Aether and Gravitation

by William George Hooper

Of course with a frictionless and non-atomic Aether such a result would be an impossibility, but with our conception of an atomic and gravitative Aether the result is now attainable. We have therefore to think of the sun, the centre of the solar system, being an electrified body, and for illustration we will suppose it to be a positively charged body.

All around the sun is the atomic Aether, which is polarized in the same way that the particles of air were polarized; that is, the two kinds of electricities in the aetherial atom are separated, the negative being on that side nearest to the sun, and the positive on the side further away. In this way the whole aetherial medium would be polarized, and any body in the field would be electrified by induction, with the result that the side nearest the sun would be negatively charged, and the opposite side positively charged.

Thus let S (Figs. 10 and 11) be the sun, and the circles represent equipotential surfaces, then one half of every surface would be negatively electrified and the other half positively electrified, that is, assuming the sun to be a positively electrified body.

If M represents Mercury, V represents Venus, and E represents the Earth (Fig. 10), then it can readily be seen that all these would be negatively electrified on the side facing the sun; and, as they rotate on their axes, each part of the planet would be positively and negatively electrified once each day.

We are assuming that the medium is at rest, but according to our conception in [Art. 44], all the aetherial atoms are in rotation on their axes, in the same way that the earth rotates on its axis, so that each of these aetherial atoms would present different parts of its surface to the sun as it rotates on its axis; but, as that does not affect the principle of induction, such a fact need not now be fully considered.

Let us now ask, What is the result of all the planets becoming electrified bodies in the same way that the sun is an electrified body? Arguing from experience, we come to the conclusion that each planet must also possess its electric field, which also must have its lines of force, its different potentials at different distances, and its equipotential surfaces. So that Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have their electric fields, with their own lines of force, and with their equipotential surfaces.

If we carry the analogy further still, then it can also be proved that the Earth, and those planets which have moons or satellites, also act inductively on their satellites, with the result that they too become electrified bodies, with their own smaller electric fields and lines of force. This may seem at first sight a little confusing, but the confusion will gradually disappear if we will look at it carefully for a moment or two. Let us endeavour to picture the solar system from this new standpoint, and map out the equipotential surfaces, which this idea suggests. Let S represent the sun (Fig. 14), the initials of all the planets and satellites representing the various planets; then we get the following plan of the solar system with the various equipotential surfaces shown by the circular lines.

We are now supposed to be looking down on all the solar system from above it, so to speak, so that we should be looking at what we call the North Poles of the sun and planets.

Thus we see that the equipotential surfaces around the sun are huge circles which stretch out as far as Neptune or even beyond, but within those circles we find each of the planets revolving round the sun, each with its own equipotential spheres, which are circles also, while around the various planets are the satellites, from the moon of our Earth, to the two satellites of Mars, five of Jupiter, eight of Saturn, each with its own lines of force and electric fields.