Omaha daily bee., 1909-06-27
MOON PLANET, SAYSSAVANT
Naval Astronomer Upsets Theories Of
Ages Regarding Satellite.
DRAWN FROM SPACE BY EARTH
Prof. See. in Paper, Presents Theory
that Moon Of Earth and h
Planets Formally Revolved
Around sun.

Arounu sun
SAN FRANCISCO. June 2s.-Announce
ment was made here by Prof. T. J. J.
See. astronomer in charge Of the naval OBJ
servatory at Mare Island. that he has
fundamentally proved a discovery that
the moon is a planet captured by the
earth from space and not a detached por-
ton Of our globe. He rejects entirely the
long accepted theories OF Laplace and
Sir George Darwin. ascribing earthly
origin TO the moon and asserts that his
discovery is supported by rigorous mathe-
NAUTICAL proof based on the methods OF
HIN, Poincare and Darwin.
Prof. Sees announcement was made in
a paper presented to the meeting OF the
Astronomical Society Of the Pacific Coas;
and is a further development of his dis.
covery promulgated last January that all
planets and satellites are captured bodies,
which have since had their orbits reduced
I'm size and rounded up under the secular
action OF the nebular resisting medium
once pervadlng the solar system. In his
former paper presenting this theory, Prof.
See showed how these bodies, which once
revolved around the sun like the asterids
now do, had made circuits close about
NAN AeAASNe ~ VIZ ANNN - -
planet like Jupiter, the sphere Of the suns
control was shown to have an extension
or protuberance on II, like the neck OF a
bottle, or hour glass with very unequal
bulbs, and when the small bodies moviny
about the sun came into this neck they
could revolve about Jupiter, and, in MANY
cases, sgain return to their paths about
the sun. In other cases, after revolving
about Jupiter, they would be captured BY
the action Of the nebulous resisting me-
dunn about the planet and stay there for
ever as satellites.
Moons Are Captive Planets.
BY revolving about the planet for a
long time, their orbits would be rounded up
Into almost perfect circles and made
smaller and smaller, till they became
Just like the satellite orbits are now OBJ
served to be. Such, he says, has been tbs
origin of the satellites generally, and the
rings of Saturn have had a similar origin
by the capture of waste nebulosity once
circulating around the sun. When this
matter is once brought in near the planet
1t canno again escape, but must stay there
permanently, because in the space near
the planet the planets attraction is su.
preme.
In the case Of the terrestrial moon. how.
ONtE' IlOTt luuu uSudl uncertainty eN-
listed as to how this large satellite origt.
mated, and a special Investigation of the
problem had to be made. The moons
mass is relatively very large. about one.
eightieth of the earth's mass; and ther
Darwin's argument that the moon had
once been a part OF the earth had to b,
overcome. This, Prof. See says, he has
done with entire success, and tonight III
announced that he had proved mathematic
ally that our moon. too, had been cap
tured and had come to us from the heav
emily spaces.
1t was, he says, originally a planet lik'
Mercury, but not quite so large, and moved
about the sun at nearly the same distanc,
as the earth. Then II came between tn,
sun and the earth In such a way as t
enter the neck OF the space resembling
bottle neck projecting from the sun
sphere of control and encircllng the earth
This neck was quite small and narrow, bu
the bulb of space enclosing the earth an,
constituting it's sphere Of attraction was o
considerable size. When the moon ha,
once left the SUMS control and gone int
the bulb about the earth. 1t met wit
some resistance, and the neck becam
! closed, so that the moon was bottled up
under the earth's control and could no
escape. Hence It remained with the cart
ever since, and will always abide with US
' Orbit Gradually NaFrOwa.
BY revolving about the earth in the spac
y controlled by our planet. the moon ha
met with considerable resistance, and II
, orbit has become smaller and smaller an
also rounder and rounder. Thus 1t Ia
come nearer and nearer the earth, bu
: never has been closer than at presen
Thus" he concludes, 'Darwin's theor
Of the moons detachment from the cart
: is overthrow. and an entirely new theor
. developed, which has the support Of a
e the highest mathematical science no
e known
' In a second paper communicate to II
Astronomical Society OF the Pacific t.
night. Prof. See explained the famous gu
j standing inequality of six seconds In III
secular acceleration of the moons mea
;, motion. He said this perturbation in ii
moons motion had been discovered b
HALEY In the time of ewton. 1t was pa
TALLY explained by Leplace in 1851, bl
: gravity alone would not account for II
" observed acceleration since the time of II
= Chaldeans, 100 B. c., and the outstandir
= difference had perplexed the create
mathematIcians for more than a cenur
Having discovered that the moon W.
originally captured, and was still slow
nearing the earth, Prof. See said he hs
removed the last difficulty, and the resu
would be a decided Improvement to a