Formation from molecular cloud collapse

Summary

The Solar System formed at least about 4.568 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a dense region within a large molecular cloud. As the cloud collapsed, it produced the Sun and a surrounding protoplanetary disc, from which material assembled into the bodies that later became the planets and other orbiting objects. In this picture, the collapsing molecular cloud provides both the central star (the Sun) and the rotating disc environment needed for accretion. Over time, matter in the disc gathered into increasingly larger bodies, leading to the formation of an orbiting planetary system. The resulting system is gravitationally bound to the Sun, with most of the system’s mass concentrated in the Sun itself.

Key Points

• 1

  The Solar System formed from the gravitational collapse of a dense region of a molecular cloud.

• 2

  The collapse created both the Sun and a protoplanetary disc, enabling the assembly of orbiting bodies.

• 3

  Accretion within the disc produced the planetary system that remains gravitationally bound to the Sun.