Unit 1 Origin of Earth

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UNIT 1

ORIGINOFEARTH

Structure
1.1 Introduction 1.5 Summary
Expected Learning Outcomes 1.6 Terminal Questions
1.2 Basic Concepts 1.7 Answers
Earth as a Blackbody 1.8 References/Further Reading
Rotation and Revolution of Earth
Planets and Satellites
Universe and Galaxies
1.3 The Solar System
1.4 Origin of Earth and Solar
System
Monistic Concept
Dualistic Concept
Modern Concept

1.1 INTRODUCTION
You might have studied the basics related to origin of the Earth in your school.
And you have fairly good idea about it. In the very beginning unit of this course
we will further familiarize you with this theme in more detail. The academic
inquisitiveness may make you think about many questions related with the
origin of Earth. For example, how we can define the Universe? What are its
basic concepts and so on? In simpler ways Universe has been defined as the
totality of existence. It means that the entire gamut of astronomical bodies
comprising planets, stars, galaxies, the contents of intergalactic space, the
smallest subatomic particles, and all particles of matter and energy are
included in the Universe. Human have always been eager to know more and
more about it. You will study the basic concepts of the Universe in the
Section. 1.2. 9
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Various astronomical objects like stars, planets, etc. orbit the Sun in a
constant manner which we collectively know as Solar System. It consists of
nine planets, some dwarf planet, 63 moons, millions of smaller astronomical
bodies like asteroids and comets, and it also includes huge quantities of gas
and dust particles. The planets along with their satellites revolve round the
Sun. It is the most important part of the Universe and suitable environ for
higher forms of life are found only in one of the inhabitable planet which is
known as Earth. You will understand all about this Solar System from Section.
1.3. You will also study the hypotheses related to the origin of Earth and the
solar system from the Section. 1.4.

Expected Learning Outcomes

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

 explain the basic concepts of Universe;

 define the Solar System;

 explain various hypotheses related to the origin of Earth and the solar
system.

1.2 BASIC CONCEPTS

1.2.1 Earth as a Blackbody
Can you visualize that the Earth is much close to being a black body radiator?
It means that a black body can absorb heat at any wavelength. But it also
emits heat at a particular wave pattern. It is on account of the Earth’s
closeness to being a black body radiator which is responsible for the
greenhouse effect as it can absorb solar energy at any wavelength (mostly
short wavelength i.e. incoming terrestrial radiation), but emits it in a narrow
band of radiation. Do you know how the evolution of various life forms became
possible on the Earth? It is this green house effect which makes life possible
on Earth otherwise the Sun’s radiation would also be radiated away. Though
the Earth is close to being a black body radiator but the energy absorbed by it
is at different level (e.g. ultraviolet rays being absorbed by ozone layer). The
Earth reflects about one third of the energy reaching it, so it appears to be
quite bright, but it is close to being a black body radiator.

1.2.2 Rotation and Revolution of Earth Planets and

Satellites
You all are familiar that Earth’s rotation is the rotation of the solid Earth around
its own axis. The Earth rotates from West to East. As viewed from the North
Star or Pole Star the Earth turns anti clockwise. The Earth’s axis of rotation
meets its surface at the North Pole, in the northern hemisphere. The South
Pole is the other point where the axis of rotation intersects its surface, in
Antarctica. The Earth rotates once in every twenty four hours with respect to
the Sun and once every 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds with respect to
the stars. Earth’s rotation is slightly slowing with time, thus the day was
10 shorter in the past, this is due to the tidal effect of the moon has on the Earth’s
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rotation. Atomic clock show that a modern day is longer by about 1.7 milli
seconds then a century ago, slowly increasing the rate at which UTC is
adjusted by leap seconds. You know that the rotation of the Earth is
responsible for the alternate periods of light and darkness that gives us day
and night.

Fig. 1.1: Major Planets in the Solar System.

While the Earth’s revolution is the complete orbit of the sun by the Earth. This
is called a year and takes 365.25 days to complete one orbit. The path of this
revolution, the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle. The Earth is
consequently nearer to the Sun in January than it is in July; the difference
between its maximum and minimum distances from the Sun is 3 million miles
(4.8 million kilometers). This difference is not great enough to affect climate on
the Earth. If you were to look down on the Solar System from “above”, that is,
so that the Sun is seen to rotate anti-clockwise, you would see Earth revolve
around the Sun in anti-clockwise direction. It is also the direction in which both
the Sun and the Earth rotates.

