made in stars through nuclear reactions that began 1
billion years after the big bang. (Universe is about 12 billion years old). Cycles and cycles of
star formation have occurred since then.
The gas in the galaxy is the result of dying or exploding stars. This gas then gets recycled as
new stars form.

The heavy elements in your body like Iron, was formed somewhere in our galaxy, billions
of years ago, and only by chance does it happen to be in your blood.

Collapsing Clouds of Gas and Dust in Nebular Hypothesis

Here is how a solar system forms in summary: Basically, stars form in gravitationally
contracting clouds. The center region of a cloud contracts faster and actually forms the star
but gas and dust is left orbiting and from this orbiting gas the planets form. When the
center of the star becomes hot enough to generate heat by nuclear reactions (fusion) the
star lights up and blows away the gas orbiting it, leaving mainly the heavier bodies such as
planets.

In the beginning phase A great cloud of gas and dust (called a nebula) begins to collapse
because the gravitational forces that would like to collapse it overcome the forces
associated with gas pressure that would like to expand it (the initial collapse might be
triggered by a variety of perturbations---a supernova blast wave, density waves in spiral
galaxies, etc.).

In the Nebular Hypothesis, a cloud of gas and dust collapsed by gravity begins to spin
faster because of angular momentum conservation
It is unlikely that such a nebula, or any astrophysical gas collapses with zero angular
momentum, thus the gas is probably initially spinning at least slowly. Because of
conservation of angular momentum, the cloud spins faster as it contracts.

The Spinning Nebula Flattens

Because of the competing forces associated with gravity, gas pressure, and rotation, the contracting
nebula begins to flatten into a spinning flattened shape with a bulge at the center, as illustrated in the
following figure. The reduced angular momentum support near the poles means that it is easier for
material to fall in near the top, rather than at the equator, and there is therefore a bulge, which
eventually leads to a disk. (It need not be as flat as a pancake as shown here and in fact is usually
"flared" thicker at outside than inside).

The collapsing, spinning nebula begins to flatten into a rotating pancake

Condensation of Protosun and Protoplanets

As the nebula collapses further, instabilities in the collapsing, rotating cloud cause local regions to
begin to contract gravitationally. These local regions of condensation will become the Sun and the
planets, as well as their moons and other debris in the Solar System.
The composition of the Sun, the two classes of planets, etc. explained by the nebula
hypothesis:

We know the nebular gas would have been mostly hydrogen and we see this in the
composition of the solar photo-sphere (outer region of the sun). This is a good check of the
theory.

Planets first grow by small bits of solid material sticking together. But the kind of solid
material that can form depends on the temperature.

Inner regions of the solar nebula were hotter, thus only the very heaviest material could
agglomerate and not disperse. This explains why there is so little hydrogen in the
composition of the terrestrial planets and they are largely heavier compounds. Only
compounds with high melting points can CONDENSE in the inner regions into solids.

The formation of PLANETESSIMALS occurs by further CONDENSATIONS (atom by

atom deposition) onto these initial solid bits. This takes the objects up to centimeter sizes.
and then the merging of these solid bits through sticking processes or ACCRETION (rapid
accumulation by sticking, static electricity, "snowball effect"). This takes the objects up to
kilometer size scales.

Eventually this will drop the heavier material into the plane of the disk, where it will
encounter more partners and merging and further interaction, and agglomeration occurs.
(Gravitational instability/contraction can further aid growth).

PROTOPLANETS form from the subsequent coalescence of kilometer size bodies. This is
aided by the fact that objects are all rotating in the same direction in the disk so their
collisions are often gentle (stimulating gravitational merging) rather than destructive
(stimulating breaking up into smaller pieces).

Radioactive decay heats internal regions of protoplanets and melts the cores. Then
DIFFERENTIATION ensues: the heavier compounds move to the center leaving the
lighter materials at the outer regions. It is believed that the atmosphere of our planet was
formed as a result of OUT-GASSING (gases released from planetary interior) AND
accumulation of some gas from the nebula as it cooled. The need for the latter is because
the origin of water is hard to explain otherwise.

Process takes 100 million or so years for terrestrial planets to form

Since the outer planets form in regions of lower temperatures, they are able to hold onto
more gas since the gas is cooler and more ices and silicates can coalesce to attract the gas.
This is why the outer planets have more light material, that is more gaseous hydrogen: only
when protoplanet has more than 15 Earth masses of material can it capture gas directly
from the young solar nebula.
It takes about 10 million years for Jovian planets to form: this is based on observations of
young stars (T Tauri stars), which have lost their gaseous nebulae by 10 million years.

ASTEROID BELT is explained by Jupiter's gravity thwarting formation of a planet

between mars and Jupiter.

