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Chronology has been merged to Formation and evolution of the Solar System. Anyone's welcome to keep playing here for testing, but real edits should go there. ASHill (talk | contribs) 21:13, 9 May 2008 (UTC)


Chronology

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The time frame of the Solar System's formation has been determined using radiometric dating. Scientists estimate that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old. The oldest rocks on Earth are approximately 4.4 billion years old.[1] Rocks this old are rare, as Earth's surface is constantly being reshaped by erosion, volcanism and plate tectonics. To estimate the age of the Solar System, scientists use meteorites, which were formed during the early condensation of the solar nebula. Almost all meteorites (see the Canyon Diablo meteorite) are found to have an age of 4.6 billion years, suggesting that the Solar System must be at least this old.[2]

Studies of discs around other stars have also done much to establish a time frame for Solar System formation. Stars between one and three million years old possess discs rich in gas, whereas discs around stars more than 10 million years old have little to no gas, suggesting that planets within them have ceased forming.[3]

Studies of stars in the later stages of their evolution have also allowed astronomers to plot the Sun's possible future course.[citation needed]

Note: All dates and times in this chronology are approximate and should be taken as an order of magnitude indicator only.

Phase Timeframe Event
Pre-Solar System Billions of years before the formation of the Solar System Previous generations of stars live and die, injecting heavy elements into the interstellar medium out of which the Solar System formed.[4]
~50 million years before formation of the Solar System If the Solar System formed in an Orion nebula-like star-forming region, the most massive stars are formed, live their lives, die, and explode in supernovae. One supernova may impact the nascent Solar System.[5][6]
Formation of Sun 0–100,000 years Pre-solar nebula forms and begins to collapse. Sun begins to form.[3]
100,000–100 million years Sun is a T Tauri protostar.[7]
100,000–10 million years Outer planets form. By 10 million years, gas in protoplanetary disc has been blown away, and outer planet formation is likely complete.[3]
10–100 million years Terrestrial planets and the Moon form. Giant impacts occur. Water delivered to Earth.[8]
Main sequence 100 million years Sun becomes a main sequence star.[9]
200 million years Oldest known rocks on the Earth formed.[1]
500–600 million years Resonance in Jupiter and Saturn's orbits moves Neptune out into the Kuiper belt. Late Heavy Bombardment occurs in the inner Solar System.[8]
800 million years Oldest known life on Earth.[10]
4.6 billion years Today. Sun remains a main sequence star, continually growing warmer and brighter by ~10% every billion years.[11]
6 billion years Sun's habitable zone moves outside of the Earth's orbit, possibly shifting into Mars' orbit.[12]
7 billion years The Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy begin to collide. This event probably has little impact on the Solar System.[13]
Post-main sequence 10 billion years Sun exhausts the hydrogen in its core, ending its main sequence life. Sun grows dramatically more luminous (by a factor of ~3000), larger (by a factor of ~300 in radius), and cooler (to 2600 K): Sun is now a red giant. Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth are swallowed.[14][15]
~11 billion years Sun passes through helium-burning horizontal branch and asymptotic giant branch phases, losing ~30% of its mass. Asymptotic giant branch phase ends with the ejection of a planetary nebula, leaving the core of the Sun behind as a white dwarf.[15][16]
Remnant Sun ~11 billion–~1 trillion years The white dwarf Sun, no longer producing energy, cools and dims continuously
~1 trillion years The Sun is cool enough to be considered a black dwarf.
~1 quadrillion years Sun cools to 5 K.[17] Gravity of passing stars detaches planets from orbits. Solar System ends.[18]
  1. ^ a b Simon A. Wilde, John W. Valley, William H. Peck and Colin M. Graham. "Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago" (pdf). Nature. 409: 175. doi:10.1038/35051550.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Gary Ernst Wallace (2000). "Earth's Place in the Solar System". Earth Systems: Processes and Issues. Cambridge University Press. pp. 45–58. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference sciam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Charles H. Lineweaver (2001-03-09). "An Estimate of the Age Distribution of Terrestrial Planets in the Universe: Quantifying Metallicity as a Selection Effect". University of New South Wales. Retrieved 2006-07-23.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cradle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference iron was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Montmerle2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gomes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference sequence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference life was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference scientist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference mars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference cain was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference red was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Schroder2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference nebula was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler (1986). The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-282147-4.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference dyson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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