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2 most common scenarios:
1 - early universe was a cloud of gases (mainly hydrogen), so a certain part of the cloud starts to collapse dragging more and more gas by the force of gravity, enough for a gas planet to form, but not too much that a star forms.
2 - After a huge star burns out its fuel, it collapses or explodes in a huge supernova shooting off material containing all chemical elements. A planet might form from these material when they collapse under the force of gravity.
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RossPlanetesimals formed planets through the process of accretion, where smaller cosmic dust and rocks collided and stuck together to form larger bodies. Over time, these planetesimals continued to collide and merge, eventually forming larger bodies called protoplanets. Through further collisions and gravitational interactions, these protoplanets grew into the planets we see today.
Space is not empty. It contains tenuous amounts of elements, mostly hydrogen, which can gather along with particles of dust when affected by gravity. Astronomers do not yet know the exact process, but gases and other elements are thought to form vast accretion disks of matter in space. These can then coalesce into stars and their planets.
Heavier elements form inside stars and are constantly being released into space by the explosions of supernovas. These are the elements that form terrestrial planets.
The planetesimals were just large enough for their own gravity to start pulling in material. They would therefore grow by pulling in dust and rocks and by colliding with other planetesimals, forming growing masses of rock. As they grew their gravity would get stronger, allowing them to pull in even more material. This process would continue until most of the matter orbiting the sun was collected in a handful of large objects we know as planets.
Sometimes, a generally large rock can steer smaller rocks and bits of dust into it by its gravitational pull. Over time, the rock will get bigger, and bigger, until it might become the size of your neighborhood. But after millions of years, the rock will be the size of Earth, and by then will start to form characteristics of its own. Then, it will be called a planet.
The planets don't really float. They orbit the sun, which requires moving very fast.
When you think about it, an orbit is something of a strange concept.
When you throw and object it follows a path that curves downward.
The faster you throw it, the broader the curve.
A similar principle applies to orbits. An planet in orbit is essentially in perpetual freefall, but its "sideways" motion creates a curve large enough that it continuously misses the Sun. All orbits work in this way
This is not intended to be a highly technical answer; you could do a little research on some of the terms I'm going to use if you want more details (including mathematical treatments of how this all works).
The current theory is something called the Nebular Hypothesis, which basically says that the Solar System condensed from a huge cloud of dust and gas. Most of the material ... over 99% ... wound up in the middle and formed the Sun, but the laws of angular momentum predict that some (relatively small, but still large in an absolute sense) amount of material would end up in a disk on the "equator" of the original rotating body.
The material making up this disk then undergoes planetary accretion, which just means the small bits bump into each other and stick together to form larger clumps. These larger clumps then accumulate more material due to their gravity, until you wind up with something like planets.
At one time it was thought that the asteroid belt might have been a former planet that somehow broke apart. It's now believed that it represents something similar to a portion of the original disk that never formed into a planet largely because of the gravitational influence of Jupiter.
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What are the small bodies made of rock and ice that became the building blocks for planets called?
They are called planetesimals. These small bodies collided and merged to form larger bodies like planets and moons during the early stages of the solar system's formation.
What effect do collisions among planetesimals of greatly varying size have on the formation of planets?
Collisions among planetesimals of greatly varying size can lead to a process called accretion, where smaller planetesimals combine to form larger bodies. This can be a critical step in the formation of planets, as larger bodies have stronger gravitational pull and can continue to grow through further collisions. However, collisions with very large planetesimals could disrupt the growing planetesimal or lead to fragmentation, affecting the final size and composition of the resulting planets.
Collided to form planets?
Dust and gas particles in a protoplanetary disk collided and stuck together to form planetesimals, which then collided and accreted to form planets. The process of gravitational attraction and collisions led to the formation of larger bodies within the disk, eventually forming planets.
What does the protoplanet hypothesis describe the formation of?
The protoplanet hypothesis describes the formation of planets from the dust and gas present in the early solar system. It suggests that small planetesimals collided and merged to form larger celestial bodies, eventually leading to the creation of the planets we see today.
What substances existed as solid flakes within the inner 0.3 of the solar system before planets began to form?
Before planets began to form, solid flakes such as rocky and metallic dust, ice particles, and organic molecules existed within the inner 0.3 AU of the solar system. These solid materials eventually coalesced and accreted to form planetesimals, which were the building blocks of planets.
