Origin of the Solar System

1. List at least six properties of the solar system any model of its formation must explain.

2. Give three examples of current properties of the solar system that a model of its formation need not explain. Why?

3. What is the difference between evolutionary and catastrophic theories of the origin of the solar system?

4. Describe the basic features of the condensation theory of the formation of the solar system.

5. What objects, still observable in the solar system today, resulted from fragmentation?

6. What influence did the Earth's position in the Solar nebula have in our planet's final composition?

7. Describe two possible ways in which the Jovian planets might have formed.

8. Why do giant planets 'migrate'?

9. Why are the Jovian planets so much larger that the terrestrial planets?