Nebular hypothesis << NEHB yuh luhr hy POTH uh sihs >> is a theory about the origin of the solar system. Pierre Simon Laplace, a French astronomer and mathematician, formulated the theory in the late 1700’s. According to Laplace, the solar system developed from a huge, extremely hot, rotating nebula, a cloud of dust particles and gases. The nebula cooled and contracted, leaving behind successive rings of matter as it became smaller. These rings, in turn, cooled and condensed, forming the planets. The remaining central core of the nebula became the sun.
Many of Laplace’s ideas have been greatly modified by new discoveries. However, most astronomers believe the solar system did develop from a nebula.
