The Formation of the

Solar SystemAllison Miller

Let’s Review the

Planets• Mercury

• Venus

• Earth

• Mars

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Neptune

Mercury

• The smallest planet, and closest to

the sun

• Terrestrial planet with a thin

atmosphere

• Temperatures vary from -230

degrees to 800 degrees F

• Images of Mercury appear blue

where mineral deposits are present,

and orange where volcanic rock is

present

• It looks brown and orange to the

human eye

Venus

• Venus is a terrestrial planet slightly

smaller than Earth

• Venus rotates very slowly; One day

on Venus lasts 243 Earth days

• Venus also rotates in retrograde,

the opposite direction from Earth

• The atmosphere that would be

toxic to humans, as it is made of

carbon dioxide and nitrogen

• Clouds in Venus’ atmosphere are

made of sulfuric acid

Earth

• Terrestrial planet with an

atmosphere

• Has a moon

• Supports life

Mars

• A terrestrial planet

• Mars takes much longer to orbit

the Sun, with one Mars year

lasting 687 Earth days

• Mars has two moons

• Has an atmosphere of carbon

dioxide, nitrogen, and argon

• Much of the dust on Mars is

composed of iron; oxidized iron

causes Mars to appear red

Jupiter

• Jupiter is a gas giant; it does

not have a solid surface

• It rotates quickly, with a 10

hour day

• Jupiter orbits slowly, with each

year taking 12 Earth years

• Atmosphere is made up of

helium and hydrogen

• Jupiter has over 50 moons

Saturn

• Like Jupiter, Saturn has a

helium and hydrogen

atmosphere with over 50

moons

• A Saturn year takes 29 Earth

years

• Saturn is surrounded by a ring

system of ice, water, and rock

particles

Uranus

• Uranus is an ice giant

• It is made up of water, ammonia,

and methane surrounding a core

• It also has an atmosphere of

hydrogen, helium, and methane

• It has almost 30 moons

• Uranus spins horizontally

• Uranus orbits the sun in over 80

Earth years

Neptune

• Neptune is similar to Uranus in

its makeup and atmosphere

• Neptune has 6 rings and more

than 13 moons

• Neptune’s orbit takes over 160

Earth years; it has only

completed 1 orbit since it was

identified in 1846

Dwarf planets

• Objects similar in size to moons

• Orbit the sun

• Are made of rock and ice

• Many have an irregular orbit

• Are located in the Kuiper belt

• Include Pluto, Eris, Ceres,

Haumea, Makemake, and

potentially hundreds of others

Core Accretion Model

• Our solar system started as a

solar nebula: a cloud of dust

and gas

• Gravity collapsed the materials

in the center together, to form

our sun

Core accretion

• Heavier materials orbiting the

sun clumped together

• They formed terrestrial planets

close to the sun

• The solar wind swept lighter

materials away from the sun

• They formed gas giants further

from the sun

Terrestrial Formation

• The rocky core formed first of

the heaviest elements

• Lighter materials came to the

outside and formed the crust

• The magnetic field formed

• The lightest elements formed

the atmosphere

Earth’s Layers

• The Earth was initially very

cold

• Pressure and radiation heated

the Earth, and caused a shift in

different materials

• Nickel and iron, the heaviest

materials, shifted to the core

• Hydrogen, the lightest material,

began to form the atmosphere

Atmosphere

• There was no ozone layer in

the early atmosphere

• A large amount of ultraviolet

light reacher the Earth’s

surface

• There were many electrical

storms

Moons

• Particles that draw together, but orbit a planet

• The Earth’s moon is likely made of pieces of the Earth’s crust

• It is theorized that they came from an asteroid strike

Plate Tectonics

• Large pieces of crust move on

top of the Earth’s mantle

• This causes changes in the

crust over time

• The continents shift over time

• The plates can collide, forming

mountains and volcanoes

Volcanoes

• Volcanoes allowed gases to

escape from the Earth’s mantle

into the atmosphere

• The earliest atmosphere

contained hydrogen, carbon

dioxide, nitrogen, ammonia,

and methane

• There was little to no oxygen

Water

• Water was introduced when

asteroids made of ice hit the

Earth’s surface

• Earth is in a special position,

where water remains in its

liquid state and never

completely freezes or

evaporates

Water Cycle

• Water vapor came from

underground

• Massive rainstorms covered

the Earth’s crust

• Water dissolved minerals and

soluble gasses

• The early seas were formed

Disk Instability Model

• Focuses more on the formation

of gas giants

• Clumps of gas and dust bind

together

• They compact quickly into

planets that can maintain an

atmosphere