StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Formation of Solar Systems - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Formation of the Solar system took place when a cloud of gas and dust in space got disturbed by the nearby star called supernova. The paper in the following paragraphs attempts to explore how this created our solar systems including planets, moons, Saturn rings…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.3% of users find it useful
Formation of Solar Systems
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Formation of Solar Systems"

Formation of Solar Systems Introduction How have the solar systems formed is a baffling question for the scientists through the ages. Many scientific theories are at work; however, none of them explains everything fully. Formation of Solar system took place when a cloud of gas and dust in space got disturbed by the nearby star called supernova. The paper in the following paragraphs attempts to explore how this created our solar systems including planets, moons, Saturn rings. This paragraph is going to explain the collapse of Solar Nebula.

Nebula essentially means cloud. Orion Nebula is good to begin with for the understanding of formation of our solar systems. Clouds of gas and dust are originally dark blocking light from the stars behind. This dust is warm. The studies show that Orion nebula has complex molecules that include hydrocarbons. When cloud is so dense that its own gravity triggers its collapse and that is what has happened with our own nebula causing collapse and forming current solar system. It is important to note here that our own nebula before formation of the solar systems was a million times larger than the size of our current solar system.

With the contraction of clouds and to conserve angular momentum, it rotates at a faster and faster rate. The contraction and spinning causes to form a disk creating a large dense blob in the center called protosun. When angular momentum of nebula is high, it collapses forming more than one protosun. Scientists believe that most of the systems have multiple stars. This paragraph will explain how fusion reaction starts at the center of the new star. Contraction of the nebula has taken place which is full of enormous amount of hydrocarbons.

Gradually, pressure and density of the hydrogen at the center of the collapsed nebula starts building up when it crosses its threshold limit, nuclear fusion reaction starts. In this process, hydrogen converts into helium liberating huge amount of energy. This paragraph will explain about the formation of planets. Sun has already formed but remaining gas and dust is still there in the form of disk. Sun will start heating the dust and gas cluster. The source of heat is at center and disk will be hottest nearer to the center.

As distance from the center increases the temperature also falls. The temperature within distance of 1AU is in the range of 1000sK and then going down as the radial distance increases. Over time, the gas temperature drops below the condensation temperatures of metals and silicates. More refractory material is found closer to the sun and more volatile material is found away from the sun. Having high melting and condensation temperatures, refractory materials remain in the solid forms. Due to low melting and condensation temperatures, all volatile materials remain in gaseous or liquid forms.

That is how rock kind material in the earth and going farther toward Jupiter volatile material like ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen are found in abundance. With the process of nebula cooling down and materials condensing and forming clumps, a beginning of formation of planetary system takes place. Inner solar system would have more of a rocky/metal substance and outer solar system would have ice and gaseous formation. These materials eventually coalesced and formed planets. These planets continue to revolve around its center now called Sun.

The paragraph will explain why the Saturn has rings. The particles that do not have regular and equatorial orbits will eventually collide and break up and forced to form a regular orbit. This process confines material to a thin disk making them in the orbits of regular circles so that no further collisions take place. That is how the formation of rings took place around Saturn. Our solar system is more than 4.5 billion years old. Radioactivity is the technique used to measure the age of solar system.

Radio isotopes that are used to measure the age of rocks are potassium-40, argon-40. These isotopes have half-life of 1.3 billion years. The oldest rocks found on the earth are about 3.9 billion years old. The oldest rocks that are found on earth are meteorites and many of them are 4.6 billion years old. Scientists are unable to explain about the formation of Comets and Asteroids fully. That is also not clear why Venus has slow backwards spin and why Pluto and Uranus are tipped on their sides.

Comets retain the composition of the original solar nebula. Scientists believe that comets and meteorites can explain about the early phases of our solar systems. Comets bring volatiles into the terrestrial planets such as Earth and that can help explain early states of nebula. Conclusion Scientists observe other Solar systems such as in Orion Constellation to understand many aspects that are not easily understood regarding formation of Solar systems. It is quite likely that with the advances of science all answers to the formation of Solar system would be available in the coming years.

