the solar system formed over the course of how many years.

How was the Solar System formed?

timeline for the formation of our solar system. Our solar system began as a collapsing cloud of gas and dust over 4.6 billion years ago. Over the next 600 million years, called by geologists the Hadean Era, the sun and the planets were formed, and Earth’s oceans were probably created by cometary impacts. Comets are very rich in water ice.

What is the story of our Solar System?

The time frame of the Solar System's formation has been determined using radiometric dating. Scientists estimate that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old. The oldest known mineral grains on Earth are approximately 4.4 billion years old.

What ended the initial formation period of the Solar System?

Our solar system began forming about 4.6 billion years ago within a concentration of interstellar dust and hydrogen gas called a molecular cloud. The cloud contracted under its own gravity and our proto-Sun formed in the hot dense center. The remainder of the cloud formed a swirling disk called the solar nebula.

How has the Solar System evolved over time?

timeline for the formation of our solar system. Our solar system began as a collapsing cloud of gas and dust over 4.6 billion years ago. Over the next 600 million years, called by geologists the Hadean Era, the sun and the planets were formed, and Earth’s oceans were probably created by cometary impacts. Comets are very rich in water ice.

How long ago did the solar system start?

The formation and evolution of the Solar System began about 4.5 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the collapsing mass collected in the center, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies formed.

How old is the solar system?

The time frame of the Solar System's formation has been determined using radiometric dating. Scientists estimate that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old. The oldest known mineral grains on Earth are approximately 4.4 billion years old. Rocks this old are rare, as Earth's surface is constantly being reshaped by erosion, volcanism, and plate tectonics. To estimate the age of the Solar System, scientists use meteorites, which were formed during the early condensation of the solar nebula. Almost all meteorites (see the Canyon Diablo meteorite) are found to have an age of 4.6 billion years, suggesting that the Solar System must be at least this old.

How do moons form?

Moons have come to exist around most planets and many other Solar System bodies. These natural satellites originated by one of three possible mechanisms: 1 Co-formation from a circumplanetary disc (only in the cases of the giant planets); 2 Formation from impact debris (given a large enough impact at a shallow angle); and 3 Capture of a passing object.

What are the elements that make up the inner solar system?

The inner Solar System, the region of the Solar System inside 4 AU, was too warm for volatile molecules like water and methane to condense, so the planetesimals that formed there could only form from compounds with high melting points, such as metals (like iron, nickel, and aluminium) and rocky silicates.

When was the solar system invented?

The first recorded use of the term "Solar System" dates from 1704. The current standard theory for Solar System formation, the nebular hypothesis, has fallen into and out of favour since its formulation by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace in the 18th century.

What is the outer edge of the asteroid belt?

The outer edge of the terrestrial region, between 2 and 4 AU from the Sun , is called the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt initially contained more than enough matter to form 2–3 Earth-like planets, and, indeed, a large number of planetesimals formed there. As with the terrestrials, planetesimals in this region later coalesced and formed 20–30 Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos; however, the proximity of Jupiter meant that after this planet formed, 3 million years after the Sun, the region's history changed dramatically. Orbital resonances with Jupiter and Saturn are particularly strong in the asteroid belt, and gravitational interactions with more massive embryos scattered many planetesimals into those resonances. Jupiter's gravity increased the velocity of objects within these resonances, causing them to shatter upon collision with other bodies, rather than accrete.

How are planets formed?

The various planets are thought to have formed from the solar nebula, the disc-shaped cloud of gas and dust left over from the Sun's formation . The currently accepted method by which the planets formed is accretion, in which the planets began as dust grains in orbit around the central protostar.

How did the solar system start?

Our solar system began forming about 4.6 billion years ago within a concentration of interstellar dust and hydrogen gas called a molecular cloud. The cloud contracted under its own gravity and our proto-Sun formed in the hot dense center. The remainder of the cloud formed a swirling disk called the solar nebula.

What planets were formed in the solar system?

The largest ones swept up other protoplanets, planetesimals, and nebular gas, leading to the formation of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Our solar system's childhood was a time of massive violent collisions. Image Token:

What happened to the first stars?

The first stars lived out their lives and eventually exploded, sending "star stuff" out into the cosmos. That original stellar material was recycled as another generation of stars, and many of these, too, exploded at the end of their lives. Our Sun is thought to be a third-generation star and our entire solar system is made ...

Which planets orbited the Sun?

One model for our own solar system suggests that our giant planets' orbits shifted dramatically early in the solar system's history, with Jupiter's orbit migrating slightly inward toward the Sun, and those of Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus expanding farther from the Sun.

When was Juno launched?

Featured Missions. Juno is NASA's next mission to Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. Image Token: Juno, launched in August 2011, will improve our understanding of our solar system's beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.

How does the Sun affect the solar system?

The Sun's light warmed the objects in our solar system , especially those in the inner solar system. There, it was too warm for lightweight volatiles, such as water and ammonia, to condense. In addition, particles from the Sun (the solar wind) pushed volatiles out of the inner solar system.

What will Juno do with Jupiter?

With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras.

What is the main component of the solar system?

The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally. The Sun 's four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the remaining mass, with Jupiter and Saturn together comprising more than 90%.

Where is the solar system located?

The Solar System is located 26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy in the Orion Arm , which contains most of the visible stars in the night sky. The nearest stars are within the so-called Local Bubble, with the closest Proxima Centauri at 4.25 light-years.

How many planets are there in the solar system?

Solar System. The Solar System is the gravitationally bound planetary system of the Sun. Of the objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest are the eight planets, with the remainder being smaller objects, the dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies.

Which planets have circular orbits?

The Solar System also contains smaller objects. The asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal.

Where is the majority of the Earth's mass?

The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with the majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter. The four smaller inner system planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of rock and metal.

What is the outermost part of the solar system?

Since the discovery of the Kuiper belt, the outermost parts of the Solar System are considered a distinct region consisting of the objects beyond Neptune.

How many satellites does Jupiter have?

Jupiter's strong internal heat creates semi-permanent features in its atmosphere, such as cloud bands and the Great Red Spot. Jupiter has 79 known satellites. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa, show similarities to the terrestrial planets, such as volcanism and internal heating. Ganymede, the largest satellite in the Solar System, is larger than Mercury.

How did our solar system form?

Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula—a spinning, swirling disk of material.

What is the solar system?

Our Solar System. The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, ...

What are the planets in our solar system?

Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity — the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Beyond our own solar system, there are more planets than stars in night sky.

How many galaxies are there in the Milky Way?

Most of the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy are thought to have planets of their own, and the Milky Way is but one of perhaps 100 billion galaxies in the universe. While our planet is in some ways a mere speck in the vast cosmos, we have a lot of company out there.

Which planet is in the Kuiper Belt?

Size and Distance. Our solar system extends much farther than the eight planets that orbit the Sun. The solar system also includes the Kuiper Belt that lies past Neptune's orbit. This is a sparsely occupied ring of icy bodies, almost all smaller than the most popular Kuiper Belt Object, dwarf planet Pluto.

When was Pluto taken?

Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI. And beyond the fringes of the Kuiper belt is the Oort Cloud.

What is the Oort cloud?

And beyond the fringes of the Kuiper belt is the Oort Cloud. This giant spherical shell surrounds our solar system. It has never been directly observed, but its existence is predicted based on mathematical models and observations of comets that likely originate there.

Overview

Structure and composition

Formation and evolution

Sun

Interplanetary medium

Inner Solar System

Outer Solar System

Comets