the big bang ( Questions from a Teen )

Everything started out as a single point. Then it expanded and expanded. At first, there was only energy, but later on, energy bind together to form the simplist atom in the universe: the hydrogen atom.Gravity caused the hydrogen atoms to start accelerating toward certain denser parts of the universe. Once enough hydrogen is in a particular area of space, the condensation causes the molecules to heat up and you have hydrogen burning taking place. With this, stars came to be.Hydrogen burning results in formation of the second simplist material in the universe, the helium atom. When the star runs out of hydrogen to burn, it starts a reaction known as helium burning.Fast forward in time.Once the star runs out of helium, it starts to collapse in on itself because of gravity. Enough collapse causes an explosion known as a super nova. Since such an explosion is extremely violent with energy and matter flying everywhere, heavier elements are formed.Fast forward in time again.Because as a result of super nova, a disk of matter form. Heavier elements tend to fall toward the center of this rotating disk of matter. Within this disk of matter, there are certain spots where more matter are gathered, which in turn have greater gravitational pull on surrounding matter. Over billions of years, gravity have condensed this disk of matter into planets and the sun.Since heavier elements fell closer to the center during earlier stages, we now find the inner planets to be solid, while the outer planets to be giant gas planets, with the exception of Pluto, which is made mostly of ice and frozen gas.Voila, you have the solar system.If you want to know more about these processes, read some books. What I just wrote above is an outline of how things happened.

You remember right. It was Sir Fred Hoyle, and the name was meant to be pejorative.

Actually both hydrogen and helium formed in the intial stages before any star formation.

I have a question. What accounts for the comets, distant asteroids such as the Trojan asteroids, Kuiper Belt objects such as Pluto, Charon, Quaoar, and Cedna, and the Oort Cloud? Aren't all those objects made of heavier materials? Why didn't they fall into or towards the sun?

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I have a question. What accounts for the comets, distant asteroids such as the Trojan asteroids, Kuiper Belt objects such as Pluto, Charon, Quaoar, and Cedna, and the Oort Cloud? Aren't all those objects made of heavier materials? Why didn't they fall into or towards the sun?

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Those are just junks that are (1) too far away from the center at the beginning of the solar system to combine into planets, (2) from other regions of space that happened to be caught by our sun's gravity, and (3) made of frozen gas (which most comets are anyway).Just like everything, there are exceptions to the general concept of the initial formation of the solar system. Most heavier elements were closer to the center and formed the inner planets. Lighter elements were farther away from the center and formed the gaseous planets. Then, you get the few rogue rocks that have been lucky enough to not have crossed paths with any of the major planetary bodies.

For the same reason that the earth doesn't fall inward. They are in orbit having picked up angular momentum from the original collapsing cloud.

The man that gave it that name was an opponent of the theory who was trying to make fun of it. It sort of stuck, but not because it's an accurate name. There'd be no place to stand to look at it, so it wouldn't look like anything.Black holes are entire stars compressed by gravity into a single "dot", and we see plenty of them out in space, so we know it can happen.

Maybe someone could confirm or deny this for me.I was under the impression that the inner planets did at one point contain large amounts of hydrogen and helium but due to their proximaty to the sun and relatively low gravity, the solar winds 'blew' these gases further out. This is a very simplistic explanation and I could have remembered the details incorrectly.Is this accurate, or was it an example of Discovery Channel getting things wrong again?

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Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in
this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely
conceives it, wants it, and loves it.
- Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State, from The Columbian Dictionary of Quotations

Telnet Communications - High Speed Internet & Home Phone Solutions Edited to remove long cut and paste from the link above. Miek, please read our Forum Guidelines. Bare links are frowned upon in our little world. In the future, link to an article supporting your position, but defend your position in your own words. No one came here to debate a website z(see also post 25 and 27)- The Queen[This message has been edited by miek07, 04-03-2004][This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

http://swordandspirit.com/_STUDY/texts/RTBbrieflook.html Edited out yet another long (2 posts worth) cut and paste job with no discussion of the link. See post 24 and 27 -The Queen[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

http://swordandspirit.com/_STUDY/texts/RTBbrieflook.html See post 24, 25, 27 - The Queen[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

Design and the Anthropic Principle
by Hugh RossPage not found - Reasons to Believe Edited out extremely long(four posts worth) cut and paste job from the link above. Miek, tho I see you did list the name of the book at the beginning of the 4 posts, this is still against Forum Guidelines. A link to a site and some discussion of what you find significant is more what is looked for here. Bare links are not. - The Queen
- Miek[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

See post 27 above - The Queen[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

See post 27 above - The Queen[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]

See post 27 above - The Queen[This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 04-03-2004]