Diagrammetric representation of major planets alignment in the solar system

is presented in Fig. 1.1. In fact, the planets rotate and most of the moons
revolve around the planets in anti-clockwise direction. This common anti-
clockwise direction of rotation/revolution very likely reflects the rotation of the
original cloud from which all components of the Solar System were formed.
The period of revolution of the Earth around its orbit defines the year, one
of the planet’s natural time scales. The mean Sun-Earth distance is 149.5
million kms. This defines the Astronomical Unit. Two key positions along the
orbit are Perihelion-the point of closest approach to the Sun. This occurs on
~3 January, when the Sun-Earth distance is ~146 million kilometers. Aphelion-
the point at which Earth is farthest from the Sun. This occurs on ~4 July, when
Sun-Earth distance is ~156 million kilometers. The difference in distance
between perihelion and aphelion (some 10 million kms) is small but important.
One consequence is that Northern Hemisphere winters/Southern Hemisphere
summers tend to be milder than Southern Hemisphere winters/Northern
Hemisphere summers. In part, this helps to explain the existence of the very
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large ice cap in the Southern Hemisphere polar region. The dates of perihelion
and aphelion change slowly with time because the whole orbit rotates slowly
anti-clockwise in the ecliptic plane, and the shape of the orbit, as expressed by
the eccentricity, changes over time. Always keep in mind that the revolution of
the Earth in its orbit around the Sun is independent of the rotation around its
axis. You can visualize the cycle of day and night on Earth from
Fig. 1.2.

Fig. 1.2: Artistic impression of Earth’s Rotation.

How will you understand the change in seasons? The change in seasons is
caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis to the plane of its orbit, making an angle of
66.5°. When the northern end of the Earth’s axis is tilted toward the Sun, the
most direct rays of sunlight fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This causes its
summer season. At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere experiences
winters since it is then receiving indirect rays. Halfway between, in spring and
in autumn, there is a time (see equinox) when all parts of the Earth have equal
day and night. When the northern end of the Earth’s axis is tilted away from the
Sun, the least direct sunlight falls on the Northern Hemisphere. This causes its
winter season.

1.2.3 Universe and Galaxies

Galaxies are sprawling space systems composed of dust and countless stars.
The number of galaxies cannot be counted – the observable universe may
alone contain hundred billion galaxies. Some of these are similar to our
milkiway whereas others are quite different. The diameter of our galaxy
milkiway is about 100,000 light years. It contains more than thousand million
stars. Our Sun with its solar system is about 30 thousand light years away
from the center of the milkiway. Like other stars, the Sun with its solar system
is revolving around the center of the milkiway. The period of revolution is about
224x106 years. Sun has thus made only two complete rounds around the
center of the milki way till now. The solar system revolves around the milkiway
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with the speed of 285 kilometers per second. Now we will discuss about
various types of galaxies.

Classifications of Galaxies

It was astronomer Edwin Hubble who classified galaxies into four major types.
These are known as Spiral, Barred Spiral, Elliptical and Irregular galaxies. Most
of the nearby bright galaxies are spirals, barred spirals or elliptical. Let us learn
more about the same.

 Spiral Galaxies have a bulge at the center and a flattened disk containing
spiral arms. Spiral galaxies have a variety of shapes and are classified
according to the size of the bulge and the tightness and appearance of the
arms. The spiral arms, which wrap around the bulge, contain numerous
young blue stars and lots of gas and dust. Stars in the bulge tend to be
older and redder. Yellow stars like our Sun are found throughout the disk of
a spiral galaxy. The disks of spiral galaxies rotate somewhat like a
hurricane or a whirlpool.

 Barred Spiral Galaxies are spiral galaxies that have a bar-shaped

collection of stars running across the center of the galaxy.

 Elliptical Galaxies do not have a disk or arms. Instead, they are

characterized by a smooth, oval-shaped appearance. Elliptical contains old
stars and possess little gas or dust. They are classified by the shape of the
ball, which can range from round to oval (baseball-shaped to football-shaped).
In contrast to the disks of spirals, the stars in elliptical galaxies do not revolve
all around the center in an organized way. The stars move on randomly
oriented orbits within the galaxy, like a swarm of bees.

 Irregular Galaxies are galaxies that are neither spiral nor elliptical. They
tend to be smaller objects that are without definite shape, and tend to have
very hot newer stars mixed in with lots of gases and dust particles.

In this section, you have learnt about four types of galaxies along with their
characteristic features.

