Origin of the Solar System

Learning Competencies:
At the end of this lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. Identify the different hypotheses explaining the origin of the solar system.
2. Identify the large scale and small scale properties of the solar system.

Scientific Overview
This lesson discusses the origin, membership, and new discoveries about the solar system. We
will discuss the hypotheses about the origin of the solar System in terms of their claim, basis, or
evidence, weaknesses, and acceptability.

The Earth, the planet we live on, is part of the Solar system. If we want to know how the
Earth formed, we need to understand the origin and evolution of the Solar System.

Origin of the Solar System: Early Theories

In the origin of the universe, there was an era when stars and galaxies began to form. A
galaxy is defined as a gravitationally-bound system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, and a
dark matter. Milky Way is one of the billion galaxies in the observable universe. This observable
universe refers to the region of the universe from Earth’s vantage point.

I. Descartes Vortex Theory

Rene Descartes is a French mathematician and physicist, was
one of the first proponents of a model on the origin of the solar
system. According to his model, the solar system was formed into
bodies with nearly circular orbits because of the whirlpool-like motion
in the pre-solar materials. He explained the orbits of the planets are
the primary whirlpool motion and the satellites the secondary
whirlpool motion.

II. Buffon’s Collision Theory

 George Comte de Buffon is a French naturalist who proposed that the planets were formed by
the collision of the sun with a giant comet. The resulting debris formed into planets that rotate in the
same direction as they revolve around the sun.

III. Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory

Based on the idea of Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre Simon
Laplace proposed the nebular theory which suggested that a great cloud
of gas and dust, called nebula, begins to collapse because of gravitational
pull. As the cloud contracted, it spun more rapidly.

IV. Jeans and Jeffrey’s Tidal Theory

Sir James Hopwood Jeans, a British mathematician, and Harold Jeffrey,
suggested a dualistic theory in which the sun and planets were produced by
different mechanisms. The planets were formed from the substance that
was torn out of the sun. As a speeding massive star passed near sun, it
pulled off material due to gravitational attraction. The torn off material
subsequently condensed to form the planets.
 Solar System: Properties and Current Information

Learning Competencies:
At the end of this lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. Recognize the difference in the physical and chemical properties between the Earth and
its neighboring planets
2. Identify the factors that allow a planet to support life.
3. Identify/enumerate the members of the solar System.
4. Classify the planets based on their compositions.

Key Concepts
3.1 Properties and current information about solar system
3.2 Classification of planets
3.3 Atmosphere on different planets

Solar System: Properties and Current Information

The Solar System is like a family. Since our elementary days, we have been acquainted with
the solar system. The Sun acts like a father who is leading, and the planets are the children who are
following.

The sun is the star of the solar system. It emits energy as well as
particles outward and in all directions. Light, heat, and solar wind emanate
from the sun. For earth, the sun is at the ultimate source of energy that
sustains life.
How long has the sun been emitting these energy and particles? The sun
makes up 99.86 % of the mass of the entire solar system. It is a main
sequence star.
 What do you think will happen to Earth if there is no light coming from the sun?
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Asteroids are made up of rocks and are sometimes referred to as minor planets in many ways.
They are atmosphere-free and they orbit around the sun. They tend to congregate in what is known
as main asteroid belt. Main asteroid belts are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They
are thought of as remnants of the early stages of the Solar System’s formation. They were never
formed as planets because of Jupiter’s high gravitational force.

There are steroids that can be perturbed out of their main belt and may especially come close
to Earth. They are called near-earth asteroids (NEAs). The NASA is monitoring these asteroids
because of the possibility of them hitting Earth, which could have catastrophic consequences.

Do you know what the first known asteroid is?

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Comets are composed mainly of ice (frozen water and gas) and nonvolatile dust (silicate
minerals and carbon grains) they only become active when their orbits take them near the sun. The
sun’s heat causes the frozen gas to sublimate, forming vaporous jet of streams. These vapor jets
create a spectacular tail streaming out from the sun.

