Laplace (1749-1827 and Lagrange

 

Lagrange (1736-1813) analysed the Moon’s motion relative to the Earth. He showed that at some points there is a stable balance between them. (This is to be expected when two bodies rotate with the semi-solid dark matter). Another Frenchman, Laplace (1749-1827) applied the idea of gravitation to the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, showing that they vary with a periodicity of 926 years. (Again the two moving slowly in dark matter better explains this slow wobble.) Laplace, suggested that the planetary systems may have condensed out of a huge gaseous nebula. Like Jupiter and Saturn, the movement of Uranus predicted the existence of Neptune and Pluto (but the movement of dark matter was not discounted). Indeed the orbit of mercury varies on each and every circuit. Dozens of new moons around these planets have recently been discovered[i].

 


 

[i] Nature, volume 412/ 12th July 2001, p.133. “Dozens of new moons around these planets have recently been discovered. Saturn has 30 moons, Jupiter 28, Uranus 21, and Neptune has 8. A dozen new kilometre sized satellites were gleaned from observations of Saturn. These discoveries came from ground-based instruments, complementing spacecraft measurements that could not efficiently search for satellites more remote to the planet. Around Saturn are both prograde and retrograde orbits. Retrograde moons circle anticlockwise, and prograde moons circle clockwise. The mechanism of satellite capture remains an outstanding problem in planetary science.”