Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1910-01-22
NEBULA HYPOTHESIS.
Ore of The Most Interesting Prop
oSitions N Science.
WHAT 1T ACTUALLY MEANS.

descent Gas All Jumbled Together In
an Enormous Chaotic Cloud.
Everybody has heard the phrase, the
nebula hypothesis. but what is it?
| In few words this Is the meaning
of "nebula hypothesis" That the sun,
the planets and all that is In them
were at one time in the inconceivably
remote past vast mass of chaotic. In
candescent gas all jumbled together in
an enormous nebula. or cloud
To begin with, the first conception
that science has dared to make, how.
ever, takes us one step further back
Without mentioning the origin of mat
ter itself science conceives that In the
beginning all matter was uniformly
distributed throughout space that
there were no stars. no planets, no
satellites, but that all space was filed
with the matter we now have divided
up into very fine particles some dis
lance apart. The consistency of such
material was perforce very thin In
deed. much more rarehed than the
highest vacuum we can obtain now by
air pumps. From this state TO the
nebulous state the theory has a miss
ing link, one that can only be satisfied
by supposing divine command. for II
assumes. in the words of Professor
Todd, that gradually centers of at
traction formed and these centers pull
ed in toward themselves other parti-
cles. AS result of the inward fall
ing of matter toward these centers, the
collision of its particles and their fric-
ton upon each other the material
masses grew hotter and hotter. Nebu-
lac seeming to fill the entire heavens
were formed-luminous fire mist. like
the filmy objects still seen In the sky,
though vaster and exceedingly numer-
GUS" This process Is supposed to
have gone on for countless ages. faster
in some regions than in others. Many
million nebulae were formed and set in
rotation around their own axes. This
happily can be explained by science.
Whenever particles are attracted to-
ward a center and are kept from fall
ing directly to this center a whirlpool
is formed, rotating in one direction.
An example of this, though humble
and not exactly analogous. is the rota-
ton of water in basin when the stop
per is pulled out of the bottom. Crawl
ty attracts the water Immediately
above the hole, which starts flowing
out, thus leaving space to be filed.
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
hut lie OF
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 were thrown
off later from the sun.
Our sun in its nebulous form and 70.
tating swiftly on its axis gradually
fattened at its poles ON account of
centrifugal motion. This phenomenon
is entirely familiar to those who have
seen a ball of clay on a potter's wheel
gradually flatten. The motion was so
swift and the, mass so nebulous that
the sun to 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 a
ring of matter whirling around on the
outside. This breaking off OF the ring
is supposed to be FASTENED by the tn
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 to stand on If 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 10
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
fatten, and If the sub
stance continued nebulous and the bali
was large enough they would also
slough rings.
OF course the rings the sun discard
ed have become the planets, which. as
by the theory, are all very
Tue Sdlue pune.
that the planets formed have become
moons or satellites. So we are driven
to conclude that our sun at one time
Allied all the space from his present
position to the farthest planet in the
solar system.
From this theory there is another
hing that we have to believe, and that |
8 that every star In the heavens has |
gone through this same process and !
has family of planets sailing around |
{. just as our sun has. 1t would be |
to see these planets. Of |
course, for it is impossible TO see
'tar. even with the greatest telescope. |
except as a mere point of light.
AS regards the proving of this neb-
LA hypothesis. of course it cannot be
lone. But everything points to its ac-
,uracy. Many nebulae are seen even
low among the stars that seem to be
;oing through the delayed process Of
world forming. Around one of tho
,lauets of our own solar system. Sat
i'm. are three rings. which are proba-
,ly destined in time TO become moons.
II the opinion of some scholars.-A. Il.
Hodge in New York Tribune.