Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-02-02
NEBULA HYPOTHESIS.
One Of the Most Interesting Prop
oStiOnS OF Science.
WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS

That the Sun. Planets and All Matter
Were Once Vest Mass Of inesn.
descent Gas All Junneled Toqether In
an Enormous Chaotic Cloud.
Every body has heard the phrase. the
rebula hypothesis. but what * a.,
In "A few words this * th,. m,,anley
~ ''nebUla hypothesis" That th,, sun.
the planets and all than il ia iecia
were at one time IN the inconcciVubly
remote past vast n0SS of chaotic. ia.
vandescent gas all jumbled together IN
un enormous uehula. or cloud.
To begin with. the iirsi conception
that science has dared To make. how.
ever. takes MS one step further hslck
Without mentioning the origin OF mat.
ter itself science vonccive~ that I'm the
beginning ali matter Was ruiformdy
distributed throughout space that
there were no stars. no planets. no
satellites. but that all space was filled
with the matter we now have divided
up into very fine particles some dis.
lance apart The consistency of such
ma terial was perforce very thin in
deed. much more rarcGed than the
highest vacuum we can obtain now hy
air pumps. From this state to the
nebulouS state the theory has miss
ing link, one that CaH only bc satisfied
10y Supposing divine command. for Il
assumes. In the words az Professor
Todd. that gradually cen;crs ct At
traction formed aud these ccutcrS pull
cd in toward themselves either rarti
cles. AS a result 81 the inward fall
ing OF matter toward thc~,. ,-.ntcr> the
collision OF its Particles and their fric-
ton upon each other tho m..icria
masses grew hotter ami hotter Nchu-
lac seeming 10 ill the eutirr heavens
were formed luminous firr mist. like
the flmy objects still seen n the sky
though va>ter and exceedingly numer
GUS This process * surpassed "a
have gone on for countless sscs. faster
in some rc-is,n> thau In others Many
million nebulae We're formed and SET IN
rotation around their own axes This
happily can bc explained by science.
Whenever particles are attracted to-
ward 4 center ana are kept FROM tan
ing directly 10 this center whirlpool
is formed. rotating IN one direction
An example OF this. though humble
and not exactly analogous. is the rota-
iiOn OF water I'm 4 basin when the stop
+ per is pulled out Of the bottom Crawl
" attracts the water Immediately
above the hole. which starts flowing
out. thus leaving space TO be filled.
The rest OF the water rushes in from
all sides to do this. and the whirlpool
is the result
Now each Of these whirling nebulae
became exceedingly hot. and each
formed what Is known as star or
sun. our sun being one The earth
and other planets had not then come
into separate existence. OF course. as
it Is supposed that they We're thrown
OF later from the sun.
Our sun In its nebulous form and TO
ia,inC swiftly on its axis gradually
fiattened ut its poles on account Of
centrifugal motion. This phenomenon
IS entirely familiar 10 those who have
seen a ball OF clay on a potters wheel
gradually fatten. The motion was so
swift and the mass so nebulous that
the sun 10 be took the shape OF disk
As time went on the outer part be-
came cool and somewhat rigid. while
the inner part continued its cooling
and contracting. Thus the inner part
drew away from the outer. leaving n
ring OF matter whirling around on the
outside. This breaking OF OF the ring
IS supposed TO be FASTENED by the in
ability OF the outside TO keep up the
swift motion OF the central mass. both
on account OF the slight cohesion and
OF the centrifugal force But this par
ticular part of the argument has moth
ing 10 stand on II the first law OF mo-
ton is true.
In the successive stages OF the suns
contraction this process was repeated
over and over again. until several
rings were whirling around the central
orb. They would necessarily be in
the same plane. Now. these rings, not
being uniform in mass or thickness.
would each gradually accumulate to-
ward the densest portion until they.
too. would form a ball which would
subsequently hatten, and if the sub
stance continued nebulous and the ball
was large enough they would also
slough rings.
or course the rings the sun discard
ed have become the planets. which. as
required by the theory. are all very
nearly In the same plane. The rings
that the planets formed have become
moons or satellites. SO we are driven
10 conclude that our sun at one time
filed all the space from his present
/ position to the farthest planet in the
tolar system.
From this theory there is another
thing thar we have TO believe. and that
IS that every star In the heavens has
gone through this same process and
has family OF planets sailing around
IT, just as our sun has. Ii would be
impossible TO see these planets. OF
course. for IL is impossible To see a
star. even with the greatest telescope.
except as a mere point of light
AS regards the proving OF this neb-
ula hypothesis. of course IL cannot be
done. But everything points TO its ac-
rnracy. Many nebulae are seen even
now among the stars that seem to be
going through the delayed process of
world forming. Around one or the
! planets of our OWL solar system, Sat
urn. are three rings. which are proba-
bly, destined In time ia become moons.
| III the opinion Of some scholars "A. L.
/ Hos,Ce in New York Tribune