sun. earth. moon.

solar system. the Sun and the planets of our solar system
formed about 4.6 billion years ago from the
collapse of a giant cloud of gas and dust,
called a nebula
nebular hypothesis explains:
• orbits of the planets lie in the same plane
with the Sun at the center
• planets revolve in the same direction
• planets mostly rotate in the same direction
• axes of rotation of the planets are mostly
nearly perpendicular to the orbital plane
• oldest moon rocks are 4.5B years
earth.
earth. EARLY MATERIALS
moon.
early atmosphere and oceans.
• first atmosphere: H and He
• second atmosphere: H2O (vapor),
CO2, N, CH4, almost no O
• early ocean: precipitation, 4.2 to
2.2 B years ago
• third atmosphere: second
atmosphere + abundant O, 2.5 B
years ago
• a.k.a oxygen catastrophe, Great
Oxygenation Event
• beginning of cellular respiration
• banded-iron formations
• UV protection