How did the Solar System form? This lecture examines the clues in the

present-day dynamics (orbital and rotation motions) of the planets and

planetary composition to the formation of the solar system. We will

then describe the accretion model, where grains condense out of the

primordial solar nebula, grains aggregate by collisions into

planetesimals, then gravity begins to work and planetesimals grow into

protoplanets. What kind of planet grows depends on where the

protoplanets are in the primordial solar nebula: close to the Sun only

rocky planets form, beyond the Frost Line ices and volatiles can

condense out, allowing the growth of the gas giants. The whole process

took about 100 million years, and we as we explore the solar system we

will look for traces of this process on the various worlds we visit.

Recorded 2006 Nov 7 in 100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The

Ohio State University.