Formation of the Solar System

Uncovering the origin of the Solar system

Early days of the formation

Building the planets and other stuff

Other planetary systems

 Comparative Planetology
Studying planets as worlds and compare them
with each other is called comparative
planetology

Planetology is applied to any noticeably large

object in the system (planets, moons,
asteroids, comets)

To start we need to seek clues to the origin of the

Solar system
 Four Challenges
1. Pattern of Motion
All planets orbit the Sun in the same direction
(counterclockwise as seen from the Earths North
Pole)
Planet orbits are nearly circular and co-planar
Planets rotate in the same direction which they orbit
Almost all moons orbit their planets in the direction
of the planet rotation
The Sun rotates in the direction planets orbit it
 Four Challenges
2. Different types of planets
Two distinct groups of planets:
Terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)
Small, rocky, abundant in metals, few moons

Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)

Large, gaseous (made of hydrogen and its
compounds), no solid surfaces, have rings, a lot
of moons (made of low-density ices and rocks)
 Four Challenges
3. Asteroids and Comets

Asteroids are small, rocky bodies that orbit the Sun

mostly between Mars and Jupiter (the asteroid belt)
Almost 10,000 asteroids have been discovered
Comets are small and icy bodies that spend most
of their lives beyond the orbit of Pluto
They occupy 2 regions: Kuiper belt and Oort cloud
 Four Challenges
4. Exception to the Rules

Mercury has larger orbital eccentricities

Uranus has tilted rotational axes
Venus rotates backwards (clockwise)
Earth has a large moon
 The Nebular Theory
The Solar system was formed from a giant, swirling
interstellar cloud of gas and dust

The hypothesis was originally suggested by

Immanuel Kant (1755) and Pierre-Simon Laplas
(~1790)

A cloud is called nebula - nebular hypothesis

The collapsed piece of cloud that formed our own

solar system is called the solar nebula
 Collapse of the Solar Nebula
Three important processes gave form to our system,
when it collapsed to a diameter of 200 A.U.

1. The temperature increased as it collapsed

2. The rotation rate increased
3. The nebula flattened into a disk (protoplanetary
disk)
Formation of Solar System
Summarized

9
 Building the Planets
Initial composition: 98% hydrogen and helium,
and 2% heavier elements (carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen, silicon, iron)

Condensation: the formation of solid or liquid

particles from a cloud of gas

Different kinds of planets and satellites were

formed out of different condensates
 Ingredients of the Solar System
Metals : iron, nickel, aluminum, etc.
Condense into solid form at 1000 1600 K
0.2% of the solar nebulas mass
Rocks : primarily silicon-based minerals
Condense at 500 1300 K, 0.4% of the mass
Hydrogen compounds : methane (CH4), ammonia
(HN3), water (H2O)
Condense into ices below 150 K, 1.4% of the mass

Light gases: hydrogen and helium

Never condense in solar nebula; 98% of the mass
Condensation
 Accretion
Accretion is growing by colliding and sticking
The growing objects formed by accretion
planetesimals (pieces of planets)

Small planetesimals came in a variety of shapes,

reflected in many small asteroids
Large planetesimals (>100 km across) became
spherical due to the force of gravity

Inner solar system: only rocks and metals condensed

and only small bodies formed
 Nebular Capture
Nebular capture growth of icy planetesimals by
capturing larger amounts of hydrogen and helium
It led to the formation of the Jovian planets

Numerous moons were formed by the same

processes that formed the protoplanetary disk
Condensation and accretion created mini solar
systems around each Jovian planet
 The Solar Wind
Solar wind is a flow of charged particles ejected
by the Sun in all directions
It was stronger when the Sun was young

The wind swept out a lot of remaining gas and

interrupted the cooling of the nebula

If the wind were weak, the ices could have

condensed in the inner solar system
 Leftover Planetesimals
Planetesimals remained from the clearing
became comets and asteroids

They were tugged by the strong gravity of the

jovian planets and got more elliptical orbits

Rocky leftovers became asteroids

Icy leftovers became comets
 Planetary Evolution - Geological
Internal heating leads to geological activity:
volcanism, tectonics

As core cools and solidifies, activity slows, and

eventually stops (Moon)

Earth and Venus are large enough to be active

Planet Activity
 Planetary Evolution - Atmosphere
Atmospheres are formed by:
- gases escaping from interior
- impacts of comets (volatile-rich debris)

Fate of water depends on temperature (distance

from the Sun)

Atmospheres changed chemically over time

Life on Earth substantially changed the atmosphere

 Other Planetary Systems
Over 100 extrasolar planets have been discovered
since 1995 The Extrasolar Planet Encyclopedia

Stars are too far away from the Sun, and direct
imaging cannot detect planets near them

Current strategy involves watching for the small

gravitational tag the planet exerts on its star

The tag can be detected using the Doppler effect

Extrasolar Planets in the Sky
Planet Transits
 The Nature of Extrasolar Planets
The discovery of extrasolar planets gives us an
opportunity to test the solar system formation
theory
Most of the discovered planets are different from
those of our system
They are mostly Jupiter-size and located closer to
their stars
But: possible planet migration
discovered planets are exceptions
 Summary

All the planets were formed from the same cloud

of dust and gas

Chance events may have played a large role in the

formation and evolution of individual planets

Planet-forming processes are apparently universal