A Journey in Other Worlds [72]
orbit, or
extended even farther, several centres of condensation were
formed within the nebulous, gaseous mass. The greatest centre
became the sun, and the others, large and small, the planets,
which--as a result of the spiral motion of the whole, such as is
now going on before our eyes in the great nebulae of fifty- one
M. Canuin venaticorum, and many others--began to revolve about
the greatest central body of gas. As the separate masses cooled,
they shrank, and their surfaces or extreme edges, which at first
were contiguous, began to recede, which recession is still going
on with some rapidity on the part of the sun, for we may be sure
its diameter diminishes as its density increases. According to
either theory, as I see it, the major planets, on account of
their distance from the central mass, have had longer separate
existences than the minor, and are therefore more advanced than
they would be had all been formed at the same time.
"This theory explains the practical uniformity in the chemical
composition of all members of this system by assuming that they
were all once a part of the same body, and you may say brothers
and sisters of the sun, instead of its offspring. It also makes
size the only factor determining temperature and density, but of
course modified by age, since otherwise Jupiter would have a far
less developed crust than that with which we find it. I have
always considered the period from the molten condition to that
with a crust as comparatively short, which stands to reason, for
radiation has then no check; and the period from the formation of
the crust, which acts as a blanket, to the death of a planet, as
very long. I have not found this view clearly set forth in any
of the books I have read, but it seems to me the simplest and
most natural explanation. Now, granted that the solar system was
once a nebula, on which I think every one will agree--the same
forces that changed it into a system of sun and planets must be
at work on fifty-one M. Canum venaticorum, Andromeda, and ninety-
nine M. Virginis, and must inevitably change them to suns, each
with doubtless a system of planets.
"If, then, the condition of a nebula or star depends simply on
its size, it is reasonable to suppose that Andromeda, Sirius, and
all the vast bodies we see, were created at the same time as our
system, which involves the necessity of one general and
simultaneous creation day. But as Sirius, with its diameter of
twelve million miles, must be larger than some of the nebulae
will be when equally condensed, we must suppose rather that
nebulae are forming and coming into the condition of bright and
dead stars, much as apples or pears on a fruit tree are
constantly growing and developing, so that the Mosaic description
of the creation would probably apply in point of time only to our
system, or perhaps to our globe, though the rest will doubtless
pass through precisely the same stages. This, I think, I will
publish, on our return, as the Cortlandt astronomical doctrine,
as the most rational I have seen devised, and one that I think we
may safely believe, until, perhaps, through increased knowledge,
it can be disproved."
After they crossed a line of hills that ran at right angles to
their course they found the country more rolling. All streams
and water-courses flowed in their direction, while their aneroid
showed them that they were gradually descending. When they were
moving along near the surface of the ground, a delicious and
refined perfume exhaled by the blue and white flowers, that had
been growing smaller as they journeyed northward, frequently
reached their nostrils. To Cortlandt and Bearwarden it was
merely the scent of a flower, but to Ayrault it recalled mental
pictures of Sylvia wearing violets and lilies that he had given
her. He knew that the greatest telescopes on earth could not
reveal the Callisto moving about in Jupiter's sunshine, as even a
point of light, at that distance, and, notwithstanding
Cortlandt's learning and Bearwarden's
extended even farther, several centres of condensation were
formed within the nebulous, gaseous mass. The greatest centre
became the sun, and the others, large and small, the planets,
which--as a result of the spiral motion of the whole, such as is
now going on before our eyes in the great nebulae of fifty- one
M. Canuin venaticorum, and many others--began to revolve about
the greatest central body of gas. As the separate masses cooled,
they shrank, and their surfaces or extreme edges, which at first
were contiguous, began to recede, which recession is still going
on with some rapidity on the part of the sun, for we may be sure
its diameter diminishes as its density increases. According to
either theory, as I see it, the major planets, on account of
their distance from the central mass, have had longer separate
existences than the minor, and are therefore more advanced than
they would be had all been formed at the same time.
"This theory explains the practical uniformity in the chemical
composition of all members of this system by assuming that they
were all once a part of the same body, and you may say brothers
and sisters of the sun, instead of its offspring. It also makes
size the only factor determining temperature and density, but of
course modified by age, since otherwise Jupiter would have a far
less developed crust than that with which we find it. I have
always considered the period from the molten condition to that
with a crust as comparatively short, which stands to reason, for
radiation has then no check; and the period from the formation of
the crust, which acts as a blanket, to the death of a planet, as
very long. I have not found this view clearly set forth in any
of the books I have read, but it seems to me the simplest and
most natural explanation. Now, granted that the solar system was
once a nebula, on which I think every one will agree--the same
forces that changed it into a system of sun and planets must be
at work on fifty-one M. Canum venaticorum, Andromeda, and ninety-
nine M. Virginis, and must inevitably change them to suns, each
with doubtless a system of planets.
"If, then, the condition of a nebula or star depends simply on
its size, it is reasonable to suppose that Andromeda, Sirius, and
all the vast bodies we see, were created at the same time as our
system, which involves the necessity of one general and
simultaneous creation day. But as Sirius, with its diameter of
twelve million miles, must be larger than some of the nebulae
will be when equally condensed, we must suppose rather that
nebulae are forming and coming into the condition of bright and
dead stars, much as apples or pears on a fruit tree are
constantly growing and developing, so that the Mosaic description
of the creation would probably apply in point of time only to our
system, or perhaps to our globe, though the rest will doubtless
pass through precisely the same stages. This, I think, I will
publish, on our return, as the Cortlandt astronomical doctrine,
as the most rational I have seen devised, and one that I think we
may safely believe, until, perhaps, through increased knowledge,
it can be disproved."
After they crossed a line of hills that ran at right angles to
their course they found the country more rolling. All streams
and water-courses flowed in their direction, while their aneroid
showed them that they were gradually descending. When they were
moving along near the surface of the ground, a delicious and
refined perfume exhaled by the blue and white flowers, that had
been growing smaller as they journeyed northward, frequently
reached their nostrils. To Cortlandt and Bearwarden it was
merely the scent of a flower, but to Ayrault it recalled mental
pictures of Sylvia wearing violets and lilies that he had given
her. He knew that the greatest telescopes on earth could not
reveal the Callisto moving about in Jupiter's sunshine, as even a
point of light, at that distance, and, notwithstanding
Cortlandt's learning and Bearwarden's