New-York tribune., 1907-11-10
ARE NEW MOONS BEING FORMEDP


The discovery of two knots in the rings of
Saturn, announced from the Lick Observatory
about a fortnight ago, has been amply con-
firmed by astronomers in other places. 1t Is
now supplemented 10y n statement from Flag
staff, which needs corroboration, but which
may possibly have a bearing on the problem
presented by the story from Mount Hamilton.
In the report that gap in one of Saturn's
rings has been detected there is a reminder OF
the rival theories which have been offered
cerning the manner in which the planets were
formed. Laplace he'd that nebulouS cloud
once extended beyond the orbit of the Outermost
satellite of the 1t acquired a whirling
motion and became hattened. Then by the
shrnkage of the central portion rings were
detached from the outer edge, and each of
these, it was thought, having been broken
somehow, consolidated into a sphere. To illus
trate If not to subStantiate. that hypothesis,
later astronomers have been in the habit of cit
ing ring shaped and spiral nebule which are
to-day conspicuous In the heavens, and the sug-
gestive knots or condensatiOnS which are seen
in some of those objects. 1t has been strongly
suspected, too, that most of the satellites of
the planets, as we'll as the planets themselves,
were formed in the same way An essential
feature of the nebular hypothesis, it may be
added, is the notion that the resulting globes,
TO say nothing of the vapOrouS material out OF
which they were made, were for time in
tensely hot. though they have been cooled to
some extent by radiation.
Professor Salisbury. who fills the chair Of
geology in the University of Chicago, has ad-
vanced a radically different doctrine. He be-
lieves that the planets were built up by the ag-
gregation of big and little stones. akin TO
meteoric debris in composition and cold at the
very outset. Now. it is an interesting cPinci-
dence that the rings of Saturn apparently con-
SSt of exactly that sort of Stuif-thouSands, Ii
not millions, of large and small masses not
possessing n sufficiently high temperature TO be
luminous. and hence visible only 10y the light
of other bodies, having arranged themselves in
beautifully symmetrical system. II, there
fore break i'll one of the rings should really
occur almost simultaneously with the develop
ment of cOndenSationS at other points the OBJ
server might well fancy that the formation of
two new moons had just begun.
One of the objections offered TO the nebular
hypothesis satisfactory as 1t is in many re-
spects is that 1t does not provide cause for
the disruption OF a ring. Moreover doubts
whether the disarranged material would con
solidate into a sphere have been entertained
These criticisms seem TO be equally applicable
to the supposltion that there is any connection
should the knots discovered by Professor Camp.
bell really represent the development Of new
satellites In the way imagined 10y Professor
Salisbury il would be injudiclous hastily to,as
sumo that the gap said TO have been observed
in one OF the rings has the significance just
suggested. Even If the Flagstaff observation
should be verified, there would he great pro
priety in waiting for approval 10y competent
authority before assocating 1t logically with
the knots reported from Mount Hamilton.
1t does not seem TO be feasible 10 draw uni
form conclusions concerning the moons with
which astronomers are already acquainted
Those of Mars are regarded adopted chill
dren, for they travel faster than the planet
does Perhaps they strayed from the adjacent
ring of asteroids and once having come within
the influence OF Mars were unable TO escape
The solitary moon OF Neptune moves in di
rection opposite to that of the body which it
accompanies Whatever its origin, its behavior
does not harmonize perfectly with the suppOs
ton that II is the offspring of the planet No
question Of that sort is raised in regard TO the
earth's gigantic satellite, but there are doubts
about its having ever had the form Of a ring
The favorite theory just now is that il was
drawn up by solar attraction into a lump on
the terrestrial mass while the latter was yet
nlastic. and that separation resulted from the
snaed OF revolution around a common centre
There Is apparently less reason for heSitatng
TO apply Iaplace's theory in full to the moons
of jupiter Saturn and Uranus, and in any case
It is permissible 10 imagine that they may
have been evolved in different manner from
those of the earth and Mars.