Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Athurian on 15/03/2011 11:00:35

Title: How did our solar system arise?
Post by: Athurian on 15/03/2011 11:00:35

Hi all :) I have several related questions:

1. If all stars come from a nebula, did our solar system form in a small or large nebula?

2. What other stars came from our nebula?

3. Where is the neutron/white dwarf that would have originally formed our nebula?

4. Where is the rest of the matter in the nebula we formed in or was it all used in making our solar system?

Title: Re: How did our solar system arise?
Post by: Soul Surfer on 16/03/2011 00:06:10

There is very little evidence of the cloud that formed the solar system and it almost certainly formed many more stars.  This happened about 5 billion years ago and the sun has orbited the galaxy about 20 times since it was formed and most things have moved away I do believe however that there are a few stars in the local area with a very similar composition and age to the sun with very similar orbits to the sun and it is quite likely but not provable that they were formed in the same cloud.

Star forming clouds do not originate from single stellar explosions and may form hundreds or thousands of stars so question 3 is irrelevant.  The brightest stars in a lose cluster of forming stars tend to blow away the remaining gas and dust with their powerful radiation and high velocity stellar winds, so it was dispersed quite shortly after the stars formed because the brightest stars only last a few million years before exploding.  It will drift around and meet up and mix with other material before cooling down and forming another group of stars.

Title: Re: How did our solar system arise?
Post by: Athurian on 16/03/2011 10:14:27

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions :)