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The Solar System is believed to have formed according to the nebular hypothesis, first proposed in 1755 by Immanuel Kant and independently formulated by Pierre-Simon Laplace. [2] This theory holds that 4.6 billion years ago the Solar System formed from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. This initial cloud was likely several ...
The solar wind is traveling at supersonic speeds within the Solar System. At the termination shock, a standing shock wave , the solar wind falls below the speed of sound and becomes subsonic . It was previously thought that once subsonic, the solar wind would be shaped by the ambient flow of the interstellar medium, forming a blunt nose on one ...
The different collectives of the geosphere are able to exchange different mass and/or energy fluxes (the measurable amount of change). The exchange of these fluxes affects the balance of the different spheres of the geosphere. An example is how the soil acts as a part of the biosphere, [2] while also acting as a source of flux exchange.
Orbit of the Solar System: 17,200 pc 5.31×10 17: The average diameter of the orbit of the Solar System relative to the Galactic Center. The Sun's orbital radius is roughly 8,600 parsecs, or slightly over halfway to the galactic edge. One orbital period of the Solar System lasts between 225 and 250 million years. [34] [35] Milky Way Galaxy ...
An ecosphere is a planetary contained ecological system. In this global ecosystem, the various forms of energy and matter that constitute a given planet interact on a continual basis. The forces of the four Fundamental interactions cause the various forms of matter to settle into identifiable layers. These layers are referred to as component ...
As of 2022, the precise location of the Solar System in the clouds is an open question in astronomy. [259] Within 10 light-years of the Sun there are relatively few stars, the closest being the triple star system Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.4 light-years away and may be in the Local Bubble's G-Cloud. [260]
The Solar System has now been relatively well-studied, and a good overall understanding of the formation and evolution of this planetary system exists. However, there are large numbers of unsolved questions, [4] and the rate of new discoveries is very high, partly due to the large number of interplanetary spacecraft currently exploring the ...
The Stonyhurst heliographic coordinate system, developed at Stonyhurst College in the 1800s, has its origin (where longitude and latitude are both 0°) at the point where the solar equator intersects the central solar meridian as seen from Earth. Longitude in this system is therefore fixed for observers on Earth. [8] [5]