Nebular Contraction and the

Condensation Theory
By Becky Armstrong
Fall Astronomy 2009

Image 1 – the Horsehead Nebula

 contents
Nebular Contraction and the Condensation Theory – title slide
Contents – this slide
Introduction
Nebular Contraction
Beginnings – basics and René Descartes
The Nebular Theory – Laplace and the nebular theory
Scientific Backup – how the nebular theory works
Condensation Theory
Trouble for the Nebular Theory – how the nebular theory doesn’t work
Dust – its important role
Condensation Theory – how it works
Summary
Bibliography
 So how did our solar system form, and out of what? We
can’t know exactly, but we can theorize and look for evidence
to support these theories. The most accepted theory today is
the condensation theory, which has its beginnings in the
nebular theory.
Nebular Contraction
 Beginnings

Nebula – a large cloud of interstellar dust and gas a

light year or so apart.
An outside force causes the nebula to contract under
it’s own gravity, becoming denser and hotter especially
at the core.
A star (ie the Sun) then forms at the core.
17th – century French philosopher René Descartes
suggested that as the Sun formed in the nebula’s hot
core, the planets formed in the cooler outer region.
Thus, planets are by-products of star formation.
Image 2 – René Descartes

Image 3 – Cocoon Nebula

 The Nebular Theory
In 1796, French mathematician-philosopher Pierre Simon de
Laplace developed the ideas of Descartes.
Mathematically he demonstrated that conservation of angular
momentum demands that the nebula rotate faster as it contracts,
thus causing the nebula’s shape to change. Centrifugal forces
due to rotation tend to oppose contraction in a direction
perpendicular to the axis of rotation. As a result, the nebula
collapses most rapidly along the axis.
The nebula is now a disk (or pancake) shape.
This mass that will become our solar system is usually
referred to as the solar nebula.
The notion that the planets
in our solar system formed
from such a disk is called
the nebular theory.
Image 4 – Pierre Simon de LaPlace
 Scientific Backup
If our solar system did form out of such a gaseous disk, it would explain quite a bit of the
architecture observed in the planetary system, such as the elliptical planetary orbits and that these
orbits lie on roughly the same plane. These traits are inherited from the solar nebula disk in which
the planets were formed.
Astronomers are fairly certain the solar nebula formed a disk because such disks have been
either observed or inferred around other stars.
One example is the region surrounding Beta Pictoris (see below). Located about 60 light-years
from the Sun, Beta Pictoris is believed by astronomers to be a very young star, only 20 million
years old or so, and in the midst of an evolutionary stage similar to what our own Sun went
through.

Image 5 – Beta Pictoris

Condensation Theory
 Trouble for the Nebular
Theory
Because of new data, we have become aware that a disk of warm gas wouldn’t form clumps of
gas that eventually would form planets. Clumps of gas would tend to disperse, not contract.
Many astronomers now favor the condensation theory, which maintains the basic physical
reasoning of the nebular theory, but adds to it new knowledge about interstellar chemistry,
thus avoiding most the problems of the original theory.
First of all, the condensation theory has a key new ingredient…
 DUST
The galaxy is filled with dust (ejected matter from long
dead stars), both icy and rocky chunks, averaging in 10^-5
m in size. Dust plays two important roles in the formation
of a gas cloud.
1 – Dust cools warm matter by radiating heat away in the
form of infrared radiation. Because the nebula is cooled
and its molecules move more slowly, internal pressure is
released and the nebula can collapse more easily under the
influence of gravity.
2 – Dust acts as a condensation nuclei for other atoms,
thus speeding up the process of accumulating enough
atoms to form a planet.
Image 6 – IC-1396
 Condensation Theory
Once the solar nebula has formed and begun to cool, dust
acts as condensation nuclei around which matter starts to
gather.
The clumps grow rapidly by sticking to each other when
they collide (this process is called accretion). The larger
the clump, the more surface area it has and therefore the
greater the amount of particles swept up and rate of
growth.
When the objects are a few hundred kilometers across,
their gravity is strong enough to pull in material that
otherwise wouldn’t have collided with them, and further
increase their growth rate. The larger the object, the
stronger its gravity.
Eventually, almost all original matter was joined into a
few protoplanets, the matter that, over time, became the
planets we are familiar with today.
Image 7 – the Condensation Theory
 The nebular theory, developed by René Descartes and then Pierre Simon de
Laplace, states that an outside force causes a nebula to collapse and form a
disk. A star is formed in the hot center of the nebula, and the planets form in
the ccoler outer region. Basically, the planets form out of the leftovers.
The condensation theory is based off the nebular theory, with the addition
of dust. The dust acts as a way to cool the nebula disk and as condensation
nuclei on which matter accumulates. These clumps of matter grow thorough
the process of accretion (collide and stick). Eventually, the protoplanets
formed, which became the planets we know today.
 Bibliography

Chaisson, Eric and McMillan, Steve. Astronomy Today. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education, Inc.,
2005.

• Image 1 - [Link]
• Image 2 - [Link]
• Image 3 - [Link]
• Image 4 - [Link]
• Image 5 – [Link]
• Image 6 - [Link]
• Image 7 - [Link]