The Recent Organization  of the Solar System by Patten & Windsor  ©1995 CHAPTER 9 Go to Main:  Patten Index

Cranking Up The Sun's Spin

The Composition of The Sun

The elements composing the Sun's photosphere - its visible surface, are as follows:

Factors in The Radiation of The Sun

When stars radiate at plasma-like temperatures, 10,000° F. and higher, their rate of radiation is governed by approximately the square of the electron count of each of its atoms. Over 98 per cent of the Sun's atoms are either hydrogen or helium, the two lightest elements. Hydrogen has one electron, and its square also is 1. Helium has two electrons and its square is 4.

The other ten elements (not including "other") are listed below with their electron count, the square of their electron count, and that element's role in solar radiation:

Table 1

The Role of the Various Elements in Solar Radiation

The Mixing of Aromas in "Hell's Kitchen"

As the Sun went into a nova, temperatures on the surface of Little Brother escalated to tens of thousands of degrees. Those vapors were pulled toward the "center of mass" of the Sun-Little Brother System.

If the Sun was 40 times as massive as Little Brother, that "center of mass" (the "barycenter") was one-fortieth of the distance between the Sun's center and Little Brother's core. That distance then would be 480,000 miles from the center of the Sun. The Sun's radius is 432,000 miles. Therefore at perihelion that "barycenter" between the two was just a few tens of thousands of miles beyond the Sun's edge.

The vast number of atoms comprising the plasma of the Sun tended to want to relocate there. So also did the vapors that were drawn away from Little Brother. In the process, when things settled down, Little Brother lost far more mass than it gained.

And what mass it gained were minor amounts of the Sun's hydrogen and helium. Simultaneously, the greater amount that Little Brother gave up, apparently, were vapors of oxygen, iron, silicon, carbon, sulphur, magnesium, etc. We don't know what elements were in the vapors that Little Brother gave up but these minor elements of the Sun provide a substantial clue.

Story 15 - A Stepped-Up Level of Solar Radiation

In capturing the aromas of Little Brother, the Sun increased its own ability to radiate. Despite the fact the hydrogen and helium comprise the vast majority of the Sun's ions, nevertheless, the Sun's ions of iron and oxygen compose a majority in its ability to radiate. The data in Table 1 indicates that iron and oxygen together account for 55% of its rate of radiation. Hydrogen and helium together compose a minority of only 15%. Ions of other minor elements account for 30%.

It would appear that Little Brother had (and has) both an atmosphere and a crust that is oxygen-rich, as does the Earth.

There may have been only one flyby of Little Brother, or there may have been several; we don't know. If there was just one, that lone flyby would lend a remarkable aura to that famous poetic statement, certainly not a scientific one, found early in the first chapter of Genesis,

From the perspective of the ability of electrons to emit radiation, and keeping in mind the mixing of aromas in "Hell's Kitchen," that famous poetic statement sounds like reasonably good cosmology.

The Strange Spin Rates in The Sun's Photosphere

The Sun's photosphere is its outer layer that is seen, is photographed and can be analyzed. Unlike any of the planets, its rotation rate is non-uniform. The rotation rate of the Sun's plasma varies according to latitudes, as follows:

It is likely that near to the two spin poles, rotation occurs in a period something over 33 days.

With a flyby of Little Brother somewhere between 10,000,000 and 15,000,000 miles from the Sun's center, it put a very sudden, swift, and very strong torque on old Sol. Old Sol hasn't been the same since.

That torque by Little Brother was stronger in the lower latitudes of the Sun because its lower latitudes was where the torque was more massive ... and it was nearer. The Sun's shape deformed, and it became somewhat egg-shaped. Its deformation favored the "barycenter," the center of mass of the two bodies. The "pointy face" of the Sun thus faced Little Brother. And, there was the same sudden alteration of shape for Little Brother, with its "pointy bulge" facing the Sun.

