Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Pluto
Earth
Venus
Mars
Mercury
Uranus
Asteroid
belt
Jupiter
Saturn
Neptune
Sun
◗
Figure 1.7
Diagrammatic Representation of the Solar System This representation of the solar
system shows the planets and their orbits around the Sun. On August 24, 2006, the International
Astronomical Union downgraded Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet has the same
characteristics as a planet, except that it does not clear the neighborhood around its orbit. Pluto orbits
among the icy debris of the Kuiper Belt, and therefore does not meet the criteria for a true planet.
While the planets were accreting, material that had been
pulled into the center of the nebula also condensed, collapsed,
and was heated to several million degrees by gravitational
compression. The result was the birth of a star, our Sun.
During the early accretionary phase of the solar system's
history, collisions between various bodies were common, as
indicated by the craters on many planets and moons. Asteroids
probably formed as planetesimals in a localized eddy between
to form a disk of gas and dust with the sun
forming in the center,
A huge rotating cloud of gas contracts and
flattens
a
b
and addies gathering up material to form
planets.
c
◗
Figure 1.8
Solar Nebula Theory According to the currently accepted theory for the origin of our
solar system, the planets and the Sun formed from a rotating cloud of gas.
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