Abstract
IN the Astrophysical Journal for November, 1901, is printed a paper of mine in the first part of which a method is proposed for determining the mean temperatures of the atmospheres of the planets and those of their surfaces. In the second part of the paper an attempt was made with the use of these temperatures to determine the composition of the atmospheres of the planets by the “empiric” method proposed by Dr. Johnstone Stoney and based on the supposition that helium escapes from the earth's atmosphere. The most probable velocity of the molecules of helium is 1093 metres per second at 15° C. (the mean temperature of the earth's surface), and the velocity sufficient to overcome the earth's attraction is 11,170 metres per second. Hence it has been inferred that a gas escapes from the surface of the planet, if the most probable velocity of its molecules is 10.22 times less than that required to overcome the planet's attraction.
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ROGOVSKY, E. Kinetic Theory of Planetary Atmospheres. Nature 66, 222 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/066222d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/066222d0
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