There is yet a second reason why the mass of the Sun spins faster in its lower latitudes. The Sun, like all good novas, developed a shell surrounding it in space. And after "L. B." was gone, that rapidly rotating material in its shell spiraled back into the Sun proper - into its lower latitudes.

Consider the example of the acrobat ice skater, doing a spin on skates. At first, her arms are extended as she spins. Next, she withdraws her arms, and her mass becomes more centralized. As this happens, her spin rate increases. The entire body of an acrobat ice skater spins like a solid, and all the molecules of the body speed up in lock step. But the Sun has no such solid structure.

It behaves like a fluid, where the atoms under torsion maintain the same velocity but they relocate in a twisting geometry. There is no lock step response. This same gyroscopic principle will be discussed in Volumes II and III when the topic of the relocation of the spin axis of both Mars and the Earth relocate under flyby conditions - like fluid gyros, not solid gyros.

Story 16 - The Solution To The Sun's Variable Spins

When water is stirred in a pail, the water flows with the stirring tool. When the stirring stops, the velocity of the water continues, but starts to ebb. Friction is encountered with the side of the pail. Soon, that friction causes the velocity of the water to slow down and then to stop altogether.

In the case of the Sun, there is no stable "side of a pail" to provide either containment or friction. The only friction in the Sun's mass is whatever occurs between layers of plasma of different temperatures. Today, its atoms at the 75th latitude spin 16% more slowly than those at its equator.

Water, once stirred in a pail, tries to find collective unity, and does when it halts completely. Like water once stirred in a pail, the Sun's plasma also is trying to achieve unity. It hasn't yet. And that fact is a fluid indication (not a "solid" indication) that the stirring of its plasma was recent as astronomers measure time. "Given enough time," ( gradualist phrase), a unity would be achieved - if another flyby didn't intervene first.

When stars go into a nova, suddenly they have to radiate energy into space faster than their surfaces will allow. As a result, novas develop "shells," encircling shells. This new, expanded shell allows a typical nova to radiate temporarily at perhaps 100 times its normal rate, perhaps even 1,000 times the normal rate.

We sense that those shells rotate, and rotate faster than the star itself. Then, in a few months, the shells cool, contract and disappear as the star cools and continues its return to "normal." The material in the rotating shell should dissolve back into the lower latitudes of the star. And it brings with it additional rotation motion.

This is why even today, long after its nova, the Sun has equatorial regions that contain faster spin rates than the higher latitudes. The shell acts like the skater except a skater functions as a solid. Spin increase is redistributed evenly with the skater (whose atoms remain in lock step), but is distributed unevenly with the fluid.

The Suspected Mass and Size of Little Brother

We suspect the mass of Little Brother to be somewhere between 4% and 10% of the mass of the Sun. We take the more conservative figure for our calculations. If it is 4% of the Sun's mass, Little Brother is the equal of some 40 to 45 Joves, 42 Joves to be exact. And it would be equal to 13,000 Earth masses.

If Little Brother has the same density as Jupiter (1.32) at 4% of the Sun, its diameter would be 300,000 miles. This is 62% of the diameter of the Moon's orbit.

On the other hand, if Little Brother has a similar density as the Earth (5.52), its diameter would be 24 Earth diameters, or only about 190,000 miles. Its diameter would be 80% of the distance to the Moon. Thus we suspect Little Brother exists, Little Brother will return, and it will return with a diameter between 200,000 and 300,000 miles.

The Truly Big Crank

In gradualist dogma, on the traditional menu, the Sun's rate of rotation is always a "given," but for no known reason. In ex nihilo creationism, the Sun's rotation is treated in a similar way as in gradualist dogma. The major difference is that in gradualist dogma, the timing is usually given as 4.6 billion years ago but in ex nihilo the timing offered is usually 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, sometimes even less.

But the evidence of a nova also is evidence that the Sun's rate of rotation has been acquired. Despite its size, this puts the huge Sun into the same category as the Jupiter-Saturn pair, the Neptune-Uranus pair and the Mars-Earth pair of acquired spins. Its pair partner is the unseen but returning Little Brother. Such is the doctrine of "Planetary Catastrophism."

