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File name:

NebHypo.swf
     


Title: Nebular Hypothesis of Solar System Formation.
Caption: This animation initially depicts a vast and diffuse nebula of gas and dust. Slowly, gravitational forces cause the nebula to contract and heat up. Eventually it becomes a rotating disk surrounding the protostar that will become the Sun. Small rocky bodies develop in the inner reaches of the solar system, and these collide with each other to create larger asteroid-sized bodies called planetesimals. Larger planetesimals accrete smaller planetesimals, leading to the formation of the nine major planets and the asteroid belt.
Keywords: solar system, planets, planetesimals, nebulae, Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto