The gravitation of matter directed to a centre, and attracting directly as the mass and inversely as the square of the distance, does not belong to it when considered in mass only; particle acts on particle according to the same law when at sensible distances from each other. If the sun acted on the centre of the earth, without attracting each of its particles, the tides would be very much greater than they now are, and would also, in other respects, be very different. The gravitation of the earth to the sun results from the gravitation of all its particles, which, in their turn, attract the sun in the ratio of their respective masses. There is a reciprocal action likewise between the earth and every particle at its surface. The earth and a feather mutually attract each other in the proportion of the mass of the earth to the mass of the feather. Were this not the case, and were any portion of the earth, however small, to attract another portion, and not be itself attracted, the centre of gravity of the earth would be moved in space by this action, which is impossible.
The forms of the planets result from the reciprocal attraction of their component particles. A detached fluid mass, if at rest, would assume the form of a sphere, from the reciprocal attraction of its particles. But if the mass revolve about an axis, it becomes flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator ([N. 11]), in consequence of the centrifugal force arising from the velocity of rotation ([N. 30]); for the centrifugal force diminishes the gravity of the particles at the equator, and equilibrium can only exist where these two forces are balanced by an increase of gravity. Therefore, as the attractive force is the same on all particles at equal distances from the centre of a sphere, the equatorial particles would recede from the centre, till their increase in number balance the centrifugal force by their attraction. Consequently, the sphere would become an oblate or flattened spheroid, and a fluid, partially or entirely covering a solid, as the ocean and atmosphere cover the earth, must assume that form in order to remain in equilibrio. The surface of the sea is, therefore, spheroidal, and the surface of the earth only deviates from that figure where it rises above or sinks below the level of the sea. But the deviation is so small, that it is unimportant when compared with the magnitude of the earth; for the mighty chain of the Andes, and the yet more lofty Himalaya, bear about the same proportion to the earth that a grain of sand does to a globe three feet in diameter. Such is the form of the earth and planets. The compression ([N. 31]) or flattening at their poles is, however, so small, that even Jupiter, whose rotation is the most rapid, and therefore the most elliptical of the planets, may, from his great distance, be regarded as spherical. Although the planets attract each other as if they were spheres, on account of their distances, yet the satellites ([N. 32]) are near enough to be sensibly affected in their motions by the forms of their primaries. The moon, for example, is so near the earth, that the reciprocal attraction between each of her particles, and each of the particles in the prominent mass at the terrestrial equator, occasions considerable disturbances in the motions of both bodies; for the action of the moon on the matter at the earth’s equator produces a nutation ([N. 33]) in the axis ([N. 34]) of rotation, and the reaction of that matter on the moon is the cause of a corresponding nutation in the lunar orbit ([N. 35]).
If a sphere at rest in space receive an impulse passing through its centre of gravity, all its parts will move with an equal velocity in a straight line; but, if the impulse does not pass through the centre of gravity, its particles, having unequal velocities, will have a rotatory or revolving motion, at the same time that it is translated ([N. 36]) in space. These motions are independent of one another; so that a contrary impulse, passing through its centre of gravity, will impede its progress, without interfering with its rotation. The sun rotates about an axis, and modern observations show that an impulse in a contrary direction has not been given to his centre of gravity, for he moves in space, accompanied by all those bodies which compose the solar system—a circumstance which in no way interferes with their relative motions; for, in consequence of the principle that force is proportional to velocity ([N. 37]), the reciprocal attractions of a system remain the same whether its centre of gravity be at rest, or moving uniformly in space. It is computed that, had the earth received its motion from a single impulse, that impulse must have passed through a point about twenty-five miles from its centre.
Since the motions of rotation and translation of the planets are independent of each other, though probably communicated by the same impulse, they form separate subjects of investigation.
SECTION II.
Elliptical Motion—Mean and True Motion—Equinoctial—Ecliptic—Equinoxes—Mean and True Longitude—Equation of Centre—Inclination of the Orbits of Planets—Celestial Latitude—Nodes—Elements of an Orbit—Undisturbed or Elliptical Orbits—Great Inclination of the Orbits of the New Planets—Universal Gravitation the Cause of Perturbations in the Motions of the Heavenly Bodies—Problem of the Three Bodies—Stability of Solar System depends upon the Primitive Momentum of the Bodies.
A planet moves in its elliptical orbit with a velocity varying every instant, in consequence of two forces, one tending to the centre of the sun, and the other in the direction of a tangent ([N. 38]) to its orbit, arising from the primitive impulse given at the time when it was launched into space. Should the force in the tangent cease, the planet would fall to the sun by its gravity. Were the sun not to attract it, the planet would fly off in the tangent. Thus, when the planet is at the point of its orbit farthest from the sun, his action overcomes the planet’s velocity, and brings it towards him with such an accelerated motion, that at last it overcomes the sun’s attraction, and, shooting past him, gradually decreases in velocity until it arrives at the most distant point, where the sun’s attraction again prevails ([N. 39]). In this motion the radii vectores ([N. 40]), or imaginary lines joining the centres of the sun and the planets, pass over equal areas or spaces in equal times ([N. 41]).
The mean distance of a planet from the sun is equal to half the major axis ([N. 42]) of its orbit: if, therefore, the planet described a circle ([N. 43]) round the sun at its mean distance, the motion would be uniform, and the periodic time unaltered, because the planet would arrive at the extremities of the major axis at the same instant, and would have the same velocity, whether it moved in the circular or elliptical orbit, since the curves coincide in these points. But in every other part the elliptical, or true motion ([N. 44]), would either be faster or slower than the circular or mean motion ([N. 45]). As it is necessary to have some fixed point in the heavens from whence to estimate these motions, the vernal equinox ([N. 46]) at a given epoch has been chosen. The equinoctial, which is a great circle traced in the starry heavens by the imaginary extension of the plane of the terrestrial equator, is intersected by the ecliptic, or apparent path of the sun, in two points diametrically opposite to one another, called the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The vernal equinox is the point through which the sun passes in going from the southern to the northern hemisphere; and the autumnal, that in which he crosses from the northern to the southern. The mean or circular motion of a body, estimated from the vernal equinox, is its mean longitude; and its elliptical, or true motion, reckoned from that point, is its true longitude ([N. 47]): both being estimated from west to east, the direction in which the bodies move. The difference between the two is called the equation of the centre ([N. 48]); which consequently vanishes at the apsides ([N. 49]), or extremities of the major axis, and is at its maximum ninety degrees ([N. 50]) distant from these points, or in quadratures ([N. 51]), where it measures the excentricity ([N. 52]) of the orbit; so that the place of the planet in its elliptical orbit is obtained by adding or subtracting the equation of the centre to or from its mean longitude.
The orbits of the principal planets have a very small obliquity or inclination ([N. 53]) to the plane of the ecliptic in which the earth moves; and, on that account, astronomers refer their motions to this plane at a given epoch as a known and fixed position. The angular distance of a planet from the plane of the ecliptic is its latitude ([N. 54]), which is south or north according as the planet is south or north of that plane. When the planet is in the plane of the ecliptic, its latitude is zero; it is then said to be in its nodes ([N. 55]). The ascending node is that point in the ecliptic through which the planet passes in going from the southern to the northern hemisphere. The descending node is a corresponding point in the plane of the ecliptic diametrically opposite to the other, through which the planet descends in going from the northern to the southern hemisphere. The longitude and latitude of a planet cannot be obtained by direct observation, but are deduced from observations made at the surface of the earth by a very simple computation. These two quantities, however, will not give the place of a planet in space. Its distance from the sun ([N. 56]) must also be known; and, for the complete determination of its elliptical motion, the nature and position of its orbit must be ascertained by observation. This depends upon seven quantities, called the elements of the orbit ([N. 57]). These are, the length of the major axis, and the excentricity, which determine the form of the orbit; the longitude of the planet when at its least distance from the sun, called the longitude of the perihelion; the inclination of the orbit to the plane of the ecliptic, and the longitude of its ascending node: these give the position of the orbit in space; but the periodic time, and the longitude of the planet at a given instant, called the longitude of the epoch, are necessary for finding the place of the body in its orbit at all times. A perfect knowledge of these seven elements is requisite for ascertaining all the circumstances of undisturbed elliptical motion. By such means it is found that the paths of the planets, when their mutual disturbances are omitted, are ellipses nearly approaching to circles, whose planes, slightly inclined to the ecliptic, cut it in straight lines, passing through the centre of the sun ([N. 58]). The orbits of the recently-discovered planets deviate more from the ecliptic than those of the ancient planets: that of Pallas, for instance, has an inclination of 34° 42ʹ 29·8ʺ to it; on which account it is more difficult to determine their motions.
Were the planets attracted by the sun only, they would always move in ellipses, invariable in form and position; and because his action is proportional to his mass, which is much larger than that of all the planets put together, the elliptical is the nearest approximation to their true motions. The true motions of the planets are extremely complicated, in consequence of their mutual attraction, so that they do not move in any known or symmetrical curve, but in paths now approaching to, now receding from, the elliptical form; and their radii vectores do not describe areas or spaces exactly proportional to the time, so that the areas become a test of disturbing forces.