Exploratour - Evolution of the Solar System

The Orion Nebula
Click on image for full size
NASA

Read more about Nebulae.

The Sun and planets began as a cloud of gas, just like the one shown in this picture. The cloud was probably made of hydrogen and helium gas (the same gas which goes into a helium ballon which you can buy at the circus). Such a cloud is called a Nebula. "Nebulae" is a word that means more than one nebula. The gas in a nebula such as this is used to make new stars.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA