1 of 4

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

of astronomy,as astronomers eventually discovered there is a huge relationship between the planet Earth and cosmic dust.

It is now well-known that space dust play a major role in the formation of planets.Scientific evidence has justified the formation of various planets from the solar nebula,the disc-shaped cloud of gas and dust left over from the formation of the Sun.Currently,planets are believed to be formed by a method known as "accretion," in which a planet begins its development as dust grains in orbit around a central protostar.These grains continue to grow in size through direct contact with other dusts.A gigantic particle or body eventually forms,with a diameter in the region of about 10,000 km.Accretion is not localized,so other bodies are formed also.These in turn collided to form larger bodies with average diameter equal to 4.8 km.These bodies are called planestesimals.The growth process is never stopped,but rather continues,buiding mass along the way,over the the next few million years.

The relationship between the Earth and space dust still has another extension,in the name of stardust.Stardust is thought to be a modest fraction of the condensed cosmic dust,with a mass lower than 0.1 percent of the total mass of interstellar solids.The beauty of stardust lies
in the fact that each grain existed before the earth was formed.Cosmochemists found carbonaceous chondrites a very fertile reservoir of stardust,and have identified many
different types of stardust.This feat was achieved by laboratory measurement of the highly
unusual isotopic composition of the chemical elements comprising each grain.The wealth of information now available to mankind through nucleosynthesis and stellar evolution is sufficient proof to justify the bond between space dust and the entire universe.To shed more light,nucleosynthesis is the process by which new atomic nuclei are created from pre-existing protons and neutrons.And when a star undergoes a sequence of radical changes during its
lifetime,the process is called stellar evolution.

Moreover,space dusts are also known to scatter light nonuniformly,but the effect of this is still a field of further scientific investigation,most especially as it affect all lifeforms
on Earth,mankind inclusive.

Finally,the nebular hypothesis,developed in the 18th century,by the trio of Immanuel Kant,Pierre-Simon Laplace,and Emmanuel Swedenborg has opened up many challeging fields
involved in the study of the solar system,the universe,and even extraterrestrial bodies.Now we know the planet Earth was formed from particles and dusts. In a way,the "particle and dust concept" seems to be winning,and it seems a complete appraisal of the planet Earth will be practically impossible without an input of space dust.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Earth
http://www.geotimes .org/apr05/NN_spacedust.html
ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos mic_dust
http://en.wikipedia.or g/wiki/Solar_nebula#Formation_ of_planets
http://www.universet oday.com/2006/08/07/constant-r ain-of-space-dust-adds-up/
http ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stell ar_evolution

Learn more about this author, Adewale Olowode.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about The earth and space dust?
We want to hear your view. Write now!