Solar system formation. Artwork of the early solar system being formed. It is thought that the Sun and the planets formed from a cloud of gas and dust

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Solar system formation. Artwork of the early solar system being formed. It is thought that the Sun and the planets formed from a cloud of gas and dust around 4. 6 billion years ago. Gravitational condensation of this cloud (or nebula) formed a protostar (lower centre) which has ignited under its own weight. The remaining material forms a rotating disc around this newly-formed Sun. The planets are forming from the disc by accretion, a slow process of gravitational attraction. This formation of a disc occurs throughout the universe as it follows from a universal law requiring the conservation of a rotational property (angular momentum) of the collapsing nebula.

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Size: 3543px × 4016px
Photo credit: © MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: accretion, artwork, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, disc, early, formation, forming, gas, giant, giants, hypothesis, illustration, nebula, nebular, orbiting, orbits, planet, planetary, planetesimal, planets, primordial, protoplanet, protoplanets, protostar, science, solar, space, sun, system, universe