Scientists Confirm Doughnut Shape of Early Solar System

Solar System (Representative Image- Canva)

Scientists have confirmed that our solar system initially had the shape of a doughnut or a flat disk, a formation estimated to be around four and a half billion years old.

In its early stages, our young Solar System was made up of a spinning cloud of gas and dust known as a protoplanetary disk. This disk spread out from the central star, the Sun, and had a toroidal shape, much like a doughnut.

Due to gravity, tiny particles in this disk collided and stuck together, forming larger clumps called planetesimals. As these planetesimals attracted more material from space, they grew bigger and eventually became protoplanets.

Scientists discovered this by conducting detailed studies on iron meteorites that originated from our solar system. These studies helped them understand how the planetary system formed in its early stages and evolved into what we see today.

These meteorites contain refractory metals like platinum and iridium, which provide evidence that the early stages of the Solar System had a toroidal, or doughnut-like, shape.

The presence of these metals in meteorites suggests that during the Solar System’s infancy, the distribution and accumulation of material followed a toroidal pattern.

This shape likely influenced the development and organization of planets and other celestial bodies, offering crucial insights into the processes that shaped our cosmic neighborhood.

A team of planetary scientists, including Bidong Zhang from the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the composition of asteroids in the outer Solar System and made this discovery about the toroidal shape of the early solar system.

The doughnut-shaped protoplanetary disk provided the raw materials for planet formation, and gravitational interactions led to the diverse planetary system we see today.