Transcript Birth of the Solar System

Birth of the Solar System
(47)
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Took billions of years to form.
Sun: ~5 billion years old.
 Earth: ~4.5 billion years old.
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How did the solar system form?
1.
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Began as a nebula.
Had to be enough
mass and not too
spread out.
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Gravity had to be
able bring matter
together to form sun
& planets.
2. Nebula Contraction
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Gravity pulled nebula into a flattened
pancake with a bulge in the middle.
May have happened naturally.
 Supernova may have pushed matter together
and then gravity began working.
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3. Local Condensation
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Rings of matter began to form around the
central bulge (protostar).
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Rings would eventually form planets and moons.
3. Local Condensation (cont.)
Terrestrial (Land)
Planets: Mercury,
Venus, Earth,
Mars.
 Asteroid Belt
 Gas Giants:
Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune.
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4. Planet Formation
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Rings of matter began to clump together to
form larger masses called planetesimals.
Planetesimals became larger by orbiting the
protostar and sweeping up any matter in the
orbit.
 Eventually became planets.
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5. The Sun is Born!
Sun’s temperature reaches critical
temperature (~18 million oF) and begins
fusion.
 Releases a shockwave into the solar
system and blows off debris from the
region of the inner planets.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfdDWdZcpOw
Solar System Photo Album (46)
In 5 steps, illustrate the birth of the solar
system.
 Write a 4-6 sentence paragraph describing
what happened during each step.
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