Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website.

Suggested Searches

How Planets are Born Visualizations

Concentric disks around a bright focal point.
How Planets are Born
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Levels
  • Introductory (K-5)
  • Intermediate (6-8)
Material Type
  • Animation/Visualization
Heliophysics Big Ideas
  • Big Idea 3.3 - Our Sun, like all stars, has a life cycle.
NGSS
  • ESS1 - Earth's Place in the Universe
  • PS1 - Matter and its Interactions
Heliophysics Topics
  • Stellar Evolution
  • Solar System
  • Sun
Related Missions
  • James Webb Space Telescope (Astro)
Material Cost per Learner Free
Language English

This set of visualizations from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio shows the process of planet formation.

Scientists think planets, including the ones in our solar system, likely start off as grains of dust smaller than the width of a human hair. They emerge from the giant, donut-shaped disk of gas and dust that circles young stars. Gravity and other forces cause material within the disk to collide. Over time, dust particles combine to form pebbles, which evolve into mile-sized rocks.

Find the full set of visualizations here ↗