The evidence from boiling Venus, dropped off at 67,000,000 miles indicates Little Brother came at least that close to the Sun. Closer in, the evidence from torched, tiny Mercury indicates that Little Brother came at least 30,000,000 miles from the Sun.

The dynamics of the scene indicate that for spin to be acquired by the Sun, Little Brother must make a flyby somewhere between 15,000,000 miles from the Sun's center and 10,000,000 miles distant. This is its perihelion, the point of the closest distance between the two. Little Brother would have to complete a 180-degree pivot around the Sun in less than 300 hours in order for the Sun to acquire spin from "L. B.". This means Little Brother approached to 15,000,000 miles or less, and probably "or less."

Story 17 - The Solution To The Origin of Solar Spin

It all depends on one's frame of reference. In the Jupiter-Saturn case, Saturn was "the crank" and Jupiter was "the crankee". We consider the Sun was "the crankee" and Little Brother had the role of the crank. If we consider Little Brother to be 4% of the mass of the Sun, then it was some 12,000 times as massive as Saturn. This makes Saturn merely a "middle-sized crank" while Little Brother's role was that of "the truly big crank."

Figures 4 and 5 in Chapter 8 illustrate the time charts of four typical mid-size novas. First, note how rapidly the onset of the typical nova is, one, or more often, in two days - only 48 hours.

Second, note how sustained a typical nova is for months after their sudden climax. In telescopes, some distant novas sustain visible light for six, ten, fourteen and even for as long as eighteen months. In 1572, Tycho Brahe observed a record nova that flared in the region of Cassiopia, and flared as bright as Venus. "Kepler's Star" in Ophiuchus, in 1604, rivaled Jupiter in brightness and remained visible for 18 months. These are classified as "supernovae".

Figure 7 illustrates the comparative diameters of the Sun, of Little Brother (if its density is comparable to Jupiter) and of several of the planets.

Figures 8 illustrates the "Truly Big Crank." Figure 9 illustrates "the Big Crank" in time lapse. Figure 6 illustrates the mixing of aromas in "Hell's Kitchen." Together, these figures illustrate the genesis of solar spin. And they illustrate the genesis of the Sun's nova.

Note the geometry and the nearness of the location of Mercury to the Sun's enlarged shell during the Sun's nova time. Note also in Figure 9 the flow of vapors toward the Sun during this flyby crisis. This helps to understand the intensity and the duration of Mercury's torching. And simultaneously, it helps understand why the Sun suddenly radiated brighter. And, it explains how the Sun acquired spin and why its photosphere rotates more rapidly in its lower latitudes.

Spin Rates and Little Brother

Our analysis is presented about the acquisition of spin by the Sun. If it is logical and in evidence, as we believe, there is a reciprocal, second, parallel conclusion.

The other three examples of twin spins feature pairs of twin spins with planets rotating at something like the smaller being about 95% as rapid as the larger. Perhaps 96% or 97%.

The larger rotates fastest in the case of Mars-Earth and in the case of Jupiter-Saturn. Theoretically that should always be the case.

We predict that Little Brother is also rotating. Fruitfulness of thought is one of the eight or nine aspects of sound scientific theory. So is ability to predict. We predict that Little Brother is rotating uniformly, like the other planets, and not with various rates like the Sun. We also predict its rotation rate is once in 31 days ± 10%. Such a slow spin rate suggests that in deep space, Little Brother does not emit much in the way of radio waves. This means that radio astronomy probably will not be much help in locating Little Brother's "noise" in advance of its visual, telescopic appearance.

When Little Brother visibly reappears, we predict that it will be (a) on the ecliptic plane. And (b) it will be between ten and fifteen billion miles distant from the Earth and its telescopes.

