The formation of the Solar System is truly a testament to our good fortune of life being possible on a planet located in the “Goldilocks Zone” near the Sun. The initial conditions allowed for not only Earth to be composed of rocky elements such as carbon but for the Earth to be protected from flying space debris by larger Jovian planets composed of mainly hydrogen and helium located a further distance from the Sun. For countless reasons Earth is lucky, and the orbits we observe today indicate the early Solar System happened to have a composition of rocks and metals located closer to the Sun where temperatures were well-suited for them to condense. Lighter elements like hydrogen and helium tended to be absorbed into the larger clumps of matter located a large distance from the Sun because the temperatures allowed for more accretion.
astronomer 
One response to “Blog #3 Formation of the Solar System”
Great post on the formation of our solar system! It is fascinating to think about how the early solar system’s composition and the planet-Sun distances played a large role in creating habitable conditions for life on our planet. It will be interesting to see if similar patterns emerge when looking at other planetary systems or if the formation of our solar system was one-of-a-kind. Do you know of another planetary system that resemble our own solar system?
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