In 1919, British scientist Sir James Jeans introduced his 'tidal hypothesis' as an explanation for the Earth's origin. Subsequently, in 1929, fellow British scientist Harold Jeffreys made significant modifications to this hypothesis, aligning it more closely with the evolving cosmogonic ideas of the early 20th century. This 'tidal hypothesis' has become a contemporary theory concerning the inception of the solar system and our planet.
The fundamental assumptions underlying the Tidal Hypothesis by Jeans and Jeffreys are as follows:
The formation of the solar system resulted from the interaction between the sun and another celestial body, an invading star.
The sun was once a colossal, glowing mass of gaseous materials.
An additional star, referred to as the 'intruding star,' existed elsewhere in the universe, surpassing the primitive sun in size.
While the sun remained stationary and rotated on its axis, the 'intruding star' followed a trajectory that eventually brought it closer to the primitive sun.
The tidal forces exerted by the 'intruding star' significantly affected the surface of the primitive sun.
James Jeans proposed that the immense gravitational influence of the 'intruding star' caused the expulsion of a substantial quantity of matter from the primitive sun. This expelled matter later contributed to the formation of future planets.
Newton's law of universal gravitation (1687) states that every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
The Development of the Filament:
As described by James Jeans, the 'intruding star' continually approached the primitive sun, exerting a gravitational pull and generating tidal forces on its surface. The gravitational attraction and tidal forces grew more potent as the 'intruding star' drew closer to the 'primitive sun.'
Upon reaching a critical proximity to the 'primitive sun,' the gravitational pull of the 'intruding star' peaked, leading to the formation of an elongated tide resembling a cigar shape on the outer surface of the 'primitive sun.'
The intense gravitational forces caused a considerable amount of matter to be expelled from the 'primitive sun' in the shape of this cigar-like tide.
James Jeans coined the term 'filament' to describe this cigar-shaped material, which exhibited a thicker middle section and tapered ends.
Formation of planets from the filament:
According to James Jeans, the cooling and condensation of the filament's incandescent mass of gaseous matter resulted in the formation of nine planets of our solar system.
After being separated from the sun, the filament began to cool. As a result, as the filament cooled, it began to shrink in size.
The filament's contraction caused it to break into numerous fragments, each of which was condensed to become a new planet. Nine planets were formed as a result of this event.
The filament of incandescent gaseous matter allowed for the formation of larger planets in the centre (such as Jupiter and Saturn) and smaller planets at the tapering extremities.
Our sun was created from the remnants of the primitive sun. The sun's gravitational pull and tidal influence on the newly created planets caused the satellites to develop.
When the amount of matter ejected from planets for the production of new satellites grew so low that its central gravitational force/attraction could no longer hold it together, the processes of satellite formation stopped.
The size of the planet determined the rate of cooling of the ancient incandescent gaseous planets. The larger planets and satellites cooled slowly, whereas the smaller planets and satellites condensed to liquid and then solid forms in a short time. This could explain why larger planets have more satellites while smaller planets have fewer.
Very small planets were cooled and condensed soon, so no matter could be ejected from their surface due to the tidal effect and thus no satellite could be formed. This is why Mercury, Venus and Pluto do not have any satellites.
Modification by Jeffreys:
In 1929, Harold Jeffreys, a British physicist, updated James Jeans' initial tidal hypothesis and presented his concept as the 'collision hypothesis.'
Before the birth of our solar system, there were three stars in the universe, according to Jeffreys. The first was our primitive sun, the second was its 'partner star,' and the third was an 'intruding star' approaching the 'companion star.'
As a result, the 'intruding star' collided with the 'partner star.' Due to head-on collision the companion star was completely smashed and shattered, some shattered portions were scattered in the sky while remaining debris started revolving around the primitive sun.
However, the impact of the collision and explosion allowed the intruding star to break free from the original sun's gravitational pull and gradually fade away from the cosmos.
The planets of our solar system were formed from the companion star's debris. It should be noted that Jeffreys proposed changes to James Jeans' tidal theory with the goal of removing key fundamental flaws in the tidal hypothesis so that it could survive modern scientific critique.
Criticism of Tidal Hypothesis of Jeans and Jeffreys:
According to B. Levin, the universe is limitless in space and time, and the stars are so far apart that such a close encounter is unlikely.
James Jeans did not explain the location or fate of the intruding star that triggered tidal, filament-like eruptions on the ancient sun's surface.
On the basis of mathematical calculations, N.N. Parisky has demonstrated that the tidal hypothesis fails to explain the real distances between the sun and the planets in our current solar system.
Our solar system's planets are mostly made up of high-atomic-weight elements, whereas the sun's constituent elements (from which the planets are assumed to have formed) are lighter atomic-weight elements, such as hydrogen and helium. The tidal hypothesis falls short of providing a credible explanation for such a strange occurrence.
James Jeans was unable to explain the technique and mechanism by which materials ejected from the primitive sun condensed.
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