The ecliptic plane is divided into twelve zones, the zodiac. In which zone do we predict its appearance? We suspect that in Jupiter's orbit there is a clue as to where Little Brother came from. Concerning Jupiter's orbit, its perihelion is in Libra, and hence its aphelion is in the zone of Aries. Aries is the zone of the twelve zodiacal regions in which we expect Little Brother will return, when it appears.

Recent Evidence and The Last Flyby of Little Brother

ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY. What kind of orbit does Little Brother have? We have only incomplete, partial knowledge. First, its orbital eccentricity would have to exceed .999. Otherwise it would have returned sometime past during man's recorded history. Its nova would have been recorded (had man survived and if not, there would be no recorded history.)

ORBITAL PLANE. Second, we know that "L. B.'s" plane is identical with the ecliptic plane. That was the plane of delivery of the planets to the Sun.

PERIHELION. Third, we know what its last perihelion was. It was between 10,000,000 and 15,000,000 miles from the Sun. Its next perihelion should be quite similar.

ORIENTATION. Fourth, the celestial longitude of Jupiter's aphelion we consider to be a clue. Jove's aphelion is at 95°, celestial longitude. For star buffs, that is in the zodiac zone of Aries. The zone of Aries, or next door in the zone of Taurus, is the region where we expect Little Brother to arrive.

SATURN'S ICY RINGS. Fifth, we know that the icy rings of Saturn are effervescing, but also, there hasn't been enough time to complete the job. It is likely that Saturn was delivered to the Sun replete with both its icy satellites and its icy ring system. The rate of effervescence of Saturn's Rings is a matter of speculation, but also, no one knows how much ice originally was in its ring system. "As astronomers count time," these icy rings are a clue indicating recentness.

MOON DUST. Sixth, we know that the amount of actual moon dust versus the annual rate of acquisition of moon dust leaves only a little time for the Moon to have been in its present environment, "as astronomers measure time." But that increment of time is nothing that would satisfy the dyed-in-the-wool traditional gradualist.

SUN SHRINKAGE. Seventh, it is clear that the Sun is shrinking, currently at about 8.3 miles per year. It is probable that the solar shrinkage has begun recently "as astronomers like to measure time." Otherwise, Icarus and Mercury itself would have been engulfed by the Sun only a few millions of years past. And the surfaces of Venus and the Earth would have been torched.

OUR LACK OF PERCEPTION. As was mentioned above, a recent flyby of Little Brother does not establish its soon return. Not at all. On the other hand, neither does a recent flyby of Little Brother, and nova of the Sun establish a return tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of years hence.

There simply aren't enough clues that we recognize. We do suspect clues are laying around the solar system that we fail to recognize. There is some radio noise in the zone of Cancer and it is astride the ecliptic plane. But it is doubtful that such noise is from Little Brother. Our level of knowledge of the solar system and of current literature thereon is spotty. Very possibly, we are missing two or three clues that unlock the answer.

Evidently, Little Brother's last appearance was recent, possibly as little as 25,000 years ago as, we read the evidence of the Sun's shrinking and of its non-unity of spin rate. A "recent" last flyby appearance does not necessarily mean a soon reappearance. We are without knowledge of the period of Little Brother's orbit. Thus, we are at sea with respect to an understanding when it will return.

Story 18 - The Cause of Some Mid-sized Novas

What is viewed as the cause of distant novas, in the Milky Way and beyond? The literature of the late 20th century in astronomy contains the general admission that the mechanism for distant novas is still unknown. It is estimated that 25 to 30 novas appear in the Milky Way every year, some of which escape detection. Even so, novas in the Milky Way, are very, very distant for any observation of the fine details, such as a close flyby of a smaller non-luminous body.

We offer that the mechanism of a nova is an extremely close flyby of a large, yet non-luminous body. The example of our model illustrates, a close ten or fifteen million mile flyby of the Sun by Little Brother. So far, our viewing involves telescopes and environments (the atmosphere) which are insufficient to catch details of a nova. Possibly astronomy from a space station, beyond the Earth's atmosphere, will clarify the cause (s) of novas.

