Solar System Formation

Transcription

1 Solar System Formation Background Information System: Many pieces that make up a whole Solar System: Anything that orbits the Sun Just like in the formation of of stars.. Gravity plays a major role. Gravitational Force is also known as the strength of gravity or the pull of gravity. It is dependent upon the mass of the two objects and the distance between As mass increases; gravitational force (g force) increases: g-force the two objects. Gravitational Force = G m1 m2 (G = Gravitational Constant = 6.67x N m 2 / kg 2 ). r 2 mass 1

2 Positive slope indicates a direct relationship Sep 29 7:24 PM As distance increases; (g force) decreases: g-force Negative slope indicates an inverse relationship distance Gravitational Force = G m1 m2 Note: Gravitational Force is reduced by the SQUARE of the distance between the two objects... r 2 Why doesn't gravity simply pull all of the planets into the Sun? For example: if the distance between two objects is doubled, the gravitational force is reduced by 4 times Put in your (or) it is 1/4 th as strong as it was originally. notes... g-force x -4 = 1 g-force = 1 g-force reduced by 4 times original g-force -4 Jul 9 8:13 AM Sep 29 7:21 PM 2

3 Another consideration concerning solar system formation is INERTIA: The tendency of a body in uniform motion to remain in uniform motion. When the force of gravity and inertia are in, equilibrium the object establishes an ORBIT. Objects orbit around the center of gravity of a system. Formation of our Solar System Stage A: Supernova occurs creating a cloud of intersteller gas and dust In addition to the following notes, these captions are important too. 3

4 Stage B: Stage C: Gravity causes the cloud to. condense The bulge eventually contracts enough to form a protostar and then a star (our Sun). gravity inertia Eventually, and reach an equilibrium and the planets establish orbits around the Sun. Earth - Centered Belief that everything revolved around a stationary Earth. Belief that everything revolved around a stationary Earth. Established by ancient Greeks as far back as Aristotle s time (350 BC). Ptolemy (TAHL uh mee) (~140 AD) added that each planet had mini orbits of their own as they orbited the Earth. called "epicycles" To reverse direction against background stars Epicycles helped to explain "retrograde" motion of the planets. (other adjustments continued to be made) The epicycle of Venus was placed in line with the Sun to explain the reason that Venus is only visible in the east just before sunrise and in the west just before sunset...never high in the nighttime sky. 4

5 Heliocentric: Sun-centered Understanding that everything revolved around the Sun. First hypothesized by Copernicus (~1500) Confirmed by Galileo with the use of his telescope (~1600) Heliocentric: Galileo s evidence: 1. Observed 4 moons orbiting the planet Jupiter and not Earth. Venus 2. Observed that the planet had phases that only an orbit around the Sun could produce. Venus's motion according to Ptolemy (epicycle) Sep 1 11:14 AM Galileo's observations best explained by the heliocentric model Phases of Venus as observed by Galileo Supports the reason we can see a "full" phase of Venus. Sep 1 11:18 AM Sep 1 11:21 AM 5