Perhaps my earlier question was not clearly stated, and in fact, there probably ought to have been more than one question. So here goes…
We know that the Solar system was formed from material that was created by one or more Supernovas because the Earth and other bodies are rich in metals. The creation event(s) must have been quite remarkable because we find elements that are as heavy as possible without immediately decaying into lighter elements. Even in our laboratories, we have not been able to create stable element heavier that we find in the top layers of the Earth’s crust. The supernova(s) that created this material must have been extremely violent to have the energy that created this amount of stable heavy elements. (Can we observe supernova remnants with Uranium, Thorium, etc.?)
Subsequently, a pressure wave went throught the Inter Stellar Medium (ISM) that caused the ISM to condense. That condensed material would have further colapsed due to gravitation attraction. Often I have heard that the material then heated up and formed the sun. I think that is a bit innacurate. Rather, the ISM must cool off first in order to allow gravity to colapse the cloud which if heated would scatter in random directions. Once the density reaches a critical stage, then gravity and heat can balance and form a stable system that can heat up enough to allow fusion reactions to resist the inward pressure of gravity.
OK, so the two questions are:
1) Can we find the core left from the supernova that created the enriched ISM that formed our Solar system?
2) Can we find the cause(s) of the pressure wave(s) that caused the ISM to colapse and condense into a cloud dense enough to let gravity bring in more material and overcome the inevitable heating caused by the energy of the infalling matter?
I know that these are difficult questions and there may be too much complexity for our current knowledge. I’m posing them in order to stimulate thought and investigation.
If you have a cute or clever answer, please save it for a more appropriate venue.
More Pages:
- Solar Producer: Can I Get Some Help With These Questions? (7/16/2011)
- Solar Lights: The Following Figures Show Four Stages That Occur During The Formation Of A One-solar-mass Star.? (6/29/2011)
- Solar Lights: Why Do Astronomers Think The Further They Look Into Space, The More They See The Origin Of Our Universe? (10/7/2011)
- Solar Energy: Who Provides The Geothermal Energy? (11/23/2011)
- Solar Lights: A Little Details Of Star Formation? (6/26/2011)
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
First, humans can and have produced elements in the lab that are heavier than found in nature. Plutonium is one you are probably familiar with.
Second, the material did not need to heat up to form the sun (so you are correct in that). Rather the material heats itself as it coalesces into the sun (or whatever). As pressure increases so does temperature. Eventually you get enough stuff to make the pressure and temperature so great fusion starts. Need lots of stuff though.
For your questions:
1) I suppose we could…maybe. The supernova that made the stuff that became this solar system left behind one of two things. It either left behind a Neutron Star or it left behind a Black Hole.
If it is a Neutron Star then we could possibly spot it although it would be hard to know which one was ours. The nearest identified Neutron Star is 326 light years away (called J0108-1431). That is almost certainly too far to have produced our nebula (although perhaps it gave the nudge that caused the collapse to start but no way to know)/
If it is a black hole we can only spot it if it is consuming material. The infalling material heats up and we can spot that. If it is all by itself however then we can’t see it because by definition it does not radiate (well…Hawking Radiation but that is exceptionally weak and we would not spot it). The nearest black hole we have spotted is 1,600 light years away. Definitely too far away to affect us.
2) Not really no. Could be another star passed nearby and gave just enough of a gravitational nudge to start the collapse. Or perhaps a different supernova pushed things. No way to tell.