5 Billion B.C.T. - Our Solar System Begins to Form

Around 5 Billion B.C.T., our solar system began to take shape.

     One of the great beauties of all creation -- one of the great beauties of the universe -- is the solar system in which we live.  By the end of the second millennium of the Christian calendar, scientists had begun to marvel at the unique quality of our solar system.  Although other worlds have been discovered, and while other solar systems have been examined, none of the planets or solar systems matches the delicate machinery that is associated with our Earth and our solar system.

     What makes our solar system so unique is that instead of having the planets orbit the sun in egg-shaped orbits much like the comets do, the planets of our solar system orbit the sun in neatly stacked, circular orbits.  Scientists generally acknowledge that the presence of a circular orbit made possible the existence of life, as we know it, on this Earth.  The relatively circular orbit of our Earth provided nearly equal temperatures all year round.  In other words, it was the unique circular orbit of our earth that created a stable temperature and climate which facilitated the development of life.

     Temperatures and climate would be much more volatile and life as we know it could not have survived if the Earth had had an elliptical orbit.  Indeed, if the Jupiter of our solar system did not itself have a relatively circular orbit, it is doubtful that our Earth itself would even exist.

     In the "light" of this precious realization, today, there is much, so very much to be thankful for, not the least of which is the fact that, on any given night, we can look up and view the beauty of the planets of our solar system; we can marvel at the mystery of how the planets and the solar system came to be; and we can feel blessed that the planets and their unique motion continue to watch over us all.