Our Solar System According to most scientists, the solar system resulted from a "big bang". It seems that at one time, most of the matter in the universe was compressed into a smaller area. After the matter condensed as much as it could, a huge explosion took place. This was known as the "big bang". During the explosion, the compressed matter was thrown into space as hot gasses and debris. As the gasses cooled, the matter came together in different areas to form objects in space. As the gasses and debris whirled around, most of the debris formed at the center. This part of the system formed the sun. The outer debris came together to form the planets. Gravity and the electromagnetic forces were already available and in play as the sun and planets formed. The Sun, its planets, electromagnetic forces, and gravitational forces all developed and started to interact from the beginning. That is how the solar system was born as a unit.  The solar system consists of the Sun, its eight planets, with more than 130 satellites and a large number of comets and asteroids. The inner solar system contains the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The planets of the outer solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, which we once called a planet. There is a main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The orbits of the planets are nearly on the same plane, which is called the ecliptic. The planets orbit in the same direction, which is counterclockwise looking down from above the Sun's north pole. Two of the planets, Venus and Uranus rotate in the same direction. Pluto also rotates in the same direction as Uranus and Venus. The other planets all rotate in the opposite direction. Our Solar System, Chapter 2 Magnetosphere, Chapter 3 Radiation Belts, Chapter 4 Magnetic Fields, Chapter 5 Earth’s Dynamo, Chapter 6 Dynamo Systems, Chapter 7 The Sun as a Dynamo, Chapter 8 Auroras Chapter 9 Space Weather Chapter 10 References |