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Energy Required
The launched material includes what later became comets, asteroids, and the irregular moons3 of the giant planets—moons that I maintain are captured asteroids. Table 28 contains these estimates, some of which were justified in the chapters explaining the origin of comets and asteroids.
Perhaps 10 times more energy than 1.7 × 1036 ergs was needed (1) because other mass was launched besides that in comets, asteroids, and irregular moons, (2) because of the inefficiency of the launch mechanism, and (3) because some heat was lost by conduction into the chamber’s ceiling and floor.4 Let’s assume that the total energy required was 1.7 × 1037 ergs.5 Since this energy was released over many weeks, it is more accurately described as coming from an “engine”—an “Earth-size nuclear engine” (as you will see)—rather than an explosion.
Because the energy needed to launch the fragments that later merged to became asteroids is so much greater than the energy needed to launch the fragments that became comets or irregular moons, the methods for calculating the mass of all asteroids deserves special comment. In the early 1990s, much to the dismay of evolutionist astronomers, moons were discovered around some asteroids. Before then, asteroid mass could be estimated only by multiplying an asteroid’s volume by its assumed density. Such assumptions produced considerable error, because from Earth each asteroid looked like a big, solid rock, not a flying rock pile containing ice and voids. Now that moons can be observed orbiting many asteroids, their masses and extremely low densities6 can be directly calculated. Using their average density, the mass of all other asteroids can be more accurately estimated. While not all asteroids have been identified, the volumes of the largest thousand or so have been measured. Statistically, their size distribution shows that the smallest asteroids, although numerous, contribute relatively little to the total mass of all asteroids.