It has long been one of the arguments against a
molten interior of the earth that the sun's gravitational
influence would raise it in gigantic tides and rend the solid
shell of rock. It is even suspected now that our small earth is
not without a tidal influence on the sun. The comparatively near
approach of two suns would lead to a terrific cataclysm.
If we accept this theory, the origin of the spiral nebula becomes
intelligible. As the sun from which it is formed is already
rotating on its axis, we get a rotation of the nebula from the
first. The mass poured out from the body of the sun would, even
if it were only a small fraction of its mass, suffice to make a
planetary system; all our sun's planets and their satellites
taken together amount to only 1/100th of the mass of the solar
system. We may assume, further, that the outpoured matter would
be a mixed cloud of gases and solid and liquid particles; and
that it would stream out, possibly in successive waves, from more
than one part of the disrupted sun, tending to form great spiral
trails round the parent mass. Some astronomers even suggest that,
as there are tidal waves raised by the moon at opposite points of
the earth, similar tidal outbursts would occur at opposite points
on the disk of the disrupted star, and thus give rise to the
characteristic arms starting from opposite sides of the spiral
nebula.
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