Evolution of the Solar System: The sun is the center of our solar system, and all things in it revolve around it. The position of the planets in our solar system was a result of how they were create and where they sit in relation to the sun. Earth is one of eight planets that are a part of our solar system, but these planets can be broken down into two categories: terrestrial planets, which include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; and the “gas giants” or Jovian Planets (which include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).
The Formation of the Solar System
The Solar System was formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud. Most of the mass of the cloud went into forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and comets formed. The planets formed through accretion of dust and gas in the disk. As the dust and gas condensed, they began to form clumps that grew through mutual gravitational attraction. At first, these clumps were small and consisted of only a few particles each, but as they continued to grow they became larger and more massive.
Eventually, they became large enough to begin clearing their orbits of smaller objects, and they became known as protoplanets. As the protoplanets continue to grow, some began to experience catastrophic collisions with other protoplanets. These collisions resulte in the formation of the largest bodies in the Solar System: the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).
The leftover debris from these collisions eventually coalesce to form the asteroids and comets. The final stages of Solar System formation were characterize by intense bombardment of the innermost planets by leftover debris from accretion and collisions. This period is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment and last for about 500 million years.
Origin of the Solar System
Over the course of millions of years, the nebula collapse
The Evolution of the Solar System
As the sun continue to grow and heat up, the innermost part of the disk began to evaporate. The remaining dust and gas were blown away by the sun’s radiation pressure. Clearing out a region around the sun call the solar system. The planets form from the leftover material in the solar system. They are thought to have coalesced from smaller chunks of rock and ice call planetesimals that collide and stuck together over time.
As they grew larger, their gravity attract more material. Until they reach their current size and composition. The Solar System start as a giant, rotating cloud of gas and dust. Over time, this cloud began to collapse in on itself due to its own gravity. As it did so, the material within the cloud began to spin faster and faster.
Eventually, the center of the cloud became so dense that it igni and form our Sun. The material that was still spinning around the Sun began to flatten out into a disk. From this disk, planets, moons, asteroids, and comets form. This is just a brief overview of the Solar System’s formation and evolution. For more detail information, please see the blog article “The Formation and Evolution of the Solar System”.
The Fate of our Sun and Planet Earth
The Sun is currently about halfway through its life. It has been shining for about 4.6 billion years and has another 4.6 billion years to go. But even before the Sun runs out of fuel, it will begin to die. As the Sun ages, it will get larger and brighter. This increase brightness will cause the Earth’s oceans to evaporate and our atmosphere to be blown away by the solar wind. The planet will become a barren, lifeless rock orbiting a dying star. This process hasn’t start yet, but it will happen eventually. And when it does, all life on Earth will come to an end.