Most of the collapsing mass collected in the center, forming the Sun, while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which the planets, moons, asteroids, and other small Solar System …

The solar system as we know it began life as a vast, swirling cloud of gas and dust, twisting through the universe without direction or form. About 4.6 billion years ago, this gigantic cloud …

Aug 29, 2022 · These icy bits haven’t changed much at all since the solar systems formation. In fact, it is the study of asteroids and comets that allows scientists to piece together this whole …

Discover the formation of our solar system and its role in making Earth a habitable place for life.

Dec 7, 2025 · Solar system - Origin, Planets, Formation: As the amount of data on the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids has grown, so too have the problems faced by astronomers in …

As we have seen, the comets, asteroids, and meteorites are surviving remnants from the processes that formed the solar system. The planets, moons, and the Sun, of course, also are …

Aug 24, 2025 · The formation of the Solar System is believed to have begun about 4.6 billion years ago from a giant cloud of gas and dust known as the solar nebula. This cloud collapsed …

This illustration shows the steps in the formation of the solar system from the solar nebula. As the nebula shrinks, its rotation causes it to flatten into a disk.

Click the image on the left for a video of a simulated formation of a system of planets. This particular simulation demonstrates the Solar Nebula Hypothesis - the formation of our Solar …

A new theory for the origin of the Solar System explains the meteorite record by forming planets in two steps.