Formation of the Sun
4.6 billion years ago · Prehistoric
Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the Sun formed through gravitational collapse of a portion of a giant molecular cloud. As the cloud contracted, conservation of angular momentum caused it to rotate faster and flatten into a protoplanetary disk. The dense center became hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion, creating the Sun, while the surrounding disk material eventually formed the planets, moons, asteroids, and other Solar System objects.
Locations
Solar NebulaMilky Way GalaxyOrion Arm
Topics
SunSolar Systemformation
Connected Events — 4 Connections
The Sun's formation (4.6 BYA) created the stable energy source and habitable zone conditions — liquid water temperatures, UV-driven prebiotic chemistry — that made the emergence of life on Earth possible approximately 1 billion years later Earliest Evidence of Life on Earth
The gravitational collapse that formed the solar system created a central concentration of mass that became the proto-Sun, with the remaining material in the disk eventually accreting to form planets Formation of the Solar System
Local Group provided the stable galactic environment necessary for solar system formation Formation of the Local Group Begins
The supernova shock wave triggered the gravitational collapse that formed our Sun from the molecular cloud, with supernova-enriched material contributing to the Sun's metallicity Supernova Triggers Proto-Solar System Formation
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