Solar System Formation

Humanity did not believe in the existence of solar system for a very long time, barring a few exceptions. It was believed that earth is stationed at the centre of the universe. Also, earth was considered to be categorically different from the divine or ethereal objects that used to move through the sky. However, the Indian mathematician-astronomer Aryabhata and the Greek philosopher Aristarchus of Samos had made some speculations on the reordering of the cosmos, being heliocentric in nature. The first one to develop a mathematically predictive heliocentric system was Nicholas Copernicus. His successors, such as Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, explained the laws governing the solar system and the earth, on the basis of the laws of physics

 

The formation of Solar System is primarily believed to be based on the nebular hypothesis. As per the hypothesis, the gravitational collapse of fragment of a giant molecular cloud, located at several of light years across, led to the origin of the system. Studies have revealed that a number of supernovae occurred near the Sun, during its formation. However, a shock wave from one of these supernovae created regions of over density within the cloud, causing the cloud of gas and dust to collapse. This has even led to the view that the history of Solar System date back to 4,600 million years back. . The approximate figures establish the formation of the solar system to have taken place some 5,000 million years back.

 

After the collapse of the cloud of gas and dust, gravity pulled them together, giving rise to a solar nebula. Moreover, the cloud began to spin as it collapsed, making it grow hotter and denser in the center, with a disk of gas and dust surrounding it, which was cool at the edges. The heavy mass that collected in the centre formed today’s sun. The gravitational force of the sun, along with continuous spinning of the heavy mass particles of the clouds, became thinner and thinner, making the particles stick together and form clumps. As clumps became bigger in size, they became planets or moons. The heated center of the cloud led to the formation of rocky planets like Earth, which could stand the high temperature.

 

On the other hand, the icy matter settled in the outer regions of the disk, along with rocky material, where the giant planets like Jupiter formed. As the clouds continued to stir, the center eventually became too hot and became a star, which is now known as the Sun. After around three and ten million years, the newly formed Sun's solar wind blew away all the gas and dust in the protoplanetary disc, pushing them into interstellar space, thereby bringing the growth of the planets to a halt. This is how the entire Solar System is believed to have came into being. However, studies are still being conducted to gain the foolproof theory how the solar system came into existence. Its formation remains as intriguing to the scientific researchers as ever, with many of the details yet unknown.