In the history of science over the last 250 years, discoveries have occurred as a result of a variety of things, including hunches, dreams (Goodyear and Clerk-Maxwell), nightmares (Whitney), sweat (Edison), accidents, etc. Quite often, discoveries have occurred by people operating outside their field of training. Statisticians operating in geology are an illustration, as are pharmacists in their role relating to the practice of medicine.

INTERDISCIPLINARY THINKING. Interdisciplinary thinking can be creative, and is less captive to tradition. Ours is interdisciplinary thought. Neither of your authors has had as much as Astronomy 101. Nevertheless, we bring geographical analysis and sound engineering principles to cosmology, to astronomy and to flyby analysis.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS. In addition we bring historical analysis. Ancient literature is full of the exploits of Indra, Baal, Bel, Enlil, the Angel of the Lord, Ares, Leviathan, Tiamat, Behomat, Horus and the Roman Mars.

These names are merely words in different languages for the Roman slur of "Magna Ares" - Mars. They are words for the rampaging Mars in the Indic, the Phoenician, the Chaldean, the Sumerian, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Egyptian and the Roman terms for the same planet which the ancient Chinese and Koreans called "the determined, fearful, ravaging fire star." But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Achievements of Little Brother's Last Flyby

Possibly, Little Brother delivered all eight planets (Mercury to Neptune) in its last flyby. Also perhaps, there were a handful of flybys by Little Brother that were necessary to impart the present amount of spin to the Sun which it does possess.

Next time Little Brother comes, it might deliver another package of planets similar to either the "Original Quintet," the Jupiter-Saturn package or the Uranus-Neptune package. It merely depends on how many planets are out there to capture. It depends on Little Brother's mass, and its ability to capture. It depends on how extensive is its deep sweep into space beyond Pluto, and this side of the Alpha Centauri binary.

It is likely that when it returns, Little Brother will beef up the Sun's rate of rotation. It will exchange more of its hot vapors with the Sun, resulting in another sudden increase in the level of the Sun's radiation. Some novas are known to be periodic, 40 years, 60 years, etc. The Sun's next nova also will be a repeat performance, a periodic spasm. It will be a long term period, however.

Along with another nova of the Sun will be another toasting of the surface of the Earth, another boiling of the surface of Venus and another torching of the crust of tiny Mercury.

The toasting of the Earth's surface will produce a hot crust and warm oceans. The warmed oceans will be the primary depository of the Earth's surplus heat. In being warmed, the oceans will release large volumes of dissolved carbon dioxide to Earth atmosphere. It will help restore a "greenhouse type climate." The ancients in the Middle East called the Earth first era, when CO-2 was abundant, the "age of gold." Subsequent ages, silver, bronze and iron, were viewed by them as clearly inferior.

Today the oceans have 55 times as much carbon dioxide as does the atmosphere. Thoroughly warmed oceans will rectify this situation and produce another greenhouse effect for our planet. Plants, if they survive, will love the new climate with enriched carbon dioxide. So will out planet's fauna for another set of biochemical reasons. Perhaps a futuristic ratio of carbon dioxide in the oceans versus atmosphere will be 10:1 instead of the contemporary rarefied rate of 55:1.

In our time, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing due to the burning of fossil fuels. Also in our time, bureaucrats, power-loving bureaucrats, opt to use science in their quest for power over the normal populace. They choose "global warming" as their siren call. It is supposed to alarm the populace to exchange liberty and rights for a security and stability they claim to offer.

Actually, an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is a boon to flora. With a 10% increase in carbon dioxide, as has happened since World War II, it is estimated that the Earth's flora is now 11% more massive than it was 50 years ago.^F2

Enhanced carbon dioxide in mammals produces carbonic acid in the blood - the union of a molecule of water, H2-O, with a molecule of carbon dioxide - C-O2. The result of such a union is H2-CO3, carbonic acid.

