PV Gap

Kathryn Said:

Why do all objects of the inner solar system rotate the sun on relativley the same plane?

We Answered:

As already mentioned, the solar system formed from a collapsing cloud of dust and gas. As this cloud collapsed, it did so unevenly and began to spin. As it spun it flattened out and eventually formed a rough disk shape with the sun at the center. An analogy for this flattening would be spinning a pizza crust in the air: as it spins it also flattens out from a ball into a flat disk. From this disk the dust and gas particles began to bang into each other and grow, kind of like a snowball will stick to other snow when it's rolled and will grow into a bigger snowball (only in this case it is not adhesion but gravity which is causing the growth).

Because the planets formed out of a disk, their orbital planes remained roughly in this disk shape which is why all the orbits are roughly in-line today.

Guy Said:

Can all planets of the solar system and the Sun perfectly ever allign?

We Answered:

To our knowledge, time is infinite and the future unpredictably random! So anything is possible. It just might not be probable.

Suzanne Said:

In our Solar System, the sun controls the orbits of Earth and the planets. Why?

We Answered:

Well, this is because of gravity. The gravity of the sun pulls other objects toward it. However, the inertia of the objects being pulled stop the objects themselves from being pulled in inside of the sun. The other objects, called satellites (or moons), orbit the object (or planets) as they might have been trapped in these planets' orbits. However, of course most likely, the satellites might have been orbiting around the sun at first. But look at our moon as an example. An asteroid or object collided with the earth and formed it. This shows that the object or satellite does not necessarily come from after orbiting the sun itself. Well, as the Earth orbits around the sun, other objects tend to orbit around the Earth as well. This is the same as with many different objects and planets.

The second question: the answer is no. The orbits of the planets are not affected by each other. Each orbit is separate and cannot affect the orbit of another object around the same object being orbited around. However, if the objects are comets and asteroids, they can crash into the planets or satellites and cause them to move off from there orbits. Also, it is not likely for a planet to be moved off completely from orbit and to be collided with another planet because of an object as small as an asteroid or comet. If the planets come close to each other in their orbits, they might collide and might be destroyed. It is also possible for the planets to form together and form a "double planet". This is not likely, however. If we look at the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, Pluto crosses the orbit of Neptune and can end up in Neptune's orbit with a rare chance. Pluto is not necessarily a planet and it will be trapped inside of Neptune's orbit as it is has a smaller mass and volume, and in turn, a smaller gravitational pull.

The orbits of a planet can be affected by small object crashing inside of the planets such as asteroids and comets. The asteroids and comets are usually out of orbit as it is possible that they can be pulled away as they are "light and fragile" in our universe full of "big and strong" objects. So therefore, the asteroids and comets can collide with other small object and be pulled out of orbit for a certain period of time if they come close to another planet. The asteroid or comet can come around the orbit of the Earth or another planet and collide with the planet. The orbit of a planet can therefore be affected by these objects.