SAQ 1
a) What do you understand by Earth’s revolution?

b) What causes change in season? When do we have summer season in Spend

Northern Hemisphere? 5 mins

1.3 THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The Solar System is believed to be formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago from the
gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. It consists of the Sun and the
objects that orbit it, whether they orbit it directly or by orbiting other objects
which orbits it directly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest
nine are the planets that form the planetary system around it, while the
remainder is significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and Small
Solar System Bodies (SSSB’s) such as comets, and asteroids, etc. All planets 13
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differ in size. The planets located in the middle of the solar system are bigger
in size than those on the sides. Geophysicists called this arrangement of
planets as ‘cigar shaped’. The planets of the solar system can be classified
into two groups: Inner or terrestrial planets and outer planets (Fig. 1.3).

Fig. 1.3 : Artist’s impression of the Solar System showing the inner Planets
(Mercury to Mars) and the outer Planets (Jupiter to Neptune) and
beyond (Credit: NASA).

Inner or terrestrial planets: The inner circle consists of four planets

including Mercury, Venus, Earth along with Mars and Asteroids. These planets
are called inner planets as they lie between the Sun and the belt of asteroids
and are closer to Sun. They are called terrestrial which means Earth like, as
they are made up of rocks and metals. These planets are comparatively small
in size and have relatively higher density. Their speed of rotation is less. They
either have no satellite or very less satellites for example the Earth has only
one and Mars have two satellites.

The outer planets: They are also known as the giant planets or Jovian
planets (Jupiter like) – the outer circle consists of five planets namely Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. These planets are bigger in size and are
less dense. They have thick atmosphere mostly composed of helium and
hydrogen. Their speed of rotation and number of satellites are more compared
to the inner planets.

The four smaller inner planets, Venus, Earth, Mars and Mercury also called
the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of rock and metal. The four
outer planets, called the gas giants, are substantially more massive than the
terrestrials. The two largest namely, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed mainly
of hydrogen and helium. The two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are
composed largely of substances with relatively high melting points (compared
with hydrogen and helium), called ices, such as water, ammonia and methane,
and are often referred to separately as “ice giants”. All planets have almost
14 circular orbits that lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic plane. The vast
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majority of the system’s mass is in the Sun, with most of the remaining mass
contained in Jupiter.

The Solar System also contains regions populated by smaller objects.

The asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains
objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal. Beyond
Neptune’s orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc, linked populations
of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices. Within these populations
are several dozen to more than ten thousand objects that may be large enough
to have been rounded by their own gravity. Such objects are referred to
as dwarf planets. Identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceresand the
trans-Neptunian objects Pluto and Eris. In addition to these two regions,
various other small-body populations, including comets, centaurs and Inter-
planetary dust, freely travel between regions. Six of the planets, at least three
of the dwarf planets, and many of the smaller bodies are orbited by natural
satellites, usually termed “moons” after Earth’s satellite Moon. Each of the
outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects.
The solar wind, a flow of plasma from the Sun, creates a bubble in
the interstellar medium known as the heliosphere. It extends out to the edge
of the scattered disc. The Oort cloud, which is believed to be the source
for long-period comets, may also exist at a distance roughly a thousand times
further than the heliosphere. The heliopause is the point at which pressure
from the solar wind is equal to the opposing pressure of interstellar wind. The
Solar System is located within one of the outer arms of the Milky Way, which
contains about 200 billion stars.

Before giving a vivid description about hypotheses related to the origin of Earth
and Solar System, it is of utmost importance to know some of the
characteristics of the Solar System which are as follows:

 The axis of all these planets is tilted towards their orbital plains but it is
tilted differently by different planets.

 All the planets rotate around their axis and the speed of rotation of these
planets vary from each other.

 All these planets revolve around the Sun in anti-clockwise direction.

 The path of these planets is either circular or elliptical.

 All these planets are very small in size and mass when compared to the
Sun.

 The Sun comprises about 98% of the Solar System.

 The distribution of angular momentum in the Solar System is of special

type. According to the law of conservation of angular momentum the total
angular momentum, of an isolated system remains constant. It means that
if any body is rotating, the total amount of its angular momentum will
always remain constant unless an external force is applied on the rotating
body. Angular momentum is the product of the mass, angular velocity and
the square of the radius of the rotating body. The distribution of the angular
momentum in the Solar System is not same.
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It is very interesting to know when we compare the angular momentum of the
Sun with the angular momentum of other planets, we can observe that the Sun
contains only 1.7% of the total angular momentum (Table 1.3.1). The remaining
98.3% of it constitutes the other planets of the Solar System. Contrary to it, the
Sun possesses 99.9 % of the total mass of the Solar System whereas the
planets contain only 0.1% of mass.
Table 1.3.1: Angular Momentum