We expect to demonstrate by scientific experiment that this atmospheric change alters the mineral balance in the systems of mammals. Further, this change, we expect to prove, delays maturation, enhances body size and growth, and increases vigor and longevity. This condition, sometimes called hypercapnia, or enhanced CO-2, increases system zinc retention, enhances calcium retention and other good things.

Such a condition happened on our planet once and could recur.

Another thing achieved by Little Brother's last flyby, one of its last few flybys, was to drop off the Earth-Moon system in that narrow slot where a planet is not dominated by either extreme heat or ice.

Venus, our nearest inside neighbor, is dominated by extreme heat. Mars, our nearest outside neighbor, is dominated by ice and far subzero temperatures (F.) There is more on this in Chapter 11. It is certain that in Little Brother's last approach, it either delivered the Earth-Moon system, or else it revised and perturbed (or altered) our orbit around the Sun.

Futuristic Thought

In science, there are at least nine traits for good scientific theory. (A) It must be in horizontal alignment with known mechanics, in this case, solid celestial mechanics. (B) It must be in vertical alignment with facts. (C) It must be meaningful. (D) It must be satisfying to the inquiring, objective mind. (E) It must be rational. (F) It must consist of simplicity of premise. (G) It must implement predictability. (H) It should catalyze research, ignite thought, direct and focus effort, and (I) it should open up new avenues of knowledge.

From our theory, the following predications can be made:

PREDICTION # 1. Little Brother will return in due time, whatever happens to be its orbital period and schedule. It will inexorably approach the Sun on the ecliptic plane, possibly from somewhere within the zone of Aries. While its schedule is not known to us, evidence of Little Brother's existence is substantial. Thus, investigating its clues is a worthy issue for forward-looking astronomers, physicists and cosmologists. Such an investigation will be done.

PREDICTION # 2. When Little Brother returns, it will be found rotating in the prograde (counter-clockwise) direction like seven of the eight planets. Its spin rate will be relatively slow, once per month, approximately once in 30 days.

PREDICTION # 3. Little Brother will have a mass of approximately 4% of that of the Sun or more. If 4%, it will be 40 + times as massive as Jove.

PREDICTION # 4. When Little Brother returns, it probably will deliver two or more new planets to the inner solar system. They will be dropped off somewhere between Mercury and Neptune. Nine is not the final number of planets for the Sun.

PREDICTION # 5. When Little Brother returns, its perihelion will be between 10,000,000 and 15,000,000 miles from the Sun. About two to three days before it passes perihelion, the Sun will begin to nova once again.

PREDICTION # 6. When Little Brother returns and "Passes Go," there will be an increase both in its spin rate and in the spin rate of the Sun. The two increases will be parallel, reciprocal and simultaneous.

PREDICTION # 7. When Little Brother returns, and the Sun novas, the crust of tiny Mercury will be torched once again. Its broad, burned, basaltic plains, already perhaps 1,000 feet deep in lava, will become deeper yet.

PREDICTION # 8. The deep, thick atmosphere of Venus will be reheated once again. The surface of the Earth will be toasted again. In addition, the surface of little Mars toasted in its daytime - only to be chilled again each night by dominating subzero temperatures.

PREDICTION # 9. When Little Brother returns, it will pass so close to the Sun that the Sun will once again capture some of its vapors, including vapors of oxygen, iron, carbon, silicon, magnesium and sulphur. The Sun's mix of minor elements will increase. As a result, after the Sun's nova dies down, the Sun will continue to radiate at a higher rate than its rate in our age.

PREDICTION # 10. When Little Brother returns, the orbits of some of the planets will be significantly reorganized. There is a 1% chance that orbital reorganization (perturbation in astronomical parlance) will happen to the orbit of Uranus. There will be a 2% chance to Saturn's orbit, a 4% chance to Jupiter's orbit, a 14% chance to the orbit of Mars, a 25% chance to the orbit of the Earth, a 50% chance for the orbit of Venus and a 90% chance for Mercury's orbit.

