thINK

Chaos: Part of Our Ever-Changing Solar System

            The population has a good idea about how the world formed, through the big bang theory. Until recently, I have thought I knew how the solar system functioned. But an article called “It All Began in Chaos” by Robert Irion changed my thinking. Scientists have recently discovered just how chaotic the solar system actually works using ideas formed by Sir Isaac Newton. The solar system, much like any human life, has had three instances of extreme change.

            Every human has gone through a time of infancy and childhood. Some childhoods are calm, but others are very chaotic, much like my own. The solar system went through an infancy and childhood similar to mine, filled with chaos. This happening is known as the big bang theory. When it occurred, the planets and moons formed from rock and debris that violently crashed together, much like two cars flying into one another. Just as childhood provides a developmental stage for a human, the eight planets, the sun, and moons developed in the system’s youth.

            The next step is adolescence. For many teens, including myself and the solar system, most everything changes in intense disorder. As the solar system experienced puberty, gravity forced the giant planets out of their spots in line, towards the front, and put them towards the back. The planets were also pushed farther apart, and their orbits were maimed so they were no longer perfect circles. The solar system was turned inside-out, much as my house is when I’m looking for a misplaced object.

            Of course, the inevitable adult stage follows. While this is a bit harder for me to relate to, I have interacted with many adults and the solar system now seems to follow the same patterns as those adults. Knowledge comes with the age in both humans and the solar system. Just in the last year or so, scientists have discovered hundreds of extrasolar planets beyond Pluto. These planets will help us understand how all solar systems work and maybe how ours will turn out. While no one knows how our solar system will end up, we know it’s similar to the collapse of health in adults. Gravity has begun to pull Pluto and Neptune away from the sun and towards other solar systems. The sun’s opposing gravity is making the planets’ orbits go awry. They are no longer circular, comparing to the way health fails humans in their downfall. Just as I know I will someday, the solar system may die.

            The timeline of a solar system is similar to mine. Towards the beginning, there is a time of development and a time of extreme change. The end is not nearly as clear. No one knows exactly how I will die, and no one knows exactly how the solar system will die. All anyone knows is the solar system and I will continue to be full of chaos.