Members of Solar System Angular Momemtum

Mercury 0.03
Venus 0.69
Earth 1.00
Mars 0.13
Jupiter 725.00
Saturn 294.00
Uranus 64.00
Neptune 95.00
Pluto 1.00
Sun 20.00
Sum of the Solar System 1200.85

1.3.3 Asteroids and Planeteroids

Asteroids are minor planets, especially those of the inner Solar System. The
larger ones are called planetoids. These terms have specifically been applied
to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disc of a
planet. There are millions of asteroids, many thought to be the shattered
remnant of planetesimal bodies within the young Sun’s nebula, which never
grew large enough to become planets. The large majority of known asteroids
lie in the belt between the orbits of the Mars and Jupiter. However, the other
orbital families exist with significant population including the near Earth
asteroids. Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra into
three groups namely C type (carbon group) S type (stony) and M type
(metallic). Only one asteroid 4 Vesta which has a relatively reflective surface is
normally visible to the naked eye only but in very dark skies and when it is in
favorable position.

1.4 ORIGIN OF EARTH AND SOLAR SYSTEM

From time to time various scientists have given their concepts, hypothesis and
theories in order to explain the origin and evolution of the Solar System. Such
views and concepts may be divided into two groups: religious concepts and
scientific concepts.

Religious concepts are discarded as they do not have logical and scientific
base. The scientific concepts are generally based on hard sciences divided
into two schools namely hot origin concepts and cold origin concepts.
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According to hot origin concept, the planets are believed to have been formed
from the matter which was either hot or was heated during the process of
origin of the planets. On the other hand, the school of the cold origin concept
explains the Solar System originated from the matter which was either initially
cold or always remained cold. On the basis of the number of heavenly bodies
involved in the origin of the Solar System and the Earth, the scientific concepts
are divided into three groups: Monistic concept – one star hypothesis, dualistic
concept (binary hypothesis) i.e. involving two Heavenly bodies, and Modern
concept.

1.4.1 Monistic Concept

Monistic concept (one star hypothesis) – According to this hypothesis, the
Solar System originated from one star due to the gradual evolutionary process.
The hypothesis of Kant, Laplace, Roche and Lockear comes under this
category.

1.4.1.1 Gaseous Hypothesis of Kant

The German philosopher, Kant, put forward his hypothesis in 1755 claiming
that his hypothesis was based on sound principles of Newton’s first law of
gravitation and rotatory motion. According to him, innumerable particles of
primordial matter were scattered in the universe. And, these particles started
colliding against each other due to gravitational attraction. As a result of this
collision, heat was generated. This changed the primordial matter from solid to
liquid and from liquid to gaseous state. Thus the original cold and motionless
cloud of matter became in due course a vast hot nebula and started rotating
around its axis and with continuous rise in the number of primordial particles,
the nebula expanded in size. Due to the continuous increase in size of nebula
the speed of rotation became so fast that the centrifugal force exceeded the
centripetal force. This created a bulge in the center of the gaseous mass.
When this bulge increased in size, the rings started forming one by one and
were separated from the middle part of the nebula and were thrown off due to
centrifugal force. The residual central mass became the Sun and rest of the
rings became the planets. By the repetition of the same process, the rings
were separated from the newly formed planets. And the material of each ring
condensed to form satellites of the concerned planets.

Critical analysis

1. Kant has not explained the source of the primordial matter.

2. Kant said that the particles of the primordial matter started colliding due to
gravitation energy. He has not explained how the source of energy which
caused motion of these particles (which were cold and motionless in initial
state) suddenly became active.

3. According to science of law of motion, the collision of the particles can

never generate rotatory motion.

4. Kant’s assumption that the speed of rotation of the nebula increased with
the increase in the size of the gaseous matter is also against the law of
science of law of motion.
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Fig.1.4 : The Nebular hypothesis describes how the Solar System formed from
a cloud of gas and dust into a disk with the Sun at the center. This
painting was made by an artist; it’s not an actual photograph of a
proto-planetary disk.

Conclusion

Though in the beginning, Kant’s hypothesis received appreciation on a large

scale. But, later it was disapproved as it was based on assumption and wrong
application of Newton’s law of gravitation and invalid concepts. But, then too,
we cannot overlook the fact that it was the first scientific attempt ever made to
solve the mystery of the origin of the Earth.

1.4.1.2 Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace

Kant had postulated his hypothesis before Laplace therefore got the advantage
of refining this Hypothesis by removing the inherent weak points and
inaccurate concepts of Kant’s hypothesis. Thus, we may consider the
Hypothesis of Laplace as the modified version of Kant’s hypothesis. Para
Laplace explained his concepts about the origin of Solar System and the Earth
in his book entitled “Exposition of the World Systems” in the year 1796.

