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Re: Old Astronomy Textbook



On 2/21/02 12:38 AM, Michael Porter wrote:

I also recall hearing (can't remember where) that just as the theory for
planetary system formation was losing ground, one of the spiral galaxies
exhibited a nova (or supernova?), which scientists of the time thought was
the central star for the planetary system lighting up. It set back the
"island universe" theory for a while.

Okay, I found my copy of "The Red Limit," by Timothy Ferris. The whirlpool
model was advanced by Pierre-Simon Laplace in 1796, it seemed confirmed when
the light of a supernova from the Andromeda galaxy reached the Earth in
1885.

Mike

--
Michael Porter
Colonel By Secondary School
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada