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 large­scale and small­scale properties.

Large­Scale:

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

Small­Scale:

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 ice­rich

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 self­gravity. Conservation
of angular momentum requires that a rotating disk form with a large concentration
at the center (the proto­Sun). 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 proto­planets 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 proto­planets lead to fragmentation. 
So quickly the Solar System divided into large proto­planets 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 Moon­sized to Mars­sized 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 trans­Neptunian 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. Carbon ⁸  dioxide,
water vapor, and other atmospheric gases are opaque in the near­IR (where the
peak of the black body emission would be). A less­than­ideal 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