Comets originate from two regions of the outer Solar System. The Kuiper belt is often called
the Solar System’s “final frontier” because it is at the outermost region of the Solar System. Short
period comets like Halley’s Comet come from the Kuiper belt. Short period comets orbit the sun in
less than 200 years.

The Oort cloud is located farther than the Kuiper belt and therefore remained unexplored.
Long period comets are thought to originate from the Oort cloud. Long period-comets have orbits
ranging from 200 years up to millions of years. Objects orbiting beyond Neptune are called trans-
Neptunian objects (TNO’s)

What do you think will happens if the comet hits Earth?

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Classification of Planets

The planets are grouped into two categories based on the composition: Terrestrial and Jovian.
Terrestrial planets are Earth-like planets, it includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are
sometimes referred to as inner planets. They are composed mostly of dense, rocky, and metallic
materials. They are relatively small, has a very few moon, they also don’t have a ring system. Jovian
planets are Jupiter-like planets which includes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They are
referred to as gas planets and are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. They have a multiple
moons, no solid surfaces, immense in size, and support ring systems.

Why do planets coming from the same cloud of gas have different compositions? This is
explained by where these planets are formed in relation to the distance from the sun defined by the
frost line. The frost line is the distance of the solar nebula from the protostar increases, temperature
decreases. At cooler temperatures, more materials condense. The frost line divides the inner warm
regions (where terrestrial planets are formed) from the outer cooler region (where Jovian planets
are formed).

Other classifications of planets are based on their positions relative to the sun or Earth.

1. Position relative to the sun:

 Inner planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
 Outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
 Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter form the boundary between the inner and outer
planets.

2. Position relative to Earth:

 Inferior planets are located inside the orbit of Earth, which include Mercury, and Venus.
 Superior planets are located outside the orbit of Earth, which includes Mars, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune.

The Solar System

Planets orbit a nearly circular path and revolve around the sun in counterclockwise direction.

Atmosphere on Different Planets

Mercury has a very thin, almost undetectable atmosphere composed of sodium and potassium gas.
These elements were likely blown from the surface of Mercury by the solar wind. It is the smallest
planet, it also has the shortest orbit in about 3 earth months.

Venus is composed mainly of carbon dioxide with minor amounts of nitrogen and trace amounts of
nitrogen, helium, neon, and argon. It is the hottest planet because of its extensive lava flow (463.889
̊ C).

Earth’s atmosphere primarily composed of nitrogen, and oxygen. Minor gases include and carbon
dioxide, ozone, argon, and helium. It has a water system that help create environment to sustain life.

Mars atmosphere is a thin layer composed mainly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon, and small
traces of oxygen and water vapor are also present.

Jupiter’s atmosphere contains mainly of helium and hydrogen with trace amounts of water,
ammonia, methane, and other carbon compounds. Three layers of clouds may exist in Jupiter’s
outermost atmosphere. The lowest are made of water ice or droplets, the next are crystals of a
compound of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, and the highest clouds are ammonia ice. There seems
to be no solid surface under the atmosphere, only a transition from gas to liquid metallic hydrogen.
In the top one-fourth of the planet, the pressure and temperature are so high that the hydrogen
atoms are stripped of their outer electrons, forming a liquid metal. It is the largest planet in our solar
system.

Saturn has a thick atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium. The ratio of hydrogen to helium
ratio decreases with depth. Methane and ammonia are also present. The atmosphere of Saturn
envelopes a thick layer of metallic hydrogen.

Uranus atmosphere is composed mainly of hydrogen and minor amounts of helium. Methane is
present in minor amounts, and probably forms most of the clouds seen by space probes and
telescopes. Uranus and Neptune both appear blue because methane strongly absorbs light of other
wavelengths.

Neptune consists mainly of hydrogen and helium, but about 2.5-3% of the atmosphere is methane.
Like Uranus, clouds in Neptune’s atmosphere are composed of crystals of methane.