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The Age of the Solar System: A Study of the Poynting-Robertson Effect and Extinction of Interplanetary Dust
Book by Slusher, Harold S., Robertson, Stephen J., Duursma, Stephen J.
93 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1982
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February 14, 2025
ICR TECHNICAL MONOGRAPH NO. 6
Harold Slusher is a physicist associated with the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). [The validity of his Ph.D. from Indiana Christian University has been challenged, by the way.] No biographical information about co-author Stephen J. Duursma was provided.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, “The purpose of this monograph is to review some of the significant studies of the effects of solar radiation on a dust particle in interplanetary space in order to establish an upper limit on the age of the solar system. Since the authors believe the Poynting-Robertson effect plays a major role in any attempts at determining the age of the solar system, a secondary goal of this monograph is to provide a complete and detailed treatment of this problem, rather than the bare outline and results found in published works on this topic.
“The Poynting-Robertson effect will be considered in detail and combined with the influence of solar radiation pressure and gravitational attraction. The results of this theoretical investigation are then applied to common sizes, densities, and orbits of the interplanetary medium as determined from experimental and observational techniques. Estimations of times required for elimination of various particles from the solar system have been made. General graphs are provided to enable a direct reading of time of infall for any particle of interest given the initial orbital parameters. These graphs are limited to particles of the range in which the Poynting-Robertson effect will be a significant dynamic influence.” (Pg. 1)
He says, “As stated in the quote by [Fred L.] Whipple, there does not seem to be any significant contribution of dust to the meteoric complex from any source outside the solar system.” (Pg. 18)
He explains, “J.H. Poynting was the first to consider the effects of radiation on the orbits of small particles in the solar system. His application of classical physics in 1903 led him to the discovery that a particle which absorbs and reradiates solar radiation will be acted upon by a drag force. The result is a reduction of angular momentum of the particle causing it to spiral into the sun. His physical explanation for this drag was that it was due to a crowding of radiation in front of the particle with a corresponding thinning out behind. Poynting predicted that if the particle were small enough for gravitational attraction to be nearly balanced by radiation pressure this drag would produce a significant effect on the orbit of the particle. It is most interesting to note that Poynting’s resultant drag force derived with classical physics differed in magnitude from Robertson’s by a ratio of only 2/3 to 1. Obviously, there has been no direct evidence to support one over the other.” (Pg. 19)
He continues, “The most complete development applying the special theory of relativity was performed by H.P. Robertson in 1937. His equations of motion now generally accepted as correct for a particle which absorbs all incident radiation and rereadiates it isotropically in the frame of the practice. Part of the key to his success came from the expression of his results in the frame of reference of the sun, rather attempting to study the retarding force in the frame of the particle as had been done in the past.” (Pg. 20)
He summarizes, “The general results of including the effects of the reflected light are to increase the repulsion effect of the radiation, to reduce the magnitude of the Doppler effect, and to reduce the amount of tangential drag on the particle.” (Pg. 44)
He argues, “Of course, much of the dust in the solar system is left behind by comets in highly eccentric orbits. Assuming all the same values except a new original eccentricity of 0.9, the new lifetimes… [are] a decrease in one order of magnitude which means that comet dust is not only highly susceptible to being blown out of the solar system by radiation pressure as pointed out earlier, but what remains undergoes a much more rapid decay of its orbit due to the Poynting-Robertson effect. The opposite extreme is mostly interesting in the sense that it places an upper bound on the expected lifetime of a given particle. This is the case of a particle starting in an initially circular orbit.” (Pg. 69)
He concludes, The Poynting-Robertson effect of solar radiation on small particles in the solar system has been studied in detail from its fundamental assumptions, through the lengthy derivations, to the applications concerning particle lifetimes. The results of this investigation have confirmed the equations reported in various articles since 1937, and have provided evidence that the larger portion of the presently existing solar system dust cannot be expected to survive ten million years. Acting alone, this is a fairly rapid dissipative force. In conjunction with radiation pressure, evaporation, planetary capture, and rotational bursting. The Poynting-Robertson effect is causing the interplanetary dust cloud to undergo a significant erosion which necessitates a considerable source of new material, or dooms the dust cloud to be a short-lived phenomenon with a fairly recent origin…
“None of the mechanisms for resupplying the dust complex in the solar system seem adequate for maintaining the dust complex against the forces of extinction for any time remotely approaching evolutionary guesses of the age of the solar system. The short-period comets which have been suggested as a major source of resupply for the dust complex certainly do not appear as a source for very long since the evidence points to their early demise around ten thousand years at the most after their origin.
“If the major portion of the dust and particulate matter presently in the interplanetary medium originated at the same time as the solar system, as many astronomers hold, then the time for spiralling into the sun, because of the Poynting-Robertson effect, puts an upper limit on the age of the solar system vastly less than the evolutionary estimates of its age. In less than two billion years any matter would be swept into the sun… Considering the fact that dust particles much smaller that those are still around in great abundance in the interplanetary medium there would seem to be a maximum to the age of the solar system on the order of just several thousand years.” (Pg. 84-85)
A pretty 'esoteric' argument. I frankly doubt that even any modern young-earth creationists would take an argument based on such ‘outworldly’ assumed facts as a ‘useful’ technique to persuade any Darwinists, or even old-earth creationists.
