 |
Herschel (red) and Hubble (blue) composite image
of the Crab Nebula.
Credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS/MESS
Key Programme Supernova Remnant Team;
NASA,
ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University) |
Solar Supernova
Feb 24, 2014 | Thunderbolts.info | Stephen Smith
How do supernovae relate to the Sun?
On
June 7, 2011 the Sun erupted with the largest plasma event yet recorded by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. SDO was
launched
on February 11, 2010 into a geosynchronous orbit, with plans for a
five-year mission. It is capable of observing the Sun in multiple
wavelengths, including extreme ultraviolet. It is also equipped with a
Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager that can map magnetic field data.
The Sun’s magnetic field is difficult to detect. According to Dr
David Long of the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory: “… the Sun’s
atmosphere has a magnetic field about ten times weaker than a normal
fridge magnet.” However, when situations such as the June 2011 Coronal
Mass Ejection (CME) occur, astrophysicists are able to use the increased
magnetic field strength to map solar processes more closely.
As the Electric Sun theory proposes, the Sun is a positively charged
electrode powered by electromagnetic fields permeating the galaxy. At
the farthest limit of its coronal discharge, millions of kilometers from
the surface, is a negatively charged region known as the heliosphere: a
double layer
that isolates the Sun’s plasma cell from the galactic plasma that
surrounds it. A voltage difference between the Sun and the galaxy occurs
across the double layer, or
heliopause boundary sheath.
Inside the heliopause a weak, constant electric field is centered on
the Sun. Since the Sun’s electric field is weak, overall, its magnetic
field is correspondingly weak.
Unfortunately, NASA scientists are not used to seeing the Sun in its electrical guise. Instead, a recent
press release
is rife with descriptions from the field of fluid dynamics, as if the
Sun is a giant drop of oil quivering in space. The massive CME and its
subsequent electromagnetic transport of solar plasma are described as
“drops of ink falling through water”; and “… a great example of where
light and heavy fluids mix”. The conclusion is that the plasma was
affected by the
Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
The Crab Nebula is said to be the remnant of a star that exploded in
1054 AD. Since it is also thought to exhibit a Rayleigh-Taylor
instability in its tendrils, or filaments, SDO mission analysts think
that the two phenomena are similar. Matter that is denser that the
majority of the Crab Nebula’s structure is said to be “falling back”
into thinner gases and dust. Like oil falling through water, the heavier
material branches and splits.
As many previous Picture of the Day articles have maintained,
supernovae, nebulae, and CMEs are electrical phenomena and are not
governed by kinetic and gravitational effects, alone. Plasma behaves in
ways that are unfamiliar to most people. Plasma is completely different
from a gas. Since more than 90% of the light emitted from planetary
nebulae (like the Crab Nebula) is from ionized oxygen, they ought to be
identified with
oxygen discharge tubes, similar to a neon lamp.
The CME demonstrated that solar explosions are interconnected by
magnetic fields reaching out for thousands of kilometers. CMEs typically
spew plasma in the billions of tons throughout the Solar System. A
signature of CME ejections is an increase in auroral brightness and
frequency on Earth. This is because the ejections are composed of
charged particles, and are attracted to and follow Earth’s polar
magnetic cusps. A few CMEs have been observed to leave the Sun with
unexpected acceleration: velocities more than 70,000 kilometers per
second have been clocked.
Although the Sun’s electric and magnetic fields are weak, the Sun is
gigantic, meaning that electromagnetic forces can act with great
impetus. Magnetic fields constrict electric currents into filaments,
which twist around each other, forming double layers. Double layers form
when electricity flows in plasma, causing positive charges to build up
in one region of a plasma cloud and negative charges to build up nearby.
An electric field appears between the two regions, accelerating the
charged particles. Sometimes, the stored electrical energy in a double
layer is catastrophically discharged in a “
Langmuir burst.” Those bursts are what are seen on the Sun as solar flares and CMEs.
Perhaps electricity flowing through the Crab Nebula is causing the
same phenomena witnessed by SDO. Rather than nuclear furnaces in the Sun
initiating CMEs, or a thermonuclear explosion creating the Crab
Nebula,
both celestial objects should be considered in the light of plasma
physics.
Stephen Smith
