What unusual distribution of angular momentum exists between the Sun and the planetary bodies?
The Sun holds only 1 or 2 percent of the total angular momentum, while the planets hold the vast majority.
A critical challenge for any solar system formation theory is reconciling the distribution of mass with the distribution of rotational energy, known as angular momentum. Paradoxically, the Sun accounts for over 99.8% of the entire Solar System's mass. However, observations show that this massive central body holds only approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total system's angular momentum. Conversely, the planets, which constitute less than 0.2% of the total mass, possess the overwhelming majority of the system's rotational energy. This disparity required modern refinements to the nebular theory to fully explain, moving beyond the initial simple gravitational collapse model.
