PHYS 1600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Formation And Evolution Of The Solar System, Clyde Tombaugh, Oort Cloud
17 Apr 2017
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Stars transform matter from lighter elements into heavier ones: hydrogen and helium account for 99. 9% of all observed atoms in the universe, stars shed matter into space. The outer layers of stars are expelled at diff. Rates: continuous are called stellar winds and energetic bursts are planetary nebulae. In this inner region, where the earth orbits, most heavy elements remained and they formed the four inner planets: mercury, venus, earth, and mars. Clyde tombaugh - 1930 - pluto was listed as a planet, then renamed dwarf planet in 2006. Dwarf planets do not have enough gravitational force (mass) to clear their area of other orbiting debris: gravitational instability model: theory of the formation of giant planets. Minor debris from the formation of the solar system still exists. Phys 1600 week 5: between the orbits of mars and jupiter are millions of asteroids, bodies composed mostly of rock and metal that are typically less than a kilometer across.
