DAILY CLASS NOTES

Physical Geography

Lecture - 01
Origin of Earth
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Origin of Earth

❖ Nebular Hypothesis:

➢ Kant's theory was revised in 1976 by Laplace. He mentioned that the Hot Nebula
was already present, and this nebula was actively undergoing significant rotational
motion.
➢ The centre of the nebulae had high heat but as one moved away from the centre
the impact of heat would be less and there would be heat loss.
✓ The centre had high heat content, it had an expanded size which slowed down
the rate of velocity. But as it moved away from the centre, the outer surface
had less heat, it would get contracted and the velocity increased.

▪ This resulted in the formation of 9 rings out of the nebulae and the centre
remained as the sun.

➢ According to the nebular hypothesis, the Sun was encircled by a solar nebula made
up primarily of hydrogen and helium, as well as dust.
➢ Criticism:
✓ The nebula hypothesis does not explain the origins of nebulae.
✓ The nebula hypothesis fails to account for the sources of heat and motion
observed in nebulae.
✓ Despite the expectation that planets and satellites should rotate in alignment
with the original direction of the nebula, this is not consistently observed.
✓ How it was made of 9 rings?

Note:
❖ Angular momentum is conserved in a closed system, meaning the total angular
momentum remains constant unless acted upon by an external torque.

❖ Planetesimal Hypothesis:

➢ It was given by Chamberlain and Moulton. According to this theory, there was an
underdeveloped sun (Proto Sun), and one Intruding sun which was randomly
moving.
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➢ During the proximity of the Proto Sun and

the Intruding Sun, a gravitational pull ensued
between the two celestial bodies.
➢ Uncountable small particles initiated a
movement away from the Proto Sun as the
gravitational force directed them toward the
approaching Intruding Sun.
➢ The gravitational influence was more
pronounced on larger particles, leading to collisions with smaller particles in a
phenomenon known as Accretion.
➢ Through the Accretion process, these particles combined and formed planets.
Subsequently, the Proto Sun transformed into a Sun, and the newly formed planets
began orbiting around it.
➢ Criticism:

✓ Cause of the intruding star to come close to the Proto-Sun.

✓ How nine planets were made?

✓ How did the Proto-sun become the sun?

✓ Why planets were arranged perfectly?

❖ Tidal Hypothesis:

➢ It was given by James Jeans

and Harold Jeffrey. During
the proximity of the Proto
Sun and the Intruding Sun, a
gravitational pull ensued
between the two celestial
bodies.
➢ The gravitational interaction
between two stars led to the creation of our solar system. Hot gas tides emerged
on the primitive sun when intruding stars passed in close proximity.
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➢ During the closest approach of the intruding star throughout its entire journey,
cigar-shaped hot gaseous particles were detached from the proto sun, and this
started to cool down.
✓ Cooling leads to contraction and because of contraction solidification will occur.
After solidification, Planets were formed.
➢ Tri-Hybrid Modification:
✓ According to Jefferey, there were three
suns- Proto Sun, Companion Star, and
Intruding Sun.
▪ Intruding stars collide with companion
stars, and then dust and debris are
generated from companion stars, and
this debris revolves around the Proto Sun
(Debris of diverse particle sizes undergo
attraction, initiating the process known as Accretion, eventually leading to
the formation of planets that revolve around the proto-sun).
➢ Criticism:
✓ The chances of intruding stars are low due to the vast distances separating
them.
✓ Jean Jeffrey provided limited details regarding the intruding star and its origin.
❖ Russel’s Binary Star Hypothesis:
➢ According to this theory, there was a Proto sun, Companion star, and Intruding
star.
➢ Starting the intrusion will exert a gravitational pull on the companion star, and
then more particles are ejected from the companion star.
✓ This would be called ejected
material, and both have
different motions, then this
ejected material will get angular
momentum and later on, this
will start revolving around the
Proto Sun.
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✓ The gravitational pull of an Intrusive star is greater than the Gravitational pull
of a Companion star.
➢ Criticism:
✓ If the planets were formed from Companion stars, then why do they revolve
around the proto-sun?
✓ Every planet, and direction of movement should be the same, then what about
Venus and Uranus?
✓ What happened to the intruding star?
✓ How planets were formed?
❖ Hoyle Supernova Hypothesis:
➢ The sun was originally part of a
binary system, paired with
another star. The companion
star underwent a supernova
explosion (after hydrogen gas
gets exhausted) caused by
nuclear processes, transforming
lighter elements into heavier
ones.
➢ The explosion generated a cloud of incandescent gasses called the "Supernova stage."
Despite the nucleus receding into the distance, the sun's gravitational force retained
the gaseous cloud and the remaining stellar material, preventing their dispersal.
➢ These particles, including iron, play a crucial role in the formation of celestial bodies
such as the planets, and satellites. The celestial bodies are believed to have originated
from the remnants of these supernova-produced elements.

Note:

❖ According to Chandrashekhar, if any star’s mass is greater than 1.44 times the mass

of the sun, then the stages are like - The star will go into a stage that is called the

Red supergiant phase. Then it will form the Black hole, and be associated with an

explosion that is a supernova explosion.

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Schmidt Interstellar:

❖ Otto Schmidt proposed this hypothesis in 1943. According to the theory, when the

Sun passed near the Milky Way, gaseous clouds and dust particles were attracted by

the Sun's gravitational force, orbiting around it.

❖ Initially, gas and dust particles moved separately in a disorganized manner. The dust,

present in larger quantities, condensed into a flat plate, forming planets and satellites

through multiple stages of condensation.

❖ The hypothesis suggests that dark matter in the universe exists in the form of gas and

dust clouds, possibly originating from meteors and stars.

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