Why is our solar system different from most of the others we see? How common are planets like Earth that have life on them? Is there life under the ice of Europa? Why will alien life have similar systems to ours? How did we get homochirality, and more to the point, why? Planetary Formation and Biogenesis is the second ebook in my series Elements of Theory, which is designed to illustrate how to form a theory by inducing from the set of observations. There is a review of the literature with over 700 references, most presenting different aspects. This review shows there are significant problems with standard theory, including: there is no known mechanism to form the required planetesimals, there are no explanations for the fact that all the planets in our system are different from each other, the Martian surface is incomprehensible on standard theory, the initial conditions argued for Earth should not lead to life, there is no standard explanation for homochirality and standard theory fails to give clues as to when to expect life and what variations are possible. Perhaps most critically, standard theory requires longer than 15 My to form Jupiter to the stage where gas can rapidly accrete, and the accretion disk usually lasts 1-10 My following stellar formation. Critically, LkCa 15b has formed in 2 My, it is three times further than Jupiter from a smaller star than the sun, and it is 5 times bigger than Jupiter. That requires new theory.
The second part employs Aristotelian methodology to induce a theory. It proposes that accretion is actually a chemical phenomenon, that our solar system represents a solar system where the stellar cleanout was ca 1 My after stellar cleanout. It predicts four major ice cores, each with their own characteristic composition, and shows why the four rocky planets have the composition they have. The biochemicals required for life arise naturally, it shows why homochirality arises, and why all carbon-based life will almost certainly commence with RNA, even though ribose is the least stable and least likely to be formed of the common sugars, why ATP is the energy transfer chemical, and it proposes some simple experiments to show how it probably developed. There are over 80 predictions, one of which includes no life under-ice on Europa.
The second part employs Aristotelian methodology to induce a theory. It proposes that accretion is actually a chemical phenomenon, that our solar system represents a solar system where the stellar cleanout was ca 1 My after stellar cleanout. It predicts four major ice cores, each with their own characteristic composition, and shows why the four rocky planets have the composition they have. The biochemicals required for life arise naturally, it shows why homochirality arises, and why all carbon-based life will almost certainly commence with RNA, even though ribose is the least stable and least likely to be formed of the common sugars, why ATP is the energy transfer chemical, and it proposes some simple experiments to show how it probably developed. There are over 80 predictions, one of which includes no life under-ice on Europa.