We see Jupiter type planets close to other stars not far away as in our solar system. How
can this be given the above? Closeness of Jovian type planets around other stars is
explained by such a planet capturing many planetessimals and then migrating toward its
star from angular momentum conservation.

Venus, Uranus and Pluto's anomalous spins explained by impulsive collision with massive
object. Craters tell us there were many collisions, but usually small objects. Perhaps a few
were large enough to explain the anomalous rotations of these planets.

Eventually, 4 effects clear away the nebula: the Sun's radiation pressure, the solar wind,
the gravitation of the individual planets, and close encounters between planets and
planetessimals.

METEORS, COMETS, ASTEROIDS are left as residues of the planet formation process.

As the nebula collapses further, local regions begin to contract gravitationally on

their own because of instabilities in the collapsing, rotating cloud
While they are still condensing, the incipient Sun and planets are called
the protosun and protoplanets, respectively.

Evidence for the Nebular Hypothesis

Because of the original angular momentum and subsequent evolution of the collapsing nebula, this
hypothesis provides a natural explanation for some basic facts about the Solar System: the orbits of
the planets lie nearly in a plane with the sun at the center (let's neglect the slight eccentricity of the
planetary orbits to simplify the discussion), the planets all revolve in the same direction, and the
planets mostly rotate in the same direction with rotation axes nearly perpindicular to the orbital
plane.

The nebular hypothesis explains many of the basic features of the Solar System, but we still
do not understand fully how all the details are accounted for by this hypothesis. As we
discuss in the next section, we now have some direct observational evidence in support of
the nebular hypothesis

How did the solar system evolve?

Most of the collapsing mass collected in the center, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into
a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar
System bodies formed. ... The Solar System has evolved considerably since its initial formation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Form...

Formation and evolution of the Solar System - Wikipedia

What are the four theories of the solar system?

Four Major Characteristics of the Solar System

 Large bodies in the solar system have orderly motions.

 Planets fall into two main categories:

 Swarms of asteroids and comets populate the solar system.

 Notable exceptions to these trends stand out (unusual rotation axis tilts, large moons, unusual
orbits).

www.astro.umass.edu › ~myun › a100_old

 Solar Nebular Theory

What supernova created our solar system?

The solar system is thought to have coalesced from a giant rotating cloud of gas and dust known
as the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago. For decades, scientists have suspected
a star explosion called a supernova helped trigger our solar system's formation.Aug 6, 2012

https://www.space.com › 16943-superno...

Exploding Star May Have Sparked Formation of Our Solar System

Was there a star before the sun?

The explosive death of a star — that may have been up to a dozen times the sun's mass —
might have triggered the formation of the solar system, a new study finds. The sun as well as the
rest of the solarsystem was born from a cloud of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago.Dec
28, 2016

https://www.space.com › 35151-superno...

Did a Supernova Give Birth to Our Solar System? | Space

Who first discovered the solar system?

Galileo was the first to discover physical details about the individual bodies of the Solar System.
He discovered that the Moon was cratered, that the Sun was marked with sunspots, and that
Jupiter had four satellites in orbit around it.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Discove...

Discovery and exploration of the Solar System - Wikipedia

How will you describe the origin of the solar system?

The Modern Nebular theory. The planets originate in a dense disk formed from material in the
gas and dust cloud that collapses to give us the Sun. ... They are roughly on the same scale as
the Solar System and lend strong support to this theory.

https://www.rmg.co.uk › discover › origi...

 The origin of the Solar System | Explore Royal Museums Greenwich

How universe is created?

Soon after the Big Bang, primordial protons and neutrons formed from the quark–gluon plasma
of the early Universe as it cooled below two trillion degrees. A few minutes later, in a process
known as Big Bang nucleosynthesis, nuclei formed from the primordial protons and neutrons.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Unive...

Universe - Wikipedia

Where does space come from?

The modern concept of outer space is based on the "Big Bang" cosmology, first proposed in
1931 by the Belgian physicist Georges Lemaître. This theory holds that the universe originated
from a very dense form that has since undergone continuous expansion.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Outer_s...

Outer space - Wikipedia

Who made the solar system model of an atom?

Ernest Rutherford
In atomic physics, the Rutherford–Bohr model or Bohr model or Bohr diagram, presented
by Niels Bohr andErnest Rutherford in 1913, is a system consisting of a small, dense nucleus
surrounded by revolving electrons —similar to the structure of the Solar System, but with
attraction provided by electrostatic forces rather ...

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Bohr_m...

Bohr model - Wikipedia

What type of planet is Earth?

A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of
silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets
closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury,Venus, Earth, and Mars.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Terrestri...

 Terrestrial planet - Wikipedia

Who discovered accretion theory?

