The Solar System
Our Solar system is everything from our sun to the heliopause, where the sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium, which is the gas and dust swirling through space. Within these boundaries are 8 planets, including our Earth, and several dwarf planets, along with asteroids and natural satelites. Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, which is a spiral galaxy, measuring about 100 million light years in diameter. Our Galaxy is located in our local group which is comprised of 52 galaxies, the largest being the Milky Way, Andromeda and Triangulum.
Formation of The Solar System
1:Gas and Dust Nebula Collaspes.
A cloud of gas and dust began to collaspe under its own gravity around 5 billion years ago. This event was probably caused by the collection of mass from a supernova.
2.Pressure and Density of the cloud increases and rotation is increased.
The Cloud formed a disc about 60 AU across and 1 AU thick. The temperature at the centre of the cloud rose to around 2000 Kelvin, and the dust at the centre of the cloud ionized creating a magnetic field.
3. Angular Momentum is Transferred.
As the density in the centre of the cloud increases, it caused more particles to be clumped together in the centre of the cloud. These clumps of matter began to form into a protostar, the beginning of our sun. Once the protostar was created, the Magnetohydrodynamic effect occured, which means that the sun's angular momentum was transferred from the inner to the outer solar system. Because the area around the sun was comprised of ionized particles, the magnetic field of the sun interacted with these ionized particles, causing them to spiral outwards along the lines of magnetic force. The lines of magnetic force then returned to the sun, trapping the charged particles. The sun rotated faster than the ions in its vicinity, however the magnetic field lines of the sun, travelling through the charged particles accelerated the cloud, in turn slowing down the rotational velocity of the sun. Because the magnetic field of the sun caused the ions to orbit closely around the sun, which separated the volatiles (chemical compounds with low boiling points) and the refractory materials such as iron and nickel, which condensed more rapidly in the cooling nebula, which were then no longer affected by the magnetic field of the sun. This matter then began to clump together to form the terrestrial planets. The volatiles however, having a much lower boiling point, were affected by the magnetic field and were carried further away from the sun, forming the gaseous planets much further away from the sun, near where they are located today.
4.Formation of Planetismals.
Grains of matter began to collide and grow into larger objects. The composition of these objects was dependent on the temperature of the surrounding area which explains why different planets have different compositions. These objects grew from collisions.
5. Creation of Protoplanets and Planets.
The Planetismals formed into protoplanets when they began to possess an active gravitational field. The gravity of these planets began to form into spheres through icostatic adjustment, because the only way to get the mass of a planet close to where the gravity originated from i.e. the centre of the planet, is to form a sphere. At this stage the centre of the star reached 10 million kelvin - the temperature required for hydrogen fusion to begin, and the sun entered the main sequence stage. The initial atmospheres of the inner planets was burnt away by the heat from the sun, however tectonic activity on these planets formed a secondary atmosphere. The outer planets, due to their large size and mass, did not lose their initial atmosphere and their atmospheres are now mostly comprised of the same materials as the sun. The solar wind, a stream of electons and photons coming from the shell of the sun, over millions of years, effectively blows all remaining matter from the solar system, which is either clumped into asteroids or moons, or expelled into the interstellar medium.
Formation of The Solar System
1:Gas and Dust Nebula Collaspes.
A cloud of gas and dust began to collaspe under its own gravity around 5 billion years ago. This event was probably caused by the collection of mass from a supernova.
2.Pressure and Density of the cloud increases and rotation is increased.
The Cloud formed a disc about 60 AU across and 1 AU thick. The temperature at the centre of the cloud rose to around 2000 Kelvin, and the dust at the centre of the cloud ionized creating a magnetic field.
3. Angular Momentum is Transferred.
As the density in the centre of the cloud increases, it caused more particles to be clumped together in the centre of the cloud. These clumps of matter began to form into a protostar, the beginning of our sun. Once the protostar was created, the Magnetohydrodynamic effect occured, which means that the sun's angular momentum was transferred from the inner to the outer solar system. Because the area around the sun was comprised of ionized particles, the magnetic field of the sun interacted with these ionized particles, causing them to spiral outwards along the lines of magnetic force. The lines of magnetic force then returned to the sun, trapping the charged particles. The sun rotated faster than the ions in its vicinity, however the magnetic field lines of the sun, travelling through the charged particles accelerated the cloud, in turn slowing down the rotational velocity of the sun. Because the magnetic field of the sun caused the ions to orbit closely around the sun, which separated the volatiles (chemical compounds with low boiling points) and the refractory materials such as iron and nickel, which condensed more rapidly in the cooling nebula, which were then no longer affected by the magnetic field of the sun. This matter then began to clump together to form the terrestrial planets. The volatiles however, having a much lower boiling point, were affected by the magnetic field and were carried further away from the sun, forming the gaseous planets much further away from the sun, near where they are located today.
4.Formation of Planetismals.
Grains of matter began to collide and grow into larger objects. The composition of these objects was dependent on the temperature of the surrounding area which explains why different planets have different compositions. These objects grew from collisions.
5. Creation of Protoplanets and Planets.
The Planetismals formed into protoplanets when they began to possess an active gravitational field. The gravity of these planets began to form into spheres through icostatic adjustment, because the only way to get the mass of a planet close to where the gravity originated from i.e. the centre of the planet, is to form a sphere. At this stage the centre of the star reached 10 million kelvin - the temperature required for hydrogen fusion to begin, and the sun entered the main sequence stage. The initial atmospheres of the inner planets was burnt away by the heat from the sun, however tectonic activity on these planets formed a secondary atmosphere. The outer planets, due to their large size and mass, did not lose their initial atmosphere and their atmospheres are now mostly comprised of the same materials as the sun. The solar wind, a stream of electons and photons coming from the shell of the sun, over millions of years, effectively blows all remaining matter from the solar system, which is either clumped into asteroids or moons, or expelled into the interstellar medium.