15 
THE FORMATION OF THE SUN AND 
STARS. 
(Illustrated by the Lantern). 
By Rev. A. L. CORTIE , S.J., F.R.A.S. October 5th, 1915. 
The lecture opened with a review of certain aspects of the 
solar system. Astronomers have established the existence 
of several remarkable concords among the bodies of which 
the solar system is composed. It was pointed out that— 
(1) All the planets rotate on their axes in a counter- 
clock-wise direction 
(2) All the planets revolve round the sun in the same 
direction as the sun itself rotates 
(3) The orbits of the planets all lie in the same plane 
(4) The distances of the planets from the sun are in 
accord with a certain fixed formula known as 
Bode’s law. 
These concords, the lecturer argued, can scarcely be fortui- 
tous. They unify the solar system and strongly suggest that 
the bodies composing it belong to one family and perhaps 
have a common origin. 
With this in mind and with the aid of long exposure photo- 
graphs obtained by high-power telescopes, the audience was 
invited to survey the general stellar system. Attention was 
first directed to those blurred indeterminate patches of light 
known as nebulae and several photographic slides of great 
beauty were thrown upon the screen displaying their shape- 
less and filmy forms. These were followed b} photographs 
of similar nebulous masses clearly revealing the existence of 
a certain amount of central condensation or “ kernel.” Other 
slides shewed the nebulous areas with the “ kernel ” more 
clearly defined and of starlike luminosity and in some the 
existence of a distinctly spiral form in the nebulous mass 
itself was revealed, with the stars strung on the spirals like 
pearls on a string. As this appearance is general, the connec- 
tion between the stars and the nebulous spirals is probably 
physical and not purely optical. Further examples of stellar 
photography made it clear that in certain cases, series of 
stars and nebulous condensations take a spiral conformation 
when considered in relation to a well-defined and starlike 
centre. 
