Open AccessXIV. On the photographic spectra of some of the brighter stars
Publication year - 1893
Publication title -
philosophical transactions of the royal society of london. a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9231
pISSN - 0264-3820
DOI - 10.1098/rsta.1893.0014
Subject(s) - stars , meteorite , spectral line , astrophysics , physics , condensation , line (geometry) , astronomy , astrobiology , philosophy , mathematics , meteorology , geometry
In the Bakerian Lecture for 1888 I brought together the various observations of the spectra of stars, comets, and nebulae which had been made up to that time, and showed that the discussion suggested the hypothesis that all celestial bodies are, or have been, swarms of meteorites, and that the difference between them is one of condensation only. The new classification of the heavenly bodies according to their spectra, rendered necessary by this hypothesis, differed from previous ones inasmuch as the line of evolution followed, instead of locating the highest temperature at its commencement as demanded by Laplace's hypothesis, placed it much later. Hence bodies of increasing temperature were demanded as well as bodies of decreasing temperature. These conclusions were necessarily based on observations made by others, for the reason that my own work up to that time had been chiefly directed to the Sun.