The Chamberlin–Moulton planetesimal hypothesis was proposed in 1905 by geologist

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin (; September 25, 1843 – November 15, 1928) was an American geologist and educator. In 1893 he founded the '' Journal of Geology'', of which he was editor for many years. Biography Chamberlin was born September 25, 18 ...

and astronomer

Forest Ray Moulton Forest Ray Moulton (April 29, 1872 – December 7, 1952) was an American astronomer. Biography He was born in Le Roy, Michigan, and was educated at Albion College. After graduating in 1894 (Bachelor of Arts, A.B.), he performed his graduate s ...

to describe the formation of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

. It was proposed as a replacement for the

Laplacian In mathematics, the Laplace operator or Laplacian is a differential operator given by the divergence of the gradient of a scalar function on Euclidean space. It is usually denoted by the symbols \nabla\cdot\nabla, \nabla^2 (where \nabla is the ...

version of the

nebular hypothesis The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests the Solar System is formed from gas and dust orbitin ...

that had prevailed since the 19th century. The hypothesis was based on the idea that a star passed close enough to the sun early in its life to cause tidal bulges to form on its surface, which along with the internal process that leads to

solar prominence A prominence, sometimes referred to as a filament, is a large plasma and magnetic field structure extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outw ...

s, caused material to be ejected repeatedly from the sun. Due to the gravitational effects of the passing star, two spiral-like arms would have extended from the sun, and while most of the material would have fallen back, part of it would remain in orbit. This orbiting material would cool and condense into numerous small bodies that they termed

planetesimal Planetesimals are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and debris disks. Per the Chamberlin–Moulton planetesimal hypothesis, they are believed to form out of cosmic dust grains. Believed to have formed in the Solar System a ...

s and a few larger

protoplanet A protoplanet is a large planetary embryo that originated within a protoplanetary disc and has undergone internal melting to produce a differentiated interior. Protoplanets are thought to form out of kilometer-sized planetesimals that gravitation ...

s. Their theory proposed that as these objects collided over time, the planets and their moons were built up, with

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s and

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s being the leftover debris. The "spiral nebulae" photographed at

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...

were thought to possibly be views of other suns undergoing this process. These nebulae are now known to be

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

rather than developing solar systems. In 1917,

James Hopwood Jeans Sir James Hopwood Jeans (11 September 187716 September 1946) was an English physicist, astronomer and mathematician. Early life Born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, the son of William Tulloch Jeans, a parliamentary correspondent and author. Jeans was ...

argued that only a very close approach of a second star was necessary to eject material, instead of requiring solar prominences. In 1939,

Lyman Spitzer Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research into star formation, plasma physics, and in 1946, conceived the idea of telescop ...

showed that a column of material drawn out from the sun would dissipate rather than condense. By this time the theory had mostly fallen out of favor, and in the 1940s, the work of

Henry Norris Russell Henry Norris Russell ForMemRS HFRSE FRAS (October 25, 1877 – February 18, 1957) was an American astronomer who, along with Ejnar Hertzsprung, developed the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (1910). In 1923, working with Frederick Saunders, he deve ...

showed that if the solar material had been pulled away from the sun with the force necessary to account for the angular momentum of Jupiter, the material would have continued out of the solar system entirely. Though the Chamberlin–Moulton hypothesis is no longer accepted, the idea of planetesimals remains in modern theory.

References

Lankford, John (1997). ''History of Astronomy, an Encyclopedia''. Garland Publishing, Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlin-Moulton planetesimal hypothesis Planetary science