Thanks to visit codestin.com
Credit goes to www.scribd.com

100% found this document useful (1 vote)
375 views3 pages

Nebular Hypothesis

The nebular hypothesis proposes that the Solar System formed from a giant cloud of gas and dust approximately 4.5 billion years ago. As the cloud collapsed due to gravity, it formed a disk that spun faster and condensed into the Sun and planets. Originally developed by Kant and Laplace, the hypothesis explains properties of the Solar System like the planets' orbits and rotation in the same direction as the Sun. Modern theories have built upon this early model but replaced some elements.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100% found this document useful (1 vote)
375 views3 pages

Nebular Hypothesis

The nebular hypothesis proposes that the Solar System formed from a giant cloud of gas and dust approximately 4.5 billion years ago. As the cloud collapsed due to gravity, it formed a disk that spun faster and condensed into the Sun and planets. Originally developed by Kant and Laplace, the hypothesis explains properties of the Solar System like the planets' orbits and rotation in the same direction as the Sun. Modern theories have built upon this early model but replaced some elements.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to

explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems).
It suggests that the Solar System is formed from the nebulous material. The theory was
developed by Immanuel Kant and published in his Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie
des Himmels ("Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens"), published in 1755.
Originally applied to the Solar System, the process of planetary system formation is now
thought to be at work throughout the universe. The widely accepted modern variant of the
nebular hypothesis is the solar nebular disk model (SNDM) or solar nebular model. It offered
explanations for a variety of properties of the Solar System, including the nearly circular and
coplanar orbits of the planets, and their motion in the same direction as the Sun's rotation.
Some elements of the original nebular hypothesis are echoed in modern theories of planetary
formation, but most elements have been superseded.

The solar nebula theory describes how our solar system formed from a nebula about 4.5
billion years ago. This lesson will cover the aspects of the theory. Afterwards, you will have a
chance to complete a quiz to test your knowledge. The Solar Nebular Hypothesis The solar
nebular hypothesis describes the formation of our solar system from a nebula cloud made
from a collection of dust and gas. It is believed that the sun, planets, moons, and asteroids
were formed around the same time around 4.5 billion years ago from a nebula. A Cloud of
Gas It's believed that before our solar system was formed 4.5 billion years ago, a nebula, which
is an interstellar cloud of gas and dust, was present in our location. As gravity does with
everything, it began to condense the gas into varying regions of density. The denser regions
began to grow into clumps of matter, which, over the course of time, would be the seeds for
the formation of our sun, planets, and moons. As gravity condensed the gas, rotation of the
gas increased, spreading the gas cloud into a rotating disk that would form the plane of the
solar system as we know it today. Evidence of this can be seen because all of the planets
revolve around the sun in the same plane and direction. Sun Formation The center of the disk
of spinning gas experienced the least amount of centripetal force, which allowed a majority
of mass from the nebula cloud to be attracted to the center by the force of gravity. In fact,
99.85% of all the mass in the solar system is in the sun. As gravity compacted the material in
the sun, mostly hydrogen gas, pressure began to increase and heat the gas. About 4.5 billion
years ago, the mass reached a critical point, and the hydrogen at the center was under so
much pressure that it fused with another hydrogen atom, creating helium. This fusion was the
birth of our star, the sun. Planet and Asteroid Formation Planetesimals, which were early
planets, began to grow in size from the clumps of matter and slam into each other as they
revolved around the early forming sun. The theory of how our moon was formed lines up with
this. It's believed that during the early formation of our solar system, a young Earth and an
object about the size of Mars collided, sending debris into space and reforming within Earth's
gravity and forming the moon. The image here shows how a planet may have formed in an
early forming solar system.
How Was the Solar System Formed? – The Nebular Hypothesis Since time immemorial,
humans have been searching for the answer of how the Universe came to be. However, it has
only been within the past few centuries, with the Scientific Revolution, that the predominant
theories have been empirical in nature. It was during this time, from the 16th to 18th centuries,
that astronomers and physicists began to formulate evidence-based explanations of how our
Sun, the planets, and the Universe began. When it comes to the formation of our Solar System,
the most widely accepted view is known as the Nebular Hypothesis. In essence, this theory
states that the Sun, the planets, and all other objects in the Solar System formed from
nebulous material billions of years ago. Originally proposed to explain the origin of the Solar
System, this theory has gone on to become a widely accepted view of how all star systems
came to be. Nebular Hypothesis: According to this theory, the Sun and all the planets of our
Solar System began as a giant cloud of molecular gas and dust. Then, about 4.57 billion years
ago, something happened that caused the cloud to collapse. This could have been the result
of a passing star, or shock waves from a supernova, but the end result was a gravitational
collapse at the center of the cloud.