Harold Slusher is a physicist associated with the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). [The validity of his Ph.D. from Indiana Christian University has been challenged, by the way.] No biographical information about co-author Stephen J. Duursma was provided.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, “The purpose of this monograph is to review some of the significant studies of the effects of solar radiation on a dust particle in interplanetary space in order to establish an upper limit on the age of the solar system. Since the authors believe the Poynting-Robertson effect plays a major role in any attempts at determining the age of the solar system, a secondary goal of this monograph is to provide a complete and detailed treatment of this problem, rather than the bare outline and results found in published works on this topic.
“The Poynting-Robertson effect will be considered in detail and combined with the influence of solar radiation pressure and gravitational attraction. The results of this theoretical investigation are then applied to common sizes, densities, and orbits of the interplanetary medium as determined from experimental and observational techniques. Estimations of times required for elimination of various particles from the solar system have been made. General graphs are provided to enable a direct reading of time of infall for any particle of interest given the initial orbital parameters. These graphs are limited to particles of the range in which the Poynting-Robertson effect will be a significant dynamic influence.” (Pg. 1)
He says, “As stated in the quote by [Fred L.] Whipple, there does not seem to be any significant contribution of dust to the meteoric complex from any source outside the solar system.” (Pg. 18)
He explains, “J.H. Poynting was the first to consider the effects of radiation on the orbits of small particles in the solar system. His application of classical physics in 1903 led him to the discovery that a particle which absorbs and reradiates solar radiation will be acted upon by a drag force. The result is a reduction of angular momentum of the particle causing it to spiral into the sun. His physical explanation for this drag was that it was due to a crowding of radiation in front of the particle with a corresponding thinning out behind. Poynting predicted that if the particle were small enough for gravitational attraction to be nearly balanced by radiation pressure this drag would produce a significant effect on the orbit of the particle. It is most interesting to note that Poynting’s resultant drag force derived with classical physics differed in magnitude from Robertson’s by a ratio of only 2/3 to 1. Obviously, there has been no direct evidence to support one over the other.” (Pg. 19)
He continues, “The most complete development applying the special theory of relativity was performed by H.P. Robertson in 1937. His equations of motion now generally accepted as correct for a particle which absorbs all incident radiation and rereadiates it isotropically in the frame of the practice. Part of the key to his success came from the expression of his results in the frame of reference of the sun, rather attempting to study the retarding force in the frame of the particle as had been done in the past.” (Pg. 20)
He summarizes, “The general results of including the effects of the reflected light are to increase the repulsion effect of the radiation, to reduce the magnitude of the Doppler effect, and to reduce the amount of tangential drag on the particle.” (Pg. 44)
He argues, “Of course, much of the dust in the solar system is left behind by comets in highly eccentric orbits. Assuming all the same values except a new original eccentricity of 0.9, the new lifetimes… [are] a decrease in one order of magnitude which means that comet dust is not only highly susceptible to being blown out of the solar system by radiation pressure as pointed out earlier, but what remains undergoes a much more rapid decay of its orbit due to the Poynting-Robertson effect. The opposite extreme is mostly interesting in the sense that it places an upper bound on the expected lifetime of a given particle. This is the case of a particle starting in an initially circular orbit.” (Pg. 69)
He concludes, The Poynting-Robertson effect of solar radiation on small particles in the solar system has been studied in detail from its fundamental assumptions, through the lengthy derivations, to the applications concerning particle lifetimes. The results of this investigation have confirmed the equations reported in various articles since 1937, and have provided evidence that the larger portion of the presently existing solar system dust cannot be expected to survive ten million years. Acting alone, this is a fairly rapid dissipative force. In conjunction with radiation pressure, evaporation, planetary capture, and rotational bursting. The Poynting-Robertson effect is causing the interplanetary dust cloud to undergo a significant erosion which necessitates a considerable source of new material, or dooms the dust cloud to be a short-lived phenomenon with a fairly recent origin…
“None of the mechanisms for resupplying the dust complex in the solar system seem adequate for maintaining the dust complex against the forces of extinction for any time remotely approaching evolutionary guesses of the age of the solar system. The short-period comets which have been suggested as a major source of resupply for the dust complex certainly do not appear as a source for very long since the evidence points to their early demise around ten thousand years at the most after their origin.
“If the major portion of the dust and particulate matter presently in the interplanetary medium originated at the same time as the solar system, as many astronomers hold, then the time for spiralling into the sun, because of the Poynting-Robertson effect, puts an upper limit on the age of the solar system vastly less than the evolutionary estimates of its age. In less than two billion years any matter would be swept into the sun… Considering the fact that dust particles much smaller that those are still around in great abundance in the interplanetary medium there would seem to be a maximum to the age of the solar system on the order of just several thousand years.” (Pg. 84-85)
A pretty 'esoteric' argument. I frankly doubt that even any modern young-earth creationists would take an argument based on such ‘outworldly’ assumed facts as a ‘useful’ technique to persuade any Darwinists, or even old-earth creationists.
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