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Planets develop from particles hitting and adhering together in a disc of gas and dust as they circle the star. Since the wind of stars sweeps away their gases and since they are formed of heavier materials pulled by the star’s gravity, the planets closest to the star are likely to be rockier.
A Glance at the Planets that Orbit our Sun
Planets form in the gas and dust clouds that circle young stars. The conditions were ideal billions of years ago for the formation of Earth and the other planets in our Solar System. The Solar System in which we live is made up of a medium-sized star (Sun) and eight planets that orbit it.
Planets are classified into two categories:
- Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the four inner planets, or those closest to the Sun. They are tiny and primarily made up of minerals and rocks.
- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the four outer planets, which are larger and primarily made up of gases.
Formation of Stars
A massive cloud hovered in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy five billion years ago. Astronomers referred to this cloud as nebula because it was composed of dust and gas, primarily hydrogen and components of helium, with a minimum amount of heavier atoms. These heavy atoms were generated in the universe when other stars became old and perished. The cloud started contracting and falling off itself. Once separated, the atoms began to push one another, releasing heat. As the temperature rose, the atoms clashed more frequently and fiercely. They eventually achieved a temperature where the protons at the centres of the atoms began to merge, a process known as nuclear fusion. As they did so, a slight amount of stuff changed into a massive amount of energy, resulting in the birth of a star. The Sun was created in this manner.
Formation of Stars and Planets: Big Bang Theory
The first stars produced bigger atoms and groupings of atoms. As a result, more stars were born. At the very same time, planets were colliding and merging. As new stars were created and died, asteroids, comets, planets and black holes were produced.
Meaning of the Big Bang
In 1927, astronomer Georges Lemaître had a fantastic idea. He said that a long time ago, the universe began as a single point. He said that the universe expanded to become as large as it is now, and that it may continue to stretch.
Only two years later, an astronomer called Edwin Hubble observed other galaxies travelling away from us. And that isn’t all. The galaxies farthest away were travelling faster than those closer to us.
This indicated that the universe was still growing, as Lemaître predicted. If things were separating, it suggested that everything was close together not long ago.
Everything we see in our universe today, like the stars, comets, planets, asteroids, didn’t exist at the beginning.
The Hot Start of the Cosmos
When the cosmos first began, it was nothing more than hot, microscopic particles intermingled with light and energy. Nothing resembled what we see now. It cooled down as everything grew and took up more room.
The microscopic particles congregated. They created atoms. The atoms then clustered together through time to build stars and galaxies.
The first stars produced bigger atoms and groupings of atoms. As a result, more stars were born. At the very same time, galaxies were colliding and merging. As new stars were created and died, asteroids, comets, planets and black holes were produced.
We now know that the universe is 13,800,000,000 years or 13.8 billion years old. That is an extremely lengthy period of time. That’s pretty much how the universe got started. Some refer to it as the Big Bang since it became so large and resulted in such wonderful things. The Big Bang Theory with the formation of stars and planets has a deep link and are connected.
Molecular clouds
Molecular clouds are areas of gas and dust – a massive cloud of gas and particles in space. Because of their composition, molecular clouds can be discovered within the interstellar medium. A molecular cloud is made up of atoms, molecules and dust. Atoms are the basic building components of everything around us. Molecules are made up of two or more atoms that have been bonded together. Molecular clouds primarily contain molecular hydrogen (H2), but they can also contain more complicated molecules such as methanol, which has six atoms, or water, which has three atoms. Dust grains are even larger collections of stuff that can be several millimetres in size, which is enormous when compared to atoms or molecules.
Conclusion
A galaxy is made up of billions of stars as well as vast volumes of gas and dust. In the galaxy, these areas of gas and dust are found in the space between both the stars. If the galaxy were a street, the stars would be the houses, and the gas and dust areas would be the gardens. The interstellar medium is the space between stars in a galaxy. Because it is the medium, or substance, that fills the space between stellar objects, it is the entire space within galaxies in which there are no stars, but instead a lot of gas and dust.
