2007-11-01 15:28:40 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
solar wind keeps gas giants from forming in the inner solar system, solar wind (in combination with weak gravity) keeps mercury from keeping an atmosphere. also as you get closer to the sun tidal forces tend to tear apart anything that isnt solid.
2007-11-01 17:17:04 · answer #1 · answered by mikedelta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, Neptune and Uranus additionally are considered gas giants yet each and every now and returned considered ice giants. Terrestrial planets contain Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Pluto is a Kepler belt planet
2016-12-30 13:57:10 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The heat that close to the sun would have made the gases fast-moving and therefore harder for the small gravitational fields of the small inner planets to capture and keep them.
As the gases moved out away from the sun they would have cooled and that would have allowed Jupiter and the other outer planets to capture and hold them more easily.
2007-11-01 16:30:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Good question. The honest answer is that there is still a lot of scientific debate over how exactly did the planets form. The basic model for how the planets formed is the Nebular Hypothesis, but it has several significant flaws.
2007-11-01 19:03:57 · answer #4 · answered by sparrowhawk 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Lower gravity, closer to sun (more energetic light gases).
2007-11-01 15:36:33 · answer #5 · answered by Howard H 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