According to him, a huge and hot gaseous matter called nebula existed in the
space which was continuously rotating on its axis (Fig. 1.4). This nebula was
losing heat from its outer surface due to the process of radiation and was thus
cooling and reducing in size and volume due to contraction on cooling. As the
size and volume of the nebula decreased, the velocity of rotatory motion began
to increase. It increased so much that the centrifugal force became greater
than the centripetal force. A state came when the centrifugal and the
gravitational pull became equal at the equatorial bulge which made it
weightless. As a result, the rings started detaching i.e. separating from the
equatorial bulge of the contracting nebula. The outer rings (layers) thus started
separating from the nebula one by one. Each ring condensed at a point in the
form of gaseous accumulation and started rotating around the nebula. This
gaseous mass later cooled and formed as the planets. The remaining part of
nebula thus became the Sun and the nine rings became the planets. The
satellites were also formed by repetition of the aforesaid process. From this
18 we can conclude that Laplace considered that the Solar System as well as the
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planets are all originated from the same source.

This hypothesis is of great importance. The rings revolving around Saturn is an

excellent example that supports the Laplace’s hypothesis. Besides this, there
are many nebulas existing in the Universe which supports his view. When the
diameter of the revolving mass reduces, its speed of rotation increases. This
view of Laplace is in accordance with the laws of motion science. The
presence of the same kind of elements in the formation of planets also proves
his views right. According to Laplace, all planets have been formed due to
cooling of the gaseous mass. The upper layer of this gaseous mass became
solid but the inner part is still in liquid state. The liquid lava erupting from the
volcanoes supports his hypothesis. It is for this reason that this hypothesis
commanded respect for more than fifty years. But as there are two sides of a
coin, this hypothesis also has its demerits.

Critical analysis

1. Laplace assumed that there existed a hot rotating nebula in the space.
But he did not explain the source of origin of nebula and the source from
where it received heat and rotation.

2. Laplace did not explain why only nine rings came out from the irregular
ring detached from the nebula and why not more or less rings.

3. If the planets have been formed from the rotating nebula then the part of
the nebula i.e. Sun should rotate at the highest speed due to decrease in
size but it is not so.

4. Critics feel that if the Sun is the remaining part of the nebula, it should
have a bulge in the middle, but it is not so.

5. According to Laplace’s hypothesis, all satellites should revolve in the

direction of their father planet but it is not so as planets like Saturn and
Jupiter revolve in the opposite direction of their father planets.

6. If we accept Laplace’s view that planets were formed from the nebula
then the planets would have been in liquid state in the initial state and
hence would not have been able to rotate around the Sun. Only a solid
matter can rotate or revolve along or near the circular path without losing
its shape.

7. The British physicist James Clark Maxwell and Sir James Jeans showed
that the mass of the rings was not enough to provide the gravitational
attraction to form individual planets.

8. According to S.W. Wooldridge and R.S. Morgan, the small degree of

cohesion between the particles of nebula would make the formation of
ring a continuous not an intermittent process.

SAQ 2
a) Write some differences between inner and outer planets?
Spend
b) Where do Asteroids lie? Name the three groups of asteroids.
5 mins 19
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1.4.2 Dualistic Concept
According to dualistic concept (binary hypothesis), the Solar System originated
from two stars. The hypothesis of James Jeans, Chamberlain and Molten,
Weitzacker’s, and Russell comes under this category.

1.4.2.1 The Planetesimal hypothesis of Chamberlin and Moulton

T.C. Chamberlin, a geologist, in collaboration with Forest Ray Moulton an
astronomer, postulated a hypothesis known as ‘Planetesimal hypothesis’.
According to this hypothesis, the planets originated form Planetesimals. They
believed that two big stars i.e. the Sun and a companion star, existed in the
universe in the initial stage. The Sun was much bigger than the present Sun
and was made of very small particles which were cold and solid. The
companion star was moving on its path and while doing so, it came closer to
the Sun, and due to the gravitational pull exerted by the star, solar tide accrued
and a large number of particles got detached from the outer layer of the Sun.
They termed these particles as Planetesimals.

These Planetesimals could not combine with the moving star because by the
time they reached it the star had moved ahead on its path and vanished in the
space. These Planetesimals were attracted by the proto Sun and started
revolving around the Sun. These Planetesimals were of different sizes. The
bigger Planetesimals served as the nucleus and attracted the smaller
Planetesimals towards them. Gradually the bigger Planetesimals became
bigger and became the present planets.

Critical analysis

1. Jeffrey has criticized this hypothesis saying that such big planets cannot
be formed by the material ejected from the Sun.

