Download HOW WAS THE SOLAR SYSTEM FORMED? Scientists have

HOW WAS THE SOLAR SYSTEM FORMED?
Scientists have studied this question for many years
and it is difficult for even scientists to understand. The formation of our Solar System took
place billions of years before there were any people around to witness it. Understanding from
where the Solar System came from can help us understand how we came to be. Scientists
have come up with theories to its formation by studying our own planet and other solar
systems in the universe.
Lets start wit h t he Sun…
Today, scientists believe our solar system began about 4.6 billion years ago from a
giant cloud of dust and gas.
They believe that this cloud of dust and gas began to collapse under the
weight of its own gravity and started moving in a giant circle. The cloud
flattened like a disk because of the constant spinning motion. As the disk
The spinning
cloud was like
water going
down a drain.
continued to spin over millions of years, the mass in the center continued to
grow. At the center of this spinning cloud, a
began to form.
Further away from this star were smaller clumps of
dust and gas that were also collapsing. The star in the
center grew larger and larger, as it collected more of the
dust and gas that were collapsing into it. The star in the
center eventually became hotter and hotter. When the
temperature reached 27,000,000 F, it caught fire, and
nuclear fusion occurred.
Formation of the Planets…
Once ignited, the Sun's powerful solar winds began to blow. All of the
gas and dust that did not go into the formation of the Sun were slowly
If you put something
on this playground
equipment and spin itwhat happens? It flies
off…which is what is
happening to the gas
and dust being
pushed away from the
Sun by the spinning
solar wind.
pushed out of the Solar System by these winds. The disk continued to
spin. In this spinning cloud were minerals, water, and organic molecules
such as methane. The materials continued to collide, forming larger
and larger bodies. Eventually they formed the rocky inner planets.
These include
. They are the closest planets to the sun.
With no more gas or dust, the planets, minor
planets, moons, comets, and asteroids stopped
growing. Farther from the Sun, the temperature
Because the inner planets are much closer to the
Sun, they are located where the solar winds are
stronger. The dust and gas from the inner Solar
System was blown away much more quickly than it
was from the outer Solar System. This gave the
planets of the inner Solar System less time to grow.
was very cold. Water froze into ice. Chunks of
ice bumped into each other. Gas and dust
were swept along. Eventually, the gas giant
planets were formed. They include
Even farther out in space, there was not
as much matter. There were not as many
collisions. Objects that were formed were
smaller than the planets. The Oort Cloud and
the Kuiper Belt are in this area of the solar
system. Here is where the dwarf planets, comets,
and other icy objects exist.
This is due to the same reasons. As the outer
planets grew larger, their gravity had time to
gather large amounts of gas, water, and some dust.
So h o w d o S ci en t i st s kn o w a l l
t h i s … By studying the radioactive decay of radioactive elements in the meteorites,
astronomers have dated the origin of the Solar System to 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists
have also learned a lot about how our solar system was formed by studying other
astronomical phenomena, like nebulas, that are in different stages of their life cycles.
Because of advances in technology, scientists have been able to view other solar systems in
their development process. Astronomers and planetary geologists have been scanning the
universe with high-powered telescopes, such as the Hubble Space
Telescope, and have found billions of other galaxies in our universe,
each of which could contain hundreds of separate solar systems.
W h a t i s t h e f u t u r e o f o u r S o l a r S y s t e m ? In
roughly 5 billion years, the Sun will cool and expand outward to many times its current
diameter (becoming a red giant), before casting off its outer layers and leaving behind a white
dwarf. In the super far distant future, the gravity of passing stars gradually will wear away at
the planets. Some planets will be destroyed, others ejected into space. Over the course of
trillions of years, the Sun will most likely be left alone with no bodies in orbit around it.
Adapted from: extremescience.com, kidsastronomy.com, and edhelper.com
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HOW WAS THE SOLAR SYSTEM FORMED?
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