Heavenly collisions
Sir, — G. K. Murrow apparently does not realise that conditions in the early stages of formation of the solar system were very different from those in which matter behaves as he describes. A great deal of technical information has recently become available to scientists from the various satellite missions. This information shows up major faults in all the earlier theories of planetary and asteroid formation. While it does explain some features of the asteroids, the planetary collision hypothesis has several major problems. The two most severe are: (1) It is not possible to break up a large body and produce
meteorites of the observed chemical, physical, and geological properties. (2) The total mass of all the asteroids is only one-twentieth that of our moon. There is not enough matter in asteroids to have ever formed a larger object.— Yours, etc..
GERRY GILMORE. August 25, 1977.
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Press, 29 August 1977, Page 16
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147Heavenly collisions Press, 29 August 1977, Page 16
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