ASTRONOMY Chapter 5: Formation of the Solar System and Other Planetary Systems

5-0: Introduction

1. The solar system is much more than just the planets. List the other members of our solar system.
2. What made up the solar system before it became the solar system?
3. How long did it take for the planets to form?
4. The story of the how the solar system formed is constantly changing. Why?

Sections 5-1 to 5-4: The Solar System Contains Heavy Elements, Formed from an Earlier Generation of Stars

5-1: Stars Transform Matter from lighter elements into Heavier Ones

5. Of what elements are the planets of our solar system made?
6. Of what elements are the sun and the stars made?
7. What percent of Earth, the Moon, Venus, Mars and Mercury is made of hydrogen and helium?
8. This is not in this part of the book but think about this: Which do you think is a bigger number (a) the mass of the sun or (b) the sum of the mass of the rest of the solar system? Based on your answer think about this: What is the most abundant element of our solar system?
9. What element was created in the aftermath of the Big Bang?
10. How were the other elements made?
11. How do we know that our solar system was not made as a direct result of the Big Bang?
12. According to an astronomer what is a metal? (For comparison, according to a chemist what is a metal?
13. In the last paragraph on page 130 the author says: “It is to these clouds that we turn next . . .” What clouds is the author referring to?

5-2: Gravity, Rotation, and Heat Shaped the Young Solar System

N.B. On earth a cloud consists of water vapor. Clouds block sunlight. Astronomers use the term ‘cloud’ to refer to very, very large regions of space that are filled with particles of matter that came from stars that have ‘died’. These clouds consist of elements and molecules made from these elements. Some of that matter is organic (Recall from your chemistry that ‘organic’ means that the molecule contains carbon.) and some of this matter is inorganic. Astronomers call these very, very large regions of space ‘clouds’ because, like earthly clouds, they block starlight.)

14. How large and how massive was the solar nebula from which our solar system formed?
15. Matter collapses to form star systems for at least four reasons. List these four reasons.
16. If you wanted to see a solar nebula today, or rather, tonight, where would you look?
17. Describe the process that ended with the creation of the protosun.
18. What was the first source of heat and light from the sun?
19. What conservation law tells astronomers that the solar nebula from which our solar system was made must have been rotating?
20. What is the name given to the rotating disk out of which our solar system formed?
21. As the protosun grew in density and increased in temperature what happened to the lighter elements and, more importantly, what did not happen to the heavier elements and particles?
22. On what basis does the author claim that “we are literally made of stardust”?