For my first blog, I will be talking about the Formation of our Solar System.
Formation of the Solar System: Rotating Nebula Theory
The current leading theory is that our solar system began as a spread-out collection of dusts and gases. These particles likely came from the massive explosion of an older star called a supernova and moved closer together due to gravity. As the nebula collapsed, its internal pressure and temperature increased. As more particles were attracted to the nebula, the nebula continued to collapse under its own gravity. When the temperature and pressure inside this collapsing dust and gas cloud became great enough, complex reactions began. The reactions caused the release of large amounts of energy, creating massive explosions. At the core of our nebula, our Sun began to develop. In its early stages, the nebula began to rotate due to the condensing gaseous material. As the nebula collapsed under the force of gravity, its speed of rotation increased. Eventually, its speed of rotation became too great to hold all the matter together at the center, so much of the matter spread out from the center like a pancake. At the center, a bulge of matter remained and eventually formed the Sun. While the Sun was forming, protoplanets began to appear in the outer regions of the nebula. Small clumps of matter, forced together by gravity, that condense to form a planet. As the protoplanets formed into defined orbital paths around the Sun, they swept up much of the remaining debris, becoming bigger in the process. Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; also known as the outer planets; their atmospheres consist mainly of hydrogen and helium gases. The terrestrial planets formed when our young Sun flared up in a sudden burst of energy. This flare-up blasted most of the hydrogen/helium gases into the outer regions of the solar system, leaving denser chunks of solid matter behind. The terrestrial planets formed from the chunks of solid matter.
– Nebula: Refers to a collection of dusts and gases, consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium gases and, to a lesser extent, grains of solid matter such as iron, rock, and ice
– Supernova: A star in its final phases of life, when it explodes to many times its original size.
– Protoplanets: Small clumps of matter, forced together by gravity, that condense to form a planet.
Visual Representation of Rotating Nebula Theory
Clinton's Astronomy Blog 