Exploratour - Evolution of the Solar System

This drawing represents the expansion of gases leaving a supernova in the form of a shock wave.
Click on image for full size
C. Alexander

Read more about a supernova here

Scientists believe that the solar system was formed when the cloud of gas and dust was disturbed, perhaps by the explosion of a supernova. As with many explosions, such an explosion creates a shock wave. The shock wave propagates through space, dissipating only slowly, with immense distance from the explosion.

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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