What natural process caused the gas and dust cloud to settle into the flattened galactic configuration?
Answer
Conservation of angular momentum
The highly flattened structure of the galactic disk, where stars and gas orbit close to the central plane, is a natural consequence arising from the conservation of angular momentum. As the immense primordial cloud of gas and dust collapsed and began to rotate over cosmic timescales, this principle dictated that the material would settle into the configuration possessing the flattest possible rotational geometry around the center of mass.
#Videos
Skylight: How Does Our Solar System Move Around the Milky Way ...
Related Questions
What is the approximate diameter of the Milky Way galaxy structure?What classification describes the Milky Way galaxy's structure?Where is the Sun and its solar system located within the Milky Way disk?Which component contains the majority of gas, dust, and younger stars?What analogy is used to describe the thinness of the galactic disk?What is the zero point of latitude in the galactic coordinate system?Which celestial objects often follow highly eccentric or inclined orbits through the plane?What visual appearance results from looking towards the galactic center (Sagittarius)?Why do astronomers intentionally point telescopes away from the galactic plane to view distant galaxies?What natural process caused the gas and dust cloud to settle into the flattened galactic configuration?