The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-06-26
EARTH CATCHES
MOON SAILING
THROUGHSPACF
Professor See Reverses Old
NebuIar hypothesis of Origin
of Queen of Night
She GrcIed Too Close, He Says,
and Can't Break Worldly
Influence
Science Upset by Discovery OF
Slow But Nearer Approach
of Captive Luna
ISe.eiaI Disaseh % The Cali

DERKELEY, June Z5.-Ldyu7g
10 before The Astronomical Society
Of The Pacific, N The students
observatory at the university tonight.
his proof that the moon v0s never de-
fached from the earth. but DDS cap
tired By It as Il Dds gong through
space bp the attraction Of the earth.
Pref. T. ]. J. See Of The United States
naval obserpoAOrp of More island com
eletsd the last lirk IN his theory of the
formation Of the solg system. He de-
oIued that he had demonstrated Hldthe-
u7atioollv that the nebul1 hypothesis Of
La Place. the GROUNDWORK Of ashon-
on7ers for more than one hundred pears.
Is mlscientfc and untrue.
Professor See declared IN his lecture
tonight that. instead Of the com
Hl0nly accepted theory that the moon
Dds throDn Of from The earth By rapid
rofGtion, the reverse mas the case. and
that the egth's only satellite wds Gp-
preaching II at the rate of a quarter of
an inch IN a peI and mould in time
become DeIded TO the earth.
Confirmed by Photograph
The mathematical calculations mere
made bu Professor See from data fur
nished b. The astronomers Of the Lick
observatory. and his results. made
tnown tonight, mere confirmed b. pho
togrGphs By The late Prof. James E.
keeIer. formerly director of the Lick
observatory.
Professor See, IN the fOlIOpng
statement DTitten especially for The
Call. spedks Of his discoveries:
By PROF. THOMAS J. j. SEE
In January OF this year I was able
10 announce with confidence that the
planets had all been captured by the
sun and not detached from that globe,
IS La Place supposed. The extreme
rouudness Of the orbits was proved TO
he due TO the secular action Of the neb-
ular resisting medium formerly pervad-
ing our system. which diminished the
size OF the orbits and at the same time
rendered them extremely circular. This
new view Of the mode OF formation OF
the solar system mas not been disputed
anywhere. for the proof was conclusive.
But the new theory was so different
from that heretofore taught that II has
aroused great interest among men of
science. both IN this coutry and in Eu-
. rope Now weNave for the first time
conclusive proof OF the way IN which
the satellites were captured. It was
clear 70 me last November that they
had not been detached or thrown of
from the planets. as La Place supposed.
and as they had not been thrown on by
rotation It was fairly clear that they
must have been added on from the out
side or captured
Yet this point was so important that
J al not rest content till I had OBJ
tafsed q rigorous mathematical demon
stration OF how the captures had come
about. The results now established
tell US not only how the satellites
were captured thing Of great i'm
portance for the present state OF as
tronomy-but also show the course of
the axiaI rotations OF the planets. Most
or the satellites have direct motion
about the planets. that is. revolve in
The direction from west to east, and
this is the direction OF the rotations
OF the planets about their axis.
Golden Gate SimiIe
In order 10 understand this clearly
let US consider the capture OF the moon
and recall that that then very large
sphere. dominated by the suns attrac-
ton. connects with the very small
sphere controlled by the earth's at
traction BY a narrow neck. like the
Golden gate connecting the vast Pa
cihc ocean with the bay Of San Fran
cisco A body like our moon. before
il was captured by the earth, could
revolve around the sun and pass into
the small sphere about the earth by
going through the neck connecting the
two spaces just as ships can sail the
Pacific ocean and enter the Golden
gate and circle around at-isIand as
= smsn center corresponding to the
earth
IN fact. the first visit OF the moon
10 the earth was not unlike that OF
the feet in 1908. when the ships swung