The Age of the Solar System

Sun and planets should have

about the same age.

Ages of rocks can be

measured through radioactive
dating:

Dating of rocks on Earth, on

the moon, and meteorites all
give ages of ~ 4.6 billion
4.6years.
billion years.
 Characteristic Properties of the
solar system
1. Disk shape of the solar system
• Orbits In nearly the same plan
• Common direction of rotation and revolution
2. Two planetary types
• Terrestrial – inner planets
• Jovian – Outer planets
3. Planetary ring systems and large satellite systems for
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
4. Space debris – asteroids, comets, and meteors
5. Common ages of about 4. 6 billion years for Earth,
the moon, Mars, meteorites , and the sun
 The Main Points
• We didn’t observe the origin of the Solar System, so we
have to develop theories that match “circumstantial
evidence”
• Observed data are most consistent with theory that all the
planets formed out of the same cloud of gas at the same
time
• Some of the wide variety seen within the existing planets
may be due to chance events like collisions
• Discovery of planet-forming disks and actual planets
around other stars implies that
planet-forming processes are common
in our Galaxy
 Here is
a brief outline
of the current
theory of the
events in the early
history of the
solar system
A cloud of interstellar gas is disturbed and
collapses under its own gravity.
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.
The center compresses enough to become a
protostar and the rest of the gas orbits/flows
around it. Then it forms a disk around the
star. The disk radiates away its energy and
cools off.

The gas cools off enough for the metal,

rock and ice to condense out into tiny
particles. The metals condense almost
as soon as the disk forms.
The dust particles collide with
each other and form into larger
particles.

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.
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 collide
with each other and form
into larger particles.
 Early
Hypotheses
 Catastrophic
hypotheses/Passing star
hypothesis:
Star passing the sun
closely tore material out of
the sun, from which
planets could form (no
longer considered)

Catastrophic hypotheses
predict: Only few stars
should have planets!
 Evolutionary hypotheses/Laplace’s nebular
hypothesis:

Rings of material separate

from the spinning cloud,
carrying away angular
momentum of the cloud 
cloud could contract further
(forming the sun)

Evolutionary hypotheses
predict: Most stars should
have planets!
The Solar Nebula Hypothesis
Basis of modern theory of
planet formation.

Planets form at the same

time from the same
cloud as the star.

Planet formation sites

observed today as dust
disks of T Tauri stars.

Sun and our Solar system

formed ~ 5 billion years ago.
Survey of the Solar System
Relative Sizes of the
Planets
Assume, we reduce all bodies
in the solar system so that the
Earth has diameter 0.3 mm.

Sun: ~ size of a small plum.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars:
~ size of a grain of salt.
Jupiter: ~ size of an apple seed.
Saturn: ~ slightly smaller than
Jupiter’s “apple seed”.
Pluto: ~ Speck of pepper.