4.5 billion years ago, a thick cloud made of interstellar gas and dust collapsed and caused a supernova. That supernova made the thick cloud spread out in a ring formation called a solar nebula. If you look at pictures of space or our solar system, you can see the solar nebula with the planets within it. Speaking of planets, the sun was created when all the material was pulled into the middle of the solar nebula during the supernova. Those materials that were drawn into the center formed the Sun. Then around the sun, the same thing happened all around it hence the planets. The planets all revolve around the sun and spin endlessly. The planet’s names are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There was a planet named Pluto, but science says that it is a dwarf planet and is not considered a planet in the system.
“It was agreed that planets and dwarf planets are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the dwarf planet category are Ceres, Pluto, and Eris, formerly known as 2003 UB313” (International Astronomical Union).
Now we know how the planets were created and the sun, but you may wonder what about the moon? How was that made? Well, there are a few theories, but no one knows the truth. The Capture Theory says that the moon was just wandering in space and was an asteroid, but the Accretion Theory says that the moon was created with the earth’s formation. Although these two theories are grand, the Giant-Impact Theory is the theory that is considered the “truth” or what people mostly believe in. This theory suggests that the Moon was formed from a collision between Earth and another planet similar to Mars. The scraps from this collision developed into what is now known as the Moon. A fun fact is that there are more than 150 moons in our solar system! Our solar system consists of eight planets, dozens of moons, millions of asteroids, comets, meteoroids, dwarf planets, and one star/sun. You may think we have billions of stars in our solar system, but the truth is that we only have one! And that one is the Sun.
Our galaxy is located in the Milky Way. We have over 100 thousand million stars! When looking up at the sky, you see millions of stars. You may think that they are so close, but the stars you are seeing are their lights shining from thousands of light-years away. Some of the stars we see are dead. It is just their light still shining. Stars are made similar to how the Sun was made. Stars are formed from an accumulation of gas and dust, which will break at some point. The gravity will then create a star. It takes approximately a million years for a star to shine after its creation.
Our solar system is a fantastic creation that took place billions of years ago. This creation has lasted for over 100 million years. There is life in our solar system and probably life in other galaxies, but no one knows that for a fact. Our solar system is 4.571 billion years old! And is still surviving and going strong after everything it has gone through. If you think about it, out of the 100 billion solar systems in our universe, we live in this system, which is mesmerizing. We could’ve had life in another system, but we all were born here in this system. Something you should think about is we would look like we are now in another solar system. Imagine if there is life beyond this Solar System, and a hundred years from now, we find life on their planets or if they come to find us!
References:
Ellegaard Christensen, Majken B. “How Do Stars Form?” Edited by Edward Gomez, Frontiers for Young Minds, 4 July 2019.
“How Many Stars Are There in the Universe?” ESA.
“International Astronomical Union.” IAU.
Lotzof, Kerry. “How Did the Moon Form?” Natural History Museum.
“Our Solar System.” NASA, NASA, 1 Dec. 2020.
“Our Solar System.” NASA, NASA, 19 Dec. 2019.
Plait, Phil. “Are the Stars You See in the Sky Already Dead?” Slate Magazine, Slate, 13 Aug. 2013.
Redd, Nola T. “How Did the Solar System Form?” Space.com, Space, 1 Feb. 2017.
Nice article. I loved studying astronomy in college.