2. The assumption that the increase in the size of the nucleus due to
collision of the Planetesimals is not trustworthy.

1.4.2.2 Tidal hypothesis of James Jeans and Jeffrey

It was Sir James who propounded the tidal hypothesis to explain the origin of
the Earth in 1919. Later on Harold Jeffery made some suggestions by inclusion
of which, the hypothesis became more relevant and significant. According to
this hypothesis, the Sun existed as a big mass of gas rotating around its own
axis in the universe. Besides the Sun, there existed one more star called the
intruding star which was many times bigger than the Sun.

As this star neared the Sun, tides started occurring on the outer surface of the
Sun due to gravitational pull exerted by this star. When this intruding star came
at its closest point to the Sun the height and the size of the tides increased. As
a result, huge amount of matter was ejected from the Sun and a cigar shaped
tide filament which was thousands of kilometers in length was created. James
Jeans named this ejected cigar shaped matter a filament as it was thicker in
the center and thinner at the ends. This filament got separated from the Sun
and then came closer to the intruding star but by then the star moved ahead on
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Therefore, this filament could neither unite with the Sun nor with the star. This
filament then started revolving the Sun due to the effect of gravitation. Due to
the gravitational pull and condensation, knots started forming from the liquid
matter of the filament. The knotted filament then condensed and formed
different planets. Due to the tidal effect, the filament remained thicker in the
center and thinner at the ends. Hence the planets formed by this filament are
bigger in the center and smaller at the sides.

Characteristics of this Hypothesis

1. If we arrange all the planets in a line, we will see that the bigger planets lie
in the center and the smaller at the end. This cigar shaped arrangement
supports his hypothesis.

2. The other characteristics of James hypothesis, that the

arrangement of the satellites too is cigar shaped, again supports his
hypothesis.

3. The smaller planets comparatively took less time to cool, hence these
planets either have very less or no satellite at all. The bigger planets
remained hot for a longer period, hence they have more satellites.

4. In this hypothesis, it was assumed that all planets originated from the
separated filament of the Sun. All planets are made of the same matter
which again supports this hypothesis.

5. This hypothesis successfully justifies the fact that all the planets were
formed at the same time.

Critical analysis

1. According to the critics like Delevin, in the distance between different

stars in the universe is very big. Hence there is a remote possibility of the
star coming so close to the Sun that it can be affected by the gravitational
force of the Sun.

2. According to Russell, there is no possibility that such a huge amount of

material of filament could have come out of the Sun to form planets at
such a greater distance.

3. Some scientists are of the view that planets cannot be formed due to the
cooling of the gaseous filament. They instead feel that the gaseous
filament might have disappeared in the universe due to the prevalence of
extremely high temperature values.

4. Many astrophysicists are of the view that the angular momentum imparted
by the star to the planet was not high enough to match the existing
angular momentum of the planets of our Solar System.

1.4.2.3 Binary Star Hypothesis of Russell

Russell was of the view that there were two stars near the primitive Sun.
These are known as the companion star and the approaching star. The
companion star was revolving around the Sun. Later on, the approaching star
came near the companion star and it too started revolving. The direction of the 21
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star was opposite to that of the companion star. Russell assumed that there
might have been a distance of 45 to 65 lakh kilometers between the stars. So,
the approaching star might have been at a far greater distance from the Sun
than the companion star. Hence, there would have been no effect of the tidal
force of the approaching star on the Sun. But the companion star would have
certainly been attracted toward the approaching star because of the massive
gravitational force. As these two stars came closer, the gravitational and tidal
force between them increased which created a bulge on the outer surface of
the companion star. When the approaching star, came near the companion
star huge amount of matter was ejected from it due to the gravitational force
exerted by the approaching star. The ejected matter started revolving in the
direction of the approaching star i.e. in the opposite direction of the revolution
of the companion star. The planets were formed from this ejected matter of the
companion star and the satellites were formed from the ejected mater from the
planets due to the mutual attraction.

Critical analysis

1. Russell has explained the formation of the planets from the ejected matter
of the companion star but he has not explained as to what happened to
the remaining portion of the companion star.

2. He did not explain why the planets started revolving around the Sun after
the giant approaching star moved ahead on its path.

