Science comes with some pretty logical explanations about how the solar system and Earth came to be. There are still some pieces of the puzzle missing, though, but science is constantly evolving. Or to put it in a more astronomical way, science is constantly expanding, maybe even faster than the Universe itself.
By analyzing meteorite dust, a new study led by Martin Schiller (a professor of geochemistry at the Centre for Star and Planet Formation from the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute) reveals that the proto-Earth formed within around “only” 5 million years. This means that it formed much faster than scientists originally thought. Proto-Earth means our planet in its very early stages, without life, the tremendous amount of water on it, and more.
Accretion of cosmic dust is the key
If you want to build a planet yourself, first of all, you need a large amount of cosmic dust. Then, wait several million years for it to accrete. Of course, first, you need to find out the secret to immortality so you won’t die waiting.
Previously, scientists thought that proto-Earth formed when large planetary bodies slammed into one another randomly. Schiller details to us why it’s impossible:
If the Earth’s formation was a random process where you just smashed bodies together, you would never be able to compare the iron composition of the Earth to only one type of meteorite,
You would get a mixture of everything.
The accretion of cosmic dust allowed all the planets in our solar system to form themselves in 5 million years.
Study co-researcher Martin Bizzarro, a professor at StarPlan, points out the huge importance of the discovery by saying that it proves that planet formation happens anywhere. Also, the professor believes that “When we understand these mechanisms in our own solar system, we might make similar inferences about other planetary systems in the galaxy.”
The findings were published in the journal Science Advances.
