ASTRON 10 Lecture 12: Condensation Sequence, Comets
Document Summary
Formation: nebula --> nebula condensed --> shrinks cloud --> more gravity --> shrinks even more --> condenses to a sphere --> condenses to a disk. Random motions in nebula cancel out through hitting one another --> disk. When a cloud rotates, it has to flatten. Rotation of a cloud forces particles to pass through equator. Condensation sequence (why the inner planets are rocky and why the outer ones are gaseous) Terrestrial planets and gas giants began the same way. Solar winds blasted away volatile substances in the inner planets, leaving them to be rocky and metal. Gas giant kept their volatile gases, b/c they are far from the sun. It began spinning faster and faster --> central region became so hot and dense that the gas started undergoing nuclear reaction and became the sun. Planetesimals - bodies that range from about 1 km to a few hundred kms.
