Pauline Doucette, Age 14, of South Portland, Maine, for her     question:

Do We know how the solar system began?

We cannot prove how our solar system began, but this does not stop us from guessing. In fact, the problem tempts the best scientific minds to so1ve it. Scientific guesses are called theories, and theories on the origin of the solar system change as we gain more knowledge. But none have been proved.

One recent theory suggests that our sun was once a foggy cloud of gas reaching out perhaps as far as Pluto. It condensed and shrank, setting up whirling eddies around the core which began our sun. Debris was left behind, and in time most of it cooled and foamed the solid planets.