References Solar System Formation, (2005). Retrieved June 21, 2012 from http://lasp.colorado.edu/~bagenal/1010/SESSIONS/11.Formation.html Windows to the Universe, (2010). Retrieved June 21, 2012 from http://www.windows2universe.org/our_solar_system/formation.html

Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Formation of Solar Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved de https://studentshare.org/physics/1453532-formation-of-solar-systems
(Formation of Solar Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
https://studentshare.org/physics/1453532-formation-of-solar-systems.
“Formation of Solar Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/physics/1453532-formation-of-solar-systems.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Formation of Solar Systems

The Solar System

A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma and is often considered as the region where formation of stars, planets takes place.... It is believed that the formation of nebulae is the result of supernova explosions.... The remaining materials that left are Our solar system can be said as the example of the above case [Nebula: Wikipedia].... solar masses), when they become red giant and unable to sustain their entire mass [Nebula: Wikipedia]....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Harnessing Solar Energy to Reduce Dependence on Fossil Fuels

Because geologists base fossil fuel resource estimates on the location, extent, and formation of deposits recovered in geologically similar basins, resource estimates are less certain than reserve estimates.... However, estimating the world's remaining fossil fuel reserves requires extensive information, including comprehensive geological maps of the world's sedimentary basins, models of energy production systems, and data showing world energy consumption patterns and trends....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

Solar System Formation Lab

solar System Formation Lab Choose from (type in exactly) the following: new, 1st qtr, full, 3rd qtr, facing away from me, facing away from sun.... Hold the Moon in between you and the Sun.... You are looking at the dark side of the Moon.... What phase is the Moon in?... new_ Where is the far side of the Moon?...
2 Pages (500 words) Lab Report

History and Development of Solar Cell

As the result, humans are now putting efforts to benefit from alternative energy sources, and solar power is one of them. This report sheds light on the importance of solar energy and the… The core objective of this report is signifying the importance of solar energy and how it has been proven to be one of the most sources of energy production in recent times.... The document analyzes the history and development The report also focuses on one more crucial aspect of solar power, i....
18 Pages (4500 words) Research Paper

Science report in Media vs. Scholarly Sources

The relationship between the distance from the sun to the earth and its effects on the occurrence of the earth's seasons has been a hotly contested and described phenomenon among various scientists.... Various academic journals and scientific reports have focused on the issue… Scientific studies indicate that the distance from the sun to the earth affects the occurrence of the seasons....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Solar System and a Great Deal of Harmony and Beauty

The paper "The solar System and a Great Deal of Harmony and Beauty" discusses a step back from the solar system and looking at our galaxy.... The element of immutable beauty in our solar system is that the sun and the planets extend upwards and downwards in scale from the solar system.... hellip; The solar system can be interpreted as being essentially harmonious.... Though we now know that planets are slight ellipses instead of perfect spheres, it does not mean that the inherent beauty of the harmony of the solar system is any less pronounced....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Formation of Solar System: The Solar Nebula Hypothesis

This literature review "The formation of solar System: The Solar Nebula Hypothesis" presents the nebular hypothesis, according to which all should rotate in the west-to-east direction.... The solar nebula theory or the nebular hypothesis is the most commonly acknowledged model that explains the formation of the solar system.... This marked the formation of the Sun though it would take approximately 1- 10 million more years for it to settle into the key sequence star acknowledged today (Karttunen et al....
5 Pages (1250 words) Literature review

Grupo Calientes Solar Energy Strategy

More specifically, it is planned that the installation and use of solar panels in all facilities of the company will enable it to produce 10,000 K/Kilowatt at each facility per year.... In terms of project duration, the initiation and installation of solar panels in major facilities of the company will take approximately 1-1, 5 years.... The project “Grupo Caliente's solar Energy Strategy” will aim to deliver positive environmental and economic impact....
8 Pages (2000 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us