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The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests the Solar System is formed from gas and dust orbiting the Sun which clumped up together to form the planets.
The nebular hypothesis says that the Solar System formed from the gravitational collapse of a fragment of a giant molecular cloud, [9] most likely at the edge of a Wolf-Rayet bubble. [10] The cloud was about 20 parsecs (65 light years) across, [9] while the fragments were roughly 1 parsec (three and a quarter light-years) across. [11]
The most widely accepted model of planetary formation is known as the nebular hypothesis.This model posits that, 4.6 billion years ago, the Solar System was formed by the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud spanning several light-years.
A nebula that is visible to the human eye from Earth would appear larger, but no brighter, from close by. [6] The Orion Nebula, the brightest nebula in the sky and occupying an area twice the angular diameter of the full Moon, can be viewed with the naked eye but was missed by early astronomers. [7]
An image of Barnard 68, a dark nebula mistakenly used to refer to the Boötes Void.. The Boötes Void has been often associated with images of Barnard 68, [7] a dark nebula that does not allow light to pass through; however, the images of Barnard 68 are much darker than those observed of the Boötes Void, as the nebula is much closer and there are fewer stars in front of it, as well as its ...
Cosmic dust – also called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dust – is dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 μm ), such as micrometeoroids (<30 μm) and meteoroids (>30 μm). [ 3 ]
Interstellar space is the physical space outside of the bubbles of plasma known as astrospheres, formed by stellar winds originating from individual stars, or formed by solar wind emanating from the Sun. [132] It is the space between the stars or stellar systems within a nebula or galaxy. [133]
1905 – Albert Einstein publishes the Special Theory of Relativity, positing that space and time are not separate continua, and demonstrating that mass and energy are interchangeable. 1912 – Henrietta Leavitt discovers the period-luminosity law for Cepheid variable stars, which becomes a crucial step in measuring distances to other galaxies.