The Solar System - Essay Example

Our solar system can be said as the example of the above case [Nebula: Wikipedia]. It is believed that the formation of nebulae is the result of supernova explosions. One example of such is Crab Nebula, in Taurus, which is result of recorded supernova in 1054 AD. Also at the center of a nebula, a neutron star exists. It is also believed that the nebulae are created at the end of star’s life (star greater than 1.4 solar masses), when they become red giant and unable to sustain their entire mass [Nebula: Wikipedia].

In 1734, Emanuel Swedenborg had proposed the current accepted theory of planetary formation, which is know as the nebular hypothesis. Later in 1755, Immanuel Kant having familiar with the theory of Swedenborg developed this theory further. Kant said that nebulae slowly rotate, gradually collapsing and flattering due to gravity and eventually forms stars and planets. In 1796, Pierre-Simon Laplace had proposed similar model for nebulae [Nebular hypothesis: Wikipedia]. The nebular hypothesis states that a planetary system begins as a large (~10,000AU), roughly spherical cloud of very cold interstellar gas, which is a part of larger molecular cloud.

This nebula is dense enough so that begins to contract under its own gravity and collapse of this been initiated by a pressure wave from nearby event, shock wave from a supernova, compressing the molecular cloud and thus forming the resulting star and planets. During collapse, three physical processes shape the nebula: it heats up, its spin increases, and it flattens [Nebular hypothesis: Wikipedia]. At the center of the solar nebulas, an increasingly dense protostar created because of gravity.

The protostar gradually compacts further (about 10-50 million years) during the process of planet formation in the disk, reaching the conditions of temperature and pressure needed to initiate hydrogen nuclear fusion (star born). Initially microscopic seeds of solid