"The formation of the Solar System began about 4.6 billion years ago..."
It is the study of the formation and evolution of planetary systems, including our own solar system, focusing on the physical and chemical processes involved in the formation of planets and their impact on their environments.
Astronomy and Astrophysics: The study of celestial objects and their properties, including planets, stars, and galaxies.
Planetary Science: The study of planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system, as well as exoplanets.
Astrobiology: The study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.
Astrochemistry: The study of the chemical processes that occur in space, including the formation and evolution of planets and other celestial bodies.
Geology and Geophysics: The study of the structure, composition, and processes of the Earth and other planets.
Meteorology and Climate Science: The study of atmospheric processes, weather patterns, and climate change on Earth and other planets.
Astronomy Instrumentation: The design and development of telescopes, cameras, and other instruments used to observe celestial objects.
Stellar Evolution: The study of the life cycle and properties of stars, including their formation and eventual demise.
Planetary Formation: The study of how planets and other celestial bodies form from the dust and gas in the protoplanetary disk around a young star.
Planetary Evolution: The study of the changes that occur on planets and other celestial bodies over time, including geological activity, atmospheric dynamics, and climate change.
Exoplanets: The study of planets that orbit stars other than our Sun, including their formation, properties, and potential for supporting life.
Solar System Evolution: The study of how our solar system formed and evolved over time, including the movement and interactions of its planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
Accretion: Planetary systems can form through the accumulation of smaller particles that eventually build up a larger structure. This is the most common theory of planetary formation and is thought to have formed the planets in our own solar system.
Nebula Collapse: During the collapse of a nebula, material may cluster together and form a planetary system. This is the same process that formed stars but instead leads to the formation of planetary systems.
Gravitational Instability: This theory proposes that planets can form from a disk of material surrounding a star when the disk becomes unstable and collapses under the force of its own gravity.
Binary Star Formation: Planets can also form in binary star systems, where two stars orbit each other. This process is similar to the accretion process but takes place within the gravitational field of two stars.
Tidal Forces: Tidal forces can play a role in the formation of planets. For instance, moons can form around planets due to the tidal forces of gravity.
Disk Instability: This theory argues that planets can form from clumps in the disk of materials surrounding a star.
Planet-Planet Collision: In rare cases, planets can form through a collision between two or more large objects in the solar system.
Stellar Merger: When two stars collide, they can create a large amount of material that may form a new planetary system.
Capture: A planet or moon can be captured by the gravity of a larger, existing planet, forming a new system. This is believed to be how some moons in our own solar system were formed.
Evaporation: Some planets may have evaporated over time due to extreme radiation, leaving behind a smaller solid core surrounded by a gas envelope. These cores are known as "super-Earths.".
"...while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System bodies formed."
"This model, known as the nebular hypothesis, was first developed in the 18th century by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace."
"Since the dawn of the Space Age in the 1950s and the discovery of exoplanets in the 1990s, the model has been both challenged and refined to account for new observations, interweaving a variety of scientific disciplines including astronomy, chemistry, geology, physics, and planetary science."
"Many moons have formed from circling discs of gas and dust around their parent planets..."
"...while other moons are thought to have formed independently and later to have been captured by their planets."
"...may be the result of giant collisions."
"Collisions between bodies have occurred continually up to the present day and have been central to the evolution of the Solar System."
"Beyond Neptune, many sub-planet sized objects formed. Several thousand trans-Neptunian objects have been observed."
"Unlike the planets, these trans-Neptunian objects mostly move on eccentric orbits, inclined to the plane of the planets."
"The positions of the planets might have shifted due to gravitational interactions."
"In roughly 5 billion years, the Sun will cool and expand outward to many times its current diameter (becoming a red giant), before casting off its outer layers as a planetary nebula and leaving behind a stellar remnant known as a white dwarf."
"In the distant future, the gravity of passing stars will gradually reduce the Sun's retinue of planets."
"Some planets will be destroyed..."
"...and others ejected into interstellar space."
"Ultimately, over the course of tens of billions of years, it is likely that the Sun will be left with none of the original bodies in orbit around it."