Abstract
IN connexion with a theory on the constitution and development of stellar systems, I have recently directed attention1 to the significance of the great difference in temperature between the interstellar gas and solid interstellar particles as an explanation of the origin and growth of meteoric particles. If we assume with Sir Arthur Eddington2 a temperature of 10,000° for the interstellar gas and, on account of the low energy density, a temperature of about 3° for solid particles, the latter must be assumed to grow by the condensation of sublimed matter on their surface. This conclusion is in accordance with the conclusions drawn by I. Langmuir3 concerning the nature of the process of condensation of metallic vapours on solids. In the present case, the energy of impact of atoms on the surface of the particle will be rapidly radiated into space, or perhaps to some small extent transformed into sub-atomic energy, so that the particle remains cold. We assume that the interstellar gas actually contains all the elements in about the proportions formed in the earth's crust and in the sun, and that the apparent predominance of calcium and sodium is due to the easy accessibility of very strong spectral lines due to these elements, namely, the H and K lines and the D line. For atomic weight 50, the temperature 10,000° gives a mean speed of the atoms of 2 km. per sec., and assuming a density of 5 for the solid particles formed, we readily obtain the formula
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LINDBLAD, B. A Condensation Theory of Meteoric Matter and its Cosmological Significance. Nature 135, 133–135 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135133a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135133a0