Major Theme: From the ashes of death, our solar system is born.
Learning Objectives
- Describe how our understanding of planetary system formation developed from the work of both planetary and stellar scientists.
- Discuss the role of gravity and angular momentum in explaining why planets orbit the Sun in a plane and why they revolve in the same direction that the Sun rotates.
- Explain how temperature at different locations in the protoplanetary disk affects the composition of planets, moons, and other bodies.
- Discuss the processes that resulted int he formation of planets and other objects in our Solar System.
- List how astronomers find planets around other stars, and explain how we know that planetary systems around others stars are common.
- Describe the role of accretion in the formation and initial heating of the planets and the role of impacts in the subsequent intense bombardment early in the solar system’s life.
Outline
- Planetary systems form around a star.
- The nebular Hypothesis.
- Planetary scientists and the convergence of evidence.
- The solar system began with a disk.
- The collapsing cloud and angular momentum.
- The formation of an accretion disk.
- Formation of large objects
- The inner disk and outer disk formed at different temperatures.
- Energy in the disk.
- The composition of planets.
- Formation of an atmosphere.
- The formation of Solar System.
- The Giant Planets.
Activities:
Read Astronomy textbook (chapter 7)
Share and Pair: Temperature and formation of planets.
ClassAction: Solar System Characteristics; 1-12, 16-20
Lab 6 (see lab manual for instructions)
Resources:
View Video Podcast: How the Earth is a product of a local supernova.
If the Moon were a pixel: an incredible accurate model of the solar system.
Prototype map of 100.000 nearest stars.
