our solar system began to form 4.6 billion years ago.
our solar system began to form 4.6 billion years ago.
when did our solar system begin to form?
4.6 billion years ago
formation and evolution of the solar system









































the formation and evolution of the solar system began 4.6 billion years ago with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud. 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 bodies formed.
formation and evolution of the solar system
a recent modification of the nice model has the solar system begin with five giant planets, including an additional ice giant, in a chain of mean-motion resonances. about 400 million years after the formation of the solar system the resonance chain is broken. instead of being scattered into the disc, the ice giants first migrate outward several au. this divergent migration eventually leads to a resonance crossing, destabilizing the orbits of the planets. the extra ice giant encounters saturn and is scattered inward onto a jupiter-crossing orbit and after a series of encounters is ejected from the solar system. the remaining planets then continue their migration until the planetesimal disc is nearly depleted with small fractions remaining in various locations.
kuiper belt