Nebular and Encounter Theory

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 • According to the Nebular Theory, the solar system
01 originated from a nebula.
• It is the widely accepted view about the formation
02 of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago.

03 • A nebula is defined by NASA as giant cloud of gas

and dust in space.
• This interstellar cloud of dust contains hydrogen,
04 helium and other ionized gases.
Dusty discs
surrounding
nearby young
stars.
1 2 3

FORMATION OF GROWTH OF
CLOUD COLLAPSE
PLANETARY DISK PLANETS
● Hypothetically, a shockwave from a supernova or the effect
of a passing star may cause a cloud collapse.

● The collapse at the center of the cloud due to gravity occurs

when gas pressure becomes insufficient to support the mass
of the cloud.

● The collapsed cloud of interstellar gas and dust results to a

smaller radius which means it will spin faster.
• Metals and silicates could exist near the sun because
these compounds have higher boiling points.

• As a result, terrestrial planets were eventually formed

containing high concentration of these compounds.

• The terrestrial planets could not grow in huge diameter

because of the limited reserve of metallic elements in the
solar nebula.
• Dust and grains surrounding the sun eventually formed
clumps. These clumps then accreted forming
planetesimals.

• Planetesimal is a small celestial body that once collide

together, it tend to fused to form the planets of the
solar system.
Swedenborg’s suggestion
concerning the formation of
planets in the solar system was
a precursor of the Kant–Laplace
nebular theory (i.e., that the Sun
and planets come from a
common nebula).
The first is his “Nebular
Hypothesis” on star and
planetary formations, where he
theorized that thin, dim clouds
of dust and gas out in the
cosmos would collapse in on
themselves under the force of
gravity, causing them to spin to
form a disk.
The book included his “nebular
hypothesis”—attributing the
origin of the solar system to
cooling and contracting of a
gaseous nebula—which strongly
influenced future thought on
planetary origin.
• Particles surrounding Saturn repel each
other which is contrary to the assumption
that dust particles will be attached to each
other forming a planet.
• It does not follow the law of angular
momentum because if the nebular theory
is correct then the sun should be spinning
at a higher rate than the others.
• It did not consider Uranus and Venus,
which rotates in a clockwise direction
while other planets rotates in a
counterclockwise direction.
-
The Encounter Theory proposes that the planets were
formed from the material ejected from the sun during an
encounter with another celestial object, such as another
star.
An artistic
visualization of
the encounter
theory
A form of encounter theory.

Proposes that a passing star termed as intruding star nearly collided

with the protosun.

The massive gravitational pull of the intruding star causes the

protosun to eject filaments of material which then condensed into
planetesimals.

This theory describes how Earth started from a solid mass smaller
than its present size.
Proposed that accretion of
minute solid particles created
planets and their moons rather
than by gaseous or liquid
material condensation.
Provided the mathematical
calculations to Chamberlin’s
idea.
• Planetesimal theory is no longer
accepted today due to the fact that
hot material from the sun expands
and dissipates rather than contract.

• In addition, the force from the

passing star will pull dust and gases
far away from the sun, that they
would not be able to form the planets
in the solar system.
• Explains that the solar system formed as a result of
a near collision between a passing star and the sun.
This theory proposes that the hot gas from the
passing star condensed into planets instead of
condensing into planetesimals.
The lengthy
tidal tails of
the colliding
antennae
galaxies
The tidal theory was proposed by
James Jeans, an English
physicist and astronomer, and
Harold Jeffreys, an English
mathematician and astronomer
in 1918.
• One problem of the tidal
theory is that the hot
material from either star
cannot contract. Thus,
planets will not form.

Stars Colliding into each other.