Solar System

Introduction

The Big Bang created the universe about 14 billion years ago. The universe contains many galaxies, including the Milky Way galaxy. Earth's solar system resides in the Milky Way galaxy. The solar system is nearly 5 billion years old. There are four major features of the solar system that provide clues to the solar system's estimated age. The Earth's geology and atmosphere also lend a great deal of information related Earth's solar system. The inner or terrestrial planets are the four closest planets orbiting the Sun. A planet's placement in the solar system influences the terrestrial planets' atmospheres and geologies. The solar system contains planets, dwarf planets, exoplanets, and other material, such as comets, asteroids, and meteorites (Bennett, Donahue, Schneider & Voit, 2012).

Formation of the Solar System

Many researchers contemplated the formation of the solar system; however, the Copernican theory provided a major clue regarding the center of the solar system. The Copernican revolution dismissed the common belief that the Earth was the center of the solar system. Nicolas Copernicus used geometry to track the orbit of the planets. The Copernican theory states the Sun is the center of the solar system and the planets orbit the Sun. Galileo verified the Copernican theory with the aid of telescopic observations of the planets and other experimentation (Bennett, et al., 2012).

Copernicus and Galileo provide a theory that researchers accepted; however, in the 18th century Immanuel Kant provided a more scientific theory of the solar system's creation. Kant believed the solar system resulted because of the gravitational failure of a large cloud of interstellar gas. Pierre-Simon Laplace, working independent of Kant, provided a very similar theory. Laplace a mathematician and Kant, a philosopher, both derived a the same theory of the birth of the solar system. The nebula hypothesis derives from the Latin word "nebula" which translates in English to "cloud." In the 19th century, some believed the planets formed because of a near collision. A collision between the Sun and another star; however, the close encounter theory did not support scientific material regarding the distance between stars, planetary orbits, and planetary placement. The nebula hypothesis supported the scientific material the close encounter theory lacked (Bennett, et al., 2012).

Earth

Earth is one of the four terrestrial planets. The terrestrial planets are smaller in size and smaller in mass than the Jovian planets that are further from the Sun. Earth is the third planet from the Sun and has a solid surface and warmer surface than Jovian planets. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is an astronomical unit (AU) of measure. The radius of Earth's equator is 6378