Page:The Solar System - Six Lectures - Lowell.djvu/144



Faye's equation holds only when α and β are functions of r as well as of t. It, therefore, fails to give a good representation of what occurs throughout at a given moment. Furthermore, the equations do not hold up to the axis of y, as a discontinuity occurs so soon as we enter the central mass.

A better picture is the following, somewhat changed from Ligondés. As the matter gets drawn into the central mass, the attraction at the outer parts of the original nebula grows less and less, therefore C sinks to F, and the successive curves of the attraction become OC, DD, EE, FF.

The velocities at different distances follow a similar law.

This shows, as Ligondés points out, that there