Skip to content

Our Flat Solar System

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Why is our solar system flat? We started off as a shapeless blob of gases after the Big Bang. How did our solar system flatten out? From Saturn’s rings to other galaxies, it turns out that “flatness” is common in our 3D universe. It has to do with collisions.


MinutePhysics breaks down the mathematics for our 3D-thinking brains:

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Related
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
13 min
with

Up Next
Ever wonder how jetpacks work? The motorcycles of tomorrow may not be populating the skies just yet, but you can test drive a jetpack. There’s a famous jetpack instructor who […]