SAQ 3
Why James Jens did called the ejected matter cigar shaped?
Spend
5 mins 1.4.3 Modern Concept
1.4.3.1 The Nova Hypothesis of Hoyle and Littleton
The two mathematicians named F. Foyle and Littleton of the Cambridge
University presented their theory known as Super Nova hypothesis in the year
1946. Their hypothesis was based on nuclear physics. Energy which is
emitted by any star in the form of light heat etc. is generated by the process
known as nuclear fusion. According to them, the heavy elements played
important part in the formation of planets. These heavy elements are formed
when atoms of lighter elements combined under intense heat and pressure
released vast amount of energy. These heavy elements constitute 90% of the
total mass of the planets. The main constituent in the formation of the stars is
hydrogen. The planets on the other hand have less than 1% hydrogen. The
scientists F. Foyle and Littleton showed that the heavy elements originate even
due to the burning of hydrogen. But an ordinary star like Sun can only form an
element like helium. The formation of the heavy elements is possible only if the
burning of hydrogen takes place at high temperature. Such high temperature is
available only in supernova stars. A star becomes supernova star when it is left
with very less hydrogen which is not enough to burn. Hydrogen is the source
22 energy which gets converted into helium and generates energy. In the case of
Unit 1 Origin of Earth
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scarcity of hydrogen, the star has to shrink in order to produce energy. The
speed of rotation of the star increases when it shrinks. The force at the center
increases due to high rotational speed. As a result, the star throws out first the
lighter matter and then the heavy elements. The formation of the heavy
elements in the Universe is possible in this state only. The cosmic light which
is many lakh times more than the light of Sun is visible in the center after the
heavy metals are thrown at a distance. These stars with such huge light are
termed as nova. According to these scientists, the planets have been formed
due to the explosion of one super nova star. The explosion of the super nova
star generated intense heat equivalent to 5x10 -9 degree celsius which was
sufficient enough to start the process of the nuclear fusion. According to them,
the two stars present there were the Sun and the super nova star. The
distance between these two stars was the same as the distance between the
Sun and Jupiter. The explosion of the super nova generated intense heat and
pressure from which the primitive Earth was made. Thus, the planets of our
Solar System were formed due to the condensation of the matter of the disc
form of the matter thrown out of the matter by super nova due to its explosion.

Critical analysis

1. This hypothesis does not support the origin of the pair of stars.

2. It fails to explain the peculiar arrangement of the planets on the basis of

their direction of rotation, their size, plain of revolution, path of the planets
and the lighter constituent elements of the planets of the outer circle of our
Solar System.

1.4.3.2 The Big Bang Hypothesis

This theory was postulated by Limaitre in 1950-60 and validated in 1972.
According to this theory, all matter in the universe existed in the form of dense
and huge primordial matter. As violent explosion took place in this primordial
matter. As a result of which the dust particles present in this matter were
scattered in the Universe and formed the present Universe. Based on the new
facts of evolution progression of hoyel also theorized the origin of the Universe.

Two Indian scientists namely Govind Swaroop and Vijay Kapahi of Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research (TIFR) are also working on this principle of big bang
theory. In their view, the Universe originated about 20 billion years ago from the
explosion of the big ball of fire which has been formed by the ejected matter of
primordial matter. In USA, a model has been prepared to generate the
conditions of the big bang theory. The scientists of Berkeley University have
used helium balloons to study the micro wave radiation and have supported
the big bang hypothesis. Experiment is being carried out by more than 5000
scientists at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN in Geneva).
These scientists are busy in carrying out research work to generate the
condition of huge explosion.

1.4.3.3 Cepheid Hypothesis of A.C. Banerjee

On seeing the star named Delta Cephei Benerjee was inspired to postulate his
theory about the origin of Solar System in the year 1942. According to him,
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some stars in the Universe keep contracting and expanding – This process is
called pulsation of stars, and the stars undergoing this process are called
Cepheid variable. The group of stars in the universe also contains such stars.
The brightness of these stars continuously keep changing. Such systematic
change in the light of these stars is the result of the process of contraction and
expansion. Once an intruding star happened to pass closer to such Cepheid
star, the pulsation in the Cepheid star increased due to the gravitational
attraction of the intruding star. As a result, the intruding star attracted
enormous amount of the matter of the Cepheid star towards itself. The
condensation of this matter forced the planets, the residual part became the
Sun. The planet started revolving around the Sun. The intruding star had by
then moved far away on its path.

Besides these theories, there are some more theories which have been
recently postulated. Among them, a few significant ones are listed below:

- Rossgunn’s rotational and tidal hypothesis

- Kuiper’s hypothesis (1949)
- Fosenkov’s globule concept
- Voitkevich’s proto planetary
- Chondrule’s concept (1971)
- Jupiter Sun binary system hypothesis of E.M. Drobyshvski

1.5 SUMMARY
Thus, in this unit, you have learnt the following concepts and key themes
regarding origin of the Earth in totality:

 Our Solar System consists of a star of average size and luminosity

known as the Sun and the planets, their satellites, numerous comets,
asteroids, meteoroits and the interplanetary medium etc.

