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Solar System
 How Was the Solar System Formed?

How Was the Solar System Formed?
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.83

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    methane, nuclear, cosmos, fusion, formation, organic, finding, highly, billion, system, density, universe, explosion, clump, region, material
     content words:    Oort Cloud, Kuiper Belt

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How Was the Solar System Formed?
By Patti Hutchison 		  
1     How did the solar system form? Scientists have studied this question for many years. They have learned much from studying our own planet and solar system. They have also studied other solar systems in the universe to find clues.
 
2     Today, scientists generally believe our solar system began about 4.6 billion years ago. It started out as a spinning cloud of gas and dust. Something caused the materials to begin to clump together. Scientists think maybe it was a shockwave from a supernova.
 
3     A supernova is a highly energetic explosion. It occurs at the end of a star's life. Its nuclear fuel is gone, and it does not release any more nuclear energy. The core of the star collapses and releases a huge amount of energy. Scientists believe this was the shock that made the material in the cloud come together.

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