Overview. The accretion model that Earth and the other terrestrial planets formed from meteoric
material was proposed in 1944 by Otto Schmidt, followed by the protoplanet theory of William
McCrea (1960) and finally the capture theory of Michael Woolfson.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Accre...

Accretion (astrophysics) - Wikipedia

Which planet is the oldest in our solar system?

The planet is one of the oldest known extrasolarplanets, believed to be about 12.7 billion years
old.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › PSR_...

PSR B1620-26 b - Wikipedia

How did the moon form?

The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact suggests that
the Moonformed out of the debris left over from a collision between Earth and an astronomical
body the size of Mars, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon; about 20 to 100
million years after the Solar ...

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Giant-i...

Giant-impact hypothesis - Wikipedia

Is Ceres closer to Mars or Jupiter?

Ceres (/ˈsɪəriːz/; minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is the largest object in the asteroid belt that
lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, slightly closer to Mars'sorbit. With a diameter of
945 km (587 mi), Ceres is the largest of the minor planets and the only dwarf planet inside
Neptune's orbit.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ceres_(...

 Ceres (dwarf planet) - Wikipedia

What kind of star is Earth's sun?

The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star that comprises about 99.86% of the mass of the Solar
System. The Sun has an absolute magnitude of +4.83, estimated to be brighter than about 85%
of the stars in the Milky Way, most of which are red dwarfs.

What is Solar System answer?

The Solar System is made up of the Sun and all the objects that orbit around it. The Sun is
orbited by planets, asteroids, comets and other things. ... There are eight planets in the Solar
System. From closest to farthest from the Sun, they are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

https://simple.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sola...

Solar System - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What are the remnants of a supernova?

A supernova remnant (SNR) is the structure resulting from the explosion of a star in
a supernova. Thesupernova remnant is bounded by an expanding shock wave, and consists of
ejected material expanding from the explosion, and the interstellar material it sweeps up and
shocks along the way.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Super...

Supernova remnant - Wikipedia

What causes differential rotation?

The cause of differential rotation. Stars and planetsrotate in the first place because
conservation of angular momentum turns random drifting of parts of the molecular cloud that they
form from into rotatingmotion as they coalesce. ... Differential rotation thus depends on
temperature differences in adjacent regions.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Differen...

Differential rotation - Wikipedia

Who proved the sun is the center of the solar system?

 Nicolaus Copernicus
With the development of the heliocentric model byNicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century, the
Sun was believed to be the center of the Universe, with the planets (including Earth) and stars
orbiting it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki › Histor...

History of the center of the Universe - Wikipedia

Who discovered that the Earth is round?

Pythagoras. Early Greek philosophers alluded to a spherical Earth, though with some
ambiguity.Pythagoras (6th century BC) was among those said to have originated the idea, but
this might reflect the ancient Greek practice of ascribing every discovery to one or another of their
ancient wise men.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Spherica...

Spherical Earth - Wikipedia

Who discovered Jupiter?

Galileo Galilei
In 1610, Italian polymath Galileo Galilei discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter (now known
as the Galilean moons) using a telescope; thought to be the first telescopic observation of moons
other than Earth's.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Jupiter

Jupiter - Wikipedia

Why is Earth in the Goldilocks zone?

A planet's atmospheric conditions influence its ability to retain heat, so that the location of
the habitable zone is also specific to each type of planet: desert planets (also known as dry
planets), with very little water, will have less water vapor in the atmosphere than Earth and so
have a reduced greenhouse effect, ...

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Circums...

 Circumstellar habitable zone - Wikipedia

More results

What is the name of the area between Mars and Jupiter?

The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits
of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped
bodies called asteroids or minor planets.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Asteroid...

Asteroid belt - Wikipedia

What does the third law of planetary motion state?

Third law of Kepler. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the
cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit. This captures the relationship between the distance
of planets from the Sun, and their orbital periods.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Kepler's...

Kepler's laws of planetary motion - Wikipedia

Who was the first person on the earth?

According to the Ahmadiyya sect Adam was not the first human being on earth, but when the
human race came into existence, and spread all over the world and developed the ability to
receive revelation, God sentAdam to each and every branch and civilization.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Adam

Adam - Wikipedia

How did water get on earth?

Gradual "dehydration melting"—leakage of water stored in hydrate minerals of Earth's rocks—

could have formed a portion of its water. Water may also have come from
volcanism: water vapor in the atmosphere that originated in volcanic eruptions may have
condensed to form rain, slowly filling Earth's oceanic basins.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Origin_...

 Origin of water on Earth - Wikipedia

When did humans appear on Earth?

They first appeared in the fossil record around 66 million years ago, soon after the Cretaceous–
Paleogene extinction event that eliminated about three-quarters of plant and animal species on
Earth, including most dinosaurs.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Timelin...

Timeline of human evolution - Wikipedia