Scientists believe that the solar system was formed when a cloud of gas and dust in
space was disturbed, maybe by the explosion of a nearby star (called a supernova).
This explosion made waves in space which squeezed the cloud of gas and dust. Squeezing made the
cloud start to collapse, as gravity pulled the gas and dust together, forming a solar nebula.
Just like a dancer that spins faster as she pulls in her arms, the cloud began to spin as it
collapsed. Eventually, the cloud grew hotter and denser in the center, with a disk of gas and
dust surrounding it that was hot in the center but cool at the edges. As the disk got thinner
and thinner, particles began to stick together and form clumps. Some clumps got bigger, as
particles and small clumps stuck to them, eventually forming planets or moons . Near the center
of the cloud, where planets like Earth formed, only rocky material could stand the great heat.
Icy matter settled in the outer regions of the disk along with rocky material, where the giant
planets like Jupiter formed. As the cloud continued to fall in, the center eventually got so hot
that it became a star, the Sun, and blew most of the gas and dust of the new solar system with a
strong stellar wind. By studying meteorites, which are thought to be left over from this early
phase of the solar system, scientists have found that the solar system is about 4,600 million
years old!