PREDICTION # 11. Scientists will be divided over the issue of the existence of Little Brother until more evidence for its existence is independently acquired. After that, a hopeful, even an emotional rejection of its existence will continue. It will be somewhat parallel to the emotional acceptance of Percival Lowell's "Little men on Mars, building canals" idea that prospered, 1900 to 1960. People like to make conclusions based on their wishes, perhaps more so than on evidence.

PREDICTION # 12. Gradualism will continue to be the dominant dogma in geology until Little Brother returns, but a minority of geologists will become vocal in their dissatisfaction with gradualism.

PREDICTION # 13. When Little Brother returns, gradualism as a dogma will be all through in astronomy and cosmology. Gradualism will be relegated to the same status as that Ptolemaic astronomy has in our time.

Ptolemaic astronomy mistakenly featured Earth "geocentrism" in the cosmos. The Kant-Swedenborg-Laplace cosmology mistakenly features "gradualism" and "vast volumes of time" wherein catastrophes were few and far between.

PREDICTION # 14. The literature's, calendars and architectures of the ancients, before the 7th century B.C.E., will be studied with renewed vigor to determine from their texts and artifacts, exactly what the ancients were seeing and writing about in the astronomical heavens. Those ancient, alarming scenes of chaos or impending chaos need to be objectively analyzed, not subjectively psychoanalyzed.

PREDICTION # 15. Among the issues of interest to be discovered will be that ancient Mars flybys occurred PERIODICALLY, NOT MERELY CYCLICAL BUT PERIODICALLY. Those cycles were approximately once per century, in 108-year cycles to be exact.

PREDICTION # 16. It will be widely recognized that one of the two days of the close Mars flybys was March 20 - at night for the Eastern Hemisphere. That night just preceded the vernal equinox, the first day of spring. It also coincided with the 13th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar that Moses introduced - their Friday the l3th. Those ancient occasions were indeed anticipated, but they were not welcomed in any kind of a festive spirit. In fact, those occasions were considered nights of very bad luck for populaces all across the Eastern Hemisphere, from at least India to Ireland. But the bad luck of those nights was more a matter of reality than of superstition.

PREDICTION # 17. As more knowledge of former conditions in our solar system increases, the dogma of planetary catastrophism will wax while the dogma of gradualism will wane. And the theological dogma of a sudden, instantaneous creation of a "young Earth" will be laughed into oblivion. Creation and catastrophism will be viewed like two different covers of the same book.

Conclusion

Story 15 indicates that the Sun's level of radiation has been stepped up as a result of the acquisition of vapors from Little Brother during its last (perhaps its only) nova. Little Brother's aromas were mixed with the helium and hydrogen plasmas from the Sun. The mixture was redistributed, most of it to the Sun. As a result, the Sun's acquisition especially of iron and oxygen ions produced a new and higher level of solar radiation.

Story 16 is the solution to the variable rates of rotation of the Sun's plasma. These spin rates of the Sun vary with the Sun's latitudes. Little Brother's torque, and the collapse of the rotating nova shell affected particularly the solar plasma in the lower latitudes. Unity of its rate of rotation is in the process of being re-established by the Sun. But it is proceeding at a pace much slower than a snail's pace.

Story 17 is the Truly Big Crank. This crank by Little Brother was well over 100 times greater than the cranks by Saturn on Jupiter, the crankee. "Ditto" for the cranks that acted on Neptune and on the Earth.

Story # 18 provides the cause of the nova of the Sun, which torched the crust of tiny Mercury, and boiled the oceans of Venus. At least in part, this story also provides a model for the cause, so far not understood, of novas observed every year elsewhere in the Milky Way.

We have now come to the 18th story in our 70-story building of planetary catastrophism. With the reader, we have climbed 25% of the way to the top. In baseball parlance, we are now on first base. The inning has just begun.^F3

Footnotes