In the beginning there was energy. Then there was unorganized matter. Then galaxies. Then stars, and finally planets. Genesis and Moses give brief descriptions of the Lord's creation of this planet. The scriptures give the *why* of creation but not the *how*. The Lord has left it up to science to discover how planets were created.
Scientists currently believe that small objects crashed into each other and formed larger objects. Those objects crashed into each other and formed even larger objects. And so on. Some of the objects were captured by the gravity of nearby stars and became planets orbiting around the stars. Other of the objects became asteroids and comets. Many scientists believe asteroids and comets contained the water needed to form oceans on new planets. Other asteroids contained the organic molecules needed for life.
No terrestrial, or Earth-like planets have yet been confirmed orbiting white or brown dwarfs, but there is no reason to assume they don't exist. However, new research by Rory Barnes of the University of Washington and René Heller of Germany's Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam hints that planets orbiting white or brown dwarfs will prove poor candidates for life.
Scientists had previously found warm water vapor in planet-forming disks close to the central star. But until now, evidence for vast quantities of water extending into the cooler, far reaches of disks where comets and giant planets take shape had not emerged. The more water available in disks for icy comets to form, the greater the chances that large amounts will eventually reach new planets through impacts.
The observations show that Eris is an almost perfect twin of Pluto in size. Eris appears to have a very reflective surface, suggesting that it is uniformly covered in a thin layer of ice, probably a frozen atmosphere. The results will be published in the 27 October 2011 issue of the journal Nature.
The formation of planets occurs under constant bombardment from particles ranging from a few nanometres to tens of kilometres in size, according to recent analyses of asteroid samples by scientists at Okayama University. The study is the first reported analysis of grains taken directly from a solar body in space.
Complex organic compounds, including many important to life on Earth, were readily produced under conditions that likely prevailed in the primordial solar system. Scientists at the University of Chicago and NASA Ames Research Center came to this conclusion after linking computer simulations to laboratory experiments.
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