Nebular Hypothesis, an explanation of how the solar system was formed, proposed by Pierre
Simon de Laplace in 1796. Laplace said that the material from which the solar system was
formed was once a slowly rotating cloud, or nebula, of extremely hot gas. The gas cooled and
the nebula began to shrink. As the nebula became smaller, it rotated more rapidly, becoming
somewhat flattened at the poles. A combination of centrifugal force, produced by the nebula's
rotation, and gravitational force, from the mass of the nebula, caused rings of gas to be left
behind as the nebula shrank. These rings condensed into planets and their satellites, while
the remaining part of the nebula formed the sun.

What Is the Nebular Theory? Stars form from space dust and gas. The nebular theory is an
explanation for the formation of solar systems. The word “nebula” is Latin for “cloud,” and
according to the explanation, stars are born from clouds of interstellar gas and dust. The
transition from an undifferentiated cloud to a star system complete with planets and moons
takes about 100 million years. According to this theory, our own solar system formed about
4.6 billion years ago, and others are forming today in distant nebulae.

What the Theory Explains As it relates to our own solar system, the nebular theory explains
three observable facts. The first is that the planets all rotate in the same direction. The second
is that they all orbit within 6 degrees of a common plane. The third is that all the terrestrial
planets, which are those within the orbit of the Asteroid Belt, are rocky, while those outside it
are gaseous. The theory also explains the existence of the Kuiper Belt -- a region on the fringes
of the solar system with a high concentration of comets. A Star Is Born According to the
nebular theory, a solar system begins when an interstellar cloud, containing approximately 75
percent hydrogen, 25 percent helium and traces of other elements, begins to form areas of
higher concentration, or clumps. As the clumps grow, gravitational forces increase and get
converted to the kinetic energy of the increasingly fast-moving particles, which collide with
one another and generate heat. Eventually one clump dominates, and when its temperature
reaches 10 million degrees Kelvin (18 million degrees Fahrenheit), nuclear fission begins. The
outward pressure created by the fission reactions prevents further collapse, and the clump of
burning hydrogen gas stabilizes and becomes a star. Seeds of Planets As a proto-star grows
in size, the gases in the nebula from which it is born form a disk and spiral more and more
quickly around its center. Eventually, elements on the fringe of the disk begin to form into
globules with compositions that depend on their distance from the center. At smaller
distances, where temperatures are higher, they are formed of heavy elements, while at greater
distances they are formed of ices of water, methane and ammonia. These globules collide
with each other and stick together to form larger, spherical bodies in a process called
accretion. The larger bodies, with diameters of a few kilometers, are called planetesimals.
Planets and Comets Once planetesimals form, collisions continue, but they tend to be
destructive, and only the largest planetesimals survive. These continue to grow by assimilating
surrounding material, including smaller planetesimals, to become planets. The composition
of planets closer to the center of the system differs from that of those farther away. The
planets within a critical distance, where temperatures are warmer, are rocky, while those
beyond the critical distance have solid cores and thick, gaseous atmospheres. At the fringes
of the solar system, where gravitational forces are weak, planetesimals never coalesce into
planets. These icy bodies sometimes wander in eccentric orbits, and when they get close to
the sun, we know them as comets.

Nebular Hypothesis: According to this theory, the Sun and all the planets of our Solar System
began as a giant cloud of molecular gas and dust. Then, about 4.57 billion years ago,
something happened that caused the cloud to collapse. This could have been the result of a
passing star, or shock waves from a supernova, but the end result was a gravitational collapse
at the center of the cloud.

How Was the Solar System Formed? – The Nebular Hypothesis Since time immemorial,
humans have been searching for the answer of how the Universe came to be. However, it has
only been within the past few centuries, with the Scientific Revolution, that the predominant
theories have been empirical in nature. It was during this time, from the 16th to 18th centuries,
that astronomers and physicists began to formulate evidence-based explanations of how our
Sun, the planets, and the Universe began.

Within 50 million years, the pressure and density of hydrogen in the center of the protostar
became great enough for it to begin thermonuclear fusion. The temperature, reaction rate,
pressure, and density increased until hydrostatic equilibrium was achieved. At this point, the
Sun became a main-sequence star. Solar wind from the Sun created the heliosphere and
swept away the remaining gas and dust from the protoplanetary disc into interstellar space,
ending the planetary formation process.

You might also like