Origin of the Solar System and Other Solar Systems

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Origin of the Solar System and Other Solar Systems
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What is a scientific theory?

• Theory explanation of observable scientific
  phenomena based on factual evidence

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Examples from three fields of science

• BIOLOGY
• Cell theory (all living things made up of cells,
  cells come from other cells)
• CHEMISTRY
• Atomic theory (matter is composed of discrete
  units called atoms)
• PHYSICS
• Theory of relativity (all uniform motion is
  relative, and there is no absolute and
  well-defined state of rest AND unified
  description of gravity as a geometric property of
  space and time)

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Most up-to-date theory of the origin of the Solar
System

1. Huge cloud of dust gas, over a million billion
   kilometers in diameter
2. More than 4.6 billion years ago, nearby
   disturbance occurred (possibly an exploding star
   shock wave)
3. Disturbance caused parts of cloud to contractone
   region became our solar system

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Origin cont

• 4. Condensed cloud portion (10 billion km in
  diameter), rotated in space
• 5. Continued to contract, became more dense
• 6. As density increased, gravity increased,
  pulling more dust gas towards center, and
  rotating faster
• 7. Cloud flattened into a disk with a dense center

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Origin cont

• 8. Temperature inside cloud increased
• 9. At 10 million degrees Celsius, hydrogen fused
  into helium and sun was formed
• 10. Leftover mass in outer portions condensed and
  formed planets

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Other Solar Systems

• We now know that many other stars have planets
  around them (200 documented)
• Example
• Upsilon Andromedaeyellow star about 44 light
  years away

• Extrasolar planets planets in orbit around
  other starsso far only large planets like
  Jupiter detected