Our Solar System
Nebular / Condensation Theory
Our solar system condensed from a gaseous nebula (Latin for cloud) 4.6 billion years ago forming the Sun, all of the planets and all of the moons.
This is the sharpest image ever taken by ALMA — sharper than is routinely achieved in visible light with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the protoplanetary disc surrounding the young star HL Tauri. These new ALMA observations reveal substructures within the disc that have never been seen before and even show the possible positions of planets forming in the dark patches within the system. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Why did formation stop?
Not long (within a few million years) after condensation started, it just stopped.
Why? Intense radiation and strong solar winds ejected the leftover nebular gasses into the depths of the solar system to add to the Jovian planets.
EX: One of the four gas giant planets in the solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which have very large masses and are farther from the sun than the terrestrial planets. Also called outer planets.
The Solar System Contains…
Types of Planets
1. Large, gaseous, frigid.
2. Icy atmospheres.
C. Dwarf Planets
Not All Solar Systems Are Alike
The Goldilocks Zone
22% of all Sun-like stars have Earth-like planets.
Exoplanets are planets found in solar systems other than ours. Astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets, some that have oxygen, water and maybe life.
Solar System Exploration Walk
Use the iPads to capture the QR code for each object in our solar system. The QR codes will direct you to the information needed to answer the questions of your worksheet.
Draw our solar system
Be sure to include all of our planets, the sun,
And our dwarf planet