The most widely accepted theory of solar system formation is the condensation theory, which states that the solar system formed some 4.6 billion years ago from the solar nebula, a cloud fragment of the milky way's interstellar medium. the slow rotation of the solar nebula allowed for a disk of material to develop. protoplanets began to form in the disk and use up surrounding material. the heat from the sun prevented light elements from forming in the inner solar system, which left behind an abundance of heavy elements that would eventually form the inner planets. any leftover debris was cleared out of the solar system, some of which became the comets in the oort cloud. eventually, after roughly 100 million years, the solar system was formed.
the condensation theory explains the solar system's properties listed in parts a through d of this tutorial. match each of the given properties of our solar system with the corresponding aspect of the condensation theory that explains it. (note that multiple properties may correspond to the same aspect of the condensation theory).smaller bodies, such as moons and planets, inherit the rotation of the object they orbit:
- the direction of planetary rotation is the same as the direction of the sun's rotation.
- satellite orbital direction is the same as its parent planet orbital direction.
solar radiation heats up the solar nebula and prevents light elements from forming in the inner solar system:
- planetary properties of the solar system are highly differentiated.
forming protoplanets begin to accrete, or sweep up, surrounding debris:
-planets are comparatively isolated in space.
the solar nebula has a disk-like shape and rotates in a single plane:
- planets orbit with nearly circular orbits.
- planets orbit in virtually the same plane.
- planets orbit in the same direction as the sun rotates on its axis
asteroids and comets originated from leftover debris from the accretion-fragmentation stage:
- asteroids are very old and do not possess the characteristics of the terrestrial or jovian planets.
- a collection of asteroid-sized objects orbits beyond neptune in the kuiper belt.
- primitive comets in the oort cloud orbit the sun with inclined orbits and reside at great distances from the sun.