scholarly journals I. Inferences and suggestions in cosmical and geological philosophy

1865 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 119-129 ◽  

Theory of the Sun—Synthesis of Ponderable Matter in the Sun—Cause of the Solar Spots—Production of the Zodiacal Light—Origin of Meteorites—Original Formation of the Planets—Discrimination of the Views in Cosmical Philosophy advanced from those of Mayer and his School—Theory of the Minor Planets—Projectile Power of the Sun. This paper commences with the “ Theory of the Sun ,” embracing the subjects of the source of its energies, and the synthesis of ponderable matter. The position, powers, and functions of the Sun, as the physical centre of the solar system, are peculiar, and in fact unique. The “Primary Induction” from them, indicating, in the author’s opinion, “the principle of philosophical investigation.” which should be applied to the Sun, is conceived to be “That they imply a corresponding uniqueness and peculiarity in its constitution, characterizing also the nature as well as the disposition of the substances of which it essentially consists. But the particular density of the Sun indicates that it actually consists both of ponderable and imponderable matter.

2019 ◽  
Vol 630 ◽  
pp. A68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Li ◽  
Zhihong Jeff Xia ◽  
Liyong Zhou

Aims. We aim to determine the relative angle between the total angular momentum of the minor planets and that of the Sun-planets system, and to improve the orientation of the invariable plane of the solar system. Methods. By utilizing physical parameters available in public domain archives, we assigned reasonable masses to 718 041 minor planets throughout the solar system, including near-Earth objects, main belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans, trans-Neptunian objects, scattered-disk objects, and centaurs. Then we combined the orbital data to calibrate the angular momenta of these small bodies, and evaluated the specific contribution of the massive dwarf planets. The effects of uncertainties on the mass determination and the observational incompleteness were also estimated. Results. We determine the total angular momentum of the known minor planets to be 1.7817 × 1046 g cm2 s−1. The relative angle α between this vector and the total angular momentum of the Sun-planets system is calculated to be about 14.74°. By excluding the dwarf planets Eris, Pluto, and Haumea, which have peculiar angular momentum directions, the angle α drops sharply to 1.76°; a similar result applies to each individual minor planet group (e.g., trans-Neptunian objects). This suggests that, without these three most massive bodies, the plane perpendicular to the total angular momentum of the minor planets would be close to the invariable plane of the solar system. On the other hand, the inclusion of Eris, Haumea, and Makemake can produce a difference of 1254 mas in the inclination of the invariable plane, which is much larger than the difference of 9 mas induced by Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas as found previously. By taking into account the angular momentum contributions from all minor planets, including the unseen ones, the orientation improvement of the invariable plane is larger than 1000 mas in inclination with a 1σ error of ∼50−140 mas.


1989 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 295-304
Author(s):  
A. Dollfus

AbstractPhotopolarimetry of P/Halley coma characterizes, in the cloud of dust grains released by the nucleus, the presence of a significant population of large flakes, made of aggregated small and very dark grains. These globules are subsequently transported toward the Sun, with some modifications in texture, and concentrate in the inner part of the Solar System. Comets appear to be the source for the fluffy grains which are observed in the zodiacal light.


1971 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 413-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.G. Marsden

There has long been speculation as to whether comets evolve into asteroidal objects. On the one hand, in the original version of the Oort (1950) hypothesis, the cometary cloud was supposed to have formed initially from the same material that produced the minor planets; and an obvious corollary was that the main physical difference between comets and minor planets would be that the latter had long since lost their icy surfaces on account of persistent exposure to strong solar radiation (Öpik, 1963). However, following a suggestion by Kuiper (1951), it is now quite widely believed that, whereas the terrestrial planets and minor planets condensed in the inner regions of the primordial solar nebula, icy objects such as comets would have formed more naturally in the outer parts, perhaps even beyond the orbit of Neptune (Cameron, 1962; Whipple, 1964a). Furthermore, recent studies of the evolution of the short-period comets indicate that it is not possible to produce the observed orbital distribution from the Oort cloud, even when multiple encounters with Jupiter are considered (Havnes, 1970). We must now seriously entertain the possibility that most of the short-period orbits evolved directly from low-inclination, low-eccentricity orbits with perihelia initially in the region between, say, the orbits of Saturn and Neptune, and that these comets have never been in the traditional cloud at great distances from the Sun.


1974 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 489-489
Author(s):  
M. W. Ovenden

AbstractThe intuitive notion that a satellite system will change its configuration rapidly when the satellites come close together, and slowly when they are far apart, is generalized to ‘The Principle of Least Interaction Action’, viz. that such a system will most often be found in a configuration for which the time-mean of the action associated with the mutual interaction of the satellites is a minimum. The principle has been confirmed by numerical integration of simulated systems with large relative masses. The principle lead to the correct prediction of the preference, in the solar system, for nearly-commensurable periods. Approximate methods for calculating the evolution of an actual satellite system over periods ˜ 109 yr show that the satellite system of Uranus, the five major satellites of Jupiter, and the five planets of Barnard’s star recently discovered, are all found very close to their respective minimum interaction distributions. Applied to the planetary system of the Sun, the principle requires that there was once a planet of mass ˜ 90 Mθ in the asteroid belt, which ‘disappeared’ relatively recently in the history of the solar system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S320) ◽  
pp. 134-137
Author(s):  
John P. Pye ◽  
Simon R. Rosen

AbstractWe present estimates of cool-star X-ray flare rates determined from the XMM-Tycho survey (Pyeet al. 2015, A&A, 581, A28), and compare them with previously published values for the Sun and for other stellar EUV and white-light samples. We demonstrate the importance of applying appropriate corrections, especially in regard to the total, effective size of the stellar sample. Our results are broadly consistent with rates reported in the literature for Kepler white-light flares from solar-type stars, and with extrapolations of solar flare rates, indicating the potential of stellar X-ray flare observations to address issues such as ‘space weather’ in exoplanetary systems and our own solar system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
pp. 2387-2396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith T. Strong ◽  
Joan T. Schmelz ◽  
Julia L. R. Saba ◽  
Therese A. Kucera

Abstract The Sun is often racked by short-term violent events such as flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) but these two phenomena are often confused. Both are caused by the release of energy due to the reconnection of stressed and unstable magnetic fields. Flares bathe the solar system in electromagnetic radiation from gamma rays to radio emissions. CMEs throw billions of tons of solar plasma into interplanetary space at velocities of over 1,000 km s−1. Flares can occur without significant ejecta being spewed out from the Sun into the solar system. CMEs can occur without a significant flare being detected. The most violent and dangerous events occur when a large flare is accompanied by a major eruption. These violent events are much more common near solar maximum but can occur at any time during the solar cycle, so we are rarely completely immune to their effects. Various types of solar activity can lead to problems with electrical grids, navigation systems, and communications, and can present a hazard to astronauts, as will be discussed in future papers in this series.


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