 The planets, most of the satellites and the asteroids revolve around the
Sun in the same direction (counter-clockwise), in nearly circular orbits
(ellipses but close to circles). When we look down from above the Sun’s
North Pole, the planets seem to be orbiting in a counter-clockwise
direction.

 You have learnt that a new class of dwarf planets was added in 2006.
Such planets are confined mostly in the Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt
as well.

 Furthermore, the planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane called
the ecliptic. Scientiest same time calls Pluto as a special dwarf planet in
that, and its orbit is the most highly inclined (18 degrees) and the most
highly elliptical of all the planets. The Sun contains 99.85% of all the
matter in the Solar System.

 You have also learnt that the planets which condensed out of the same
disk of material that formed the Sun contain only 0.13 % of the mass of
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Unit 1 Origin of Earth
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the Solar System. Jupiter contains more than twice the matter of all the
other planets combined.

 The four primary terrestrial worlds are the innermost planets in the Solar
System. These are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. There is an
additional 8 other terrestrial worlds; the Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede,
Callisto (the four Galilean moons), Titan (a moon of Saturn), Triton (a
moon of Neptune) and Pluto. They are called terrestrial because they
have a compact, rocky surface like the Earth’s and are spherical in shape.
The other moons are not spherical and are more asteroid-like (i.e.
irregular). Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan have significant atmospheres, the
rest have little to zero.

 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are known as the Jovian (Jupiter-
like) planets, because they are all similar in size and structure, i.e.
gigantic compared with Earth and having a non-solid, gaseous nature.
The Jovian planets are also referred to as the gas giants. Although, all of
them might have small semi-solid cores below their thick atmospheres. A
planet revolves around the Sun. A moon or satellite revolves around a
planet.

 The term planet or moon is not selected by mass or size of the body (for
example, Titan, a moon of Saturn, is bigger than Mercury). The period of
revolution of a planet is determined by timing and astrometry (the science
of measuring stellar and planetary positions). Periods of rotation are
determined by timing surface features, timing clouds or atmospheric
features, reflected sunlight (light curves) or Doppler radar measurements
of planet limb.

You have learnt and noted that timing of atmospheric features reveals that
Jovian planets have differential rotation (meaning their equators rotate faster
than the pole regions, i.e. the planet is not solid). Information about the planets
is obtained by:

 photometry > temperatures, surface features, albedo

 spectroscopy -> chemical composition

 radar mapping -> surface topology

 space probes -> analyze, survey, sample, magnetic fields

 Solar System Formation:

You have also learnt that any model of Solar System formation must explain
the following facts:

 All the orbits of the planets are prograde (i.e. if seen from above the North
pole of the Sun they all revolve in a counter-clockwise direction).

 All the planets have orbital planes that are inclined by less than 6 degrees
with respect to each other (i.e. all in the same plane).

 All the planets have low eccentricities.

 All planets have prograde rotation except Venus and Uranus.

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1.6 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Write five characteristics of the Solar System.
2. Give a critical analyses of nebular hypothesis of the Laplace.
3. Write a short note on Cepheid hypothesis of A.C. Banerjee.

1.7 ANSWERS
Self-Assessment Questions
1. a) Earth’s revolution is the complete orbit of the Sun by the Earth.
This is called a year and takes 365.25 days to complete.

b) The change in seasons is caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis to the
plane of its orbit, making an angle of c.66.5°. When the northern end
of the Earth’s axis is tilted towards the Sun, the most direct rays of
sunlight fall in the Northern Hemisphere. This causes its summer
season.

2. a) The inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called
Terrestrial planets. The outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune are called Giant or Jovian planets.

b) Asteroids lie in the belt between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter.
The three groups of Asteroids are carbon group, stony and metallic.

3. The ejected matter filament is thicker in the center and thinner at the end.

Terminal Questions
1. Refer sec. 1.3 for answering the five characteristics of Solar System
precisely.

2. Refer Sub-sec. 1.4.1 for critically analyzing the nebular hypothesis

correctly.

3. Refer Sub-sec. 1.4.2 to mention the key idea of Cepheid hypothesis.

1.8 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

1. Hess, D. (2012). Physical Geography, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.

2. Lutgens, F.K. and Edward, J.T. (2015). Foundation of Earth Science.

Pearson Education, Inc., Noida, India.

3. Singh, S. (2012). Physical Geography. Prayag Pustak Bhawan,

Allahabad.

4. Strahler, A. N. and Strahler, A. M. (2006). Modern Physical Geography.

Cambridge Publications, New Delhi.

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