New Evidence for the 'Solar Oxygen Crisis'Â

PhysOrg ^ | May 2, 2007 | Laura Mgrdichian (yeah, I had the same reaction)

[SunkenCiv]

Scientists have published new evidence supporting the recent discovery that the Sun contains about half as much oxygen as previously thought, an issue some scientists have dubbed the solar oxygen crisis. This is a potentially huge scientific problem because scientists have used the particular prior measurement as a platform for understanding the inner workings of other stars... In many astrophysical situations, oxygen is linked to the abundances carbon, nitrogen, and neon. If the oxygen abundance in the Sun is half as much as scientists thought, these other elemental abundances may also be off by a factor of two... Analysis of the SPINOR data produced a value of the oxygen abundance that agrees with calculations by other research groups studying the solar oxygen crisis. The measurement contained larger-than-expected uncertainty... Socas-Navarro... added that there is another major downside of a lower oxygen abundance. Models of the solar interior once predicted that sound waves in the Sun traveled at certain speed, a value that agreed well with the measured speed. Because the speed depends on composition, this is another way that scientists learn about the processes that take place in the Sun, what elements it is made of, and in what quantities. Now, with the Sun having half as much oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and neon, the sound speed derived from the models doesn't match the measured speed well.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, if the Sun is low on oxygen, why isn't it turning blue? Just askin'...

[SunkenCiv]

as it turns out, a very related topic:

Scientific maverick’s theory on Earth’s core up for a test
SF Chronicle | Monday, November 29, 2004 | Keay Davidson
Posted on 12/05/2004 2:17:28 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1294934/posts

[SunkenCiv]

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic ·

[be4everfree]

also somewhat related:

Molten core may explain Mercury’s magnetic field

Mercury likely has a partly molten core, a new study indicates. This molten material may be generating the planet’s weak magnetic field, whose existence has been a puzzle since its discovery more than 30 years ago.
Earth’s magnetic field is generated by molten material in its core, but Mercury is so small that it was expected to have cooled and solidified long ago. But when NASA’s Mariner 10 spacecraft flew by the Sun-scorched planet in 1974 and 1975, it detected a magnetic field.

Big Snip

That would be possible if its core, thought to be mostly iron, contains some sulphur as well. “If you mix in a small amount of sulphur with iron, you can lower the melting temperature by several hundred kelvin,” Margot told New Scientist.

But if Mercury does contain some sulphur, its presence presents a puzzle of its own, since sulphur could not have condensed out of the early solar nebula so close to the Sun. This suggests that some of the building blocks, or planetesimals, that coalesced to form Mercury came from farther out, where sulphur could have condensed along with iron and other elements.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11782-molten-core-may-explain-mercurys-magnetic-field.html

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

Mercury’s spin reveals molten, not solid core
Reuters | Thursday, May 3, 2007 | Julie Steenhuysen
Posted on 05/03/2007 10:51:50 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1828141/posts

[be4everfree]

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up around here.

I’m glad somebody is paying attention.

[Colorado Doug]

Can’t we buy enough oxygen credits from Algore to fix this little problem?

[ovrtaxt]

WHAT?!??!?

Scientists were wrong about something?

This is a crisis indeed. Next thing you know, two thirds of Americans won’t believe in the theory of evolution anymore- or man made global warming. WHERE WILL IT STOP!?!

oh, wait...

[SouthTexas]

Don’t worry, the US taxpayers will fix it.

[SunkenCiv]

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up around here.

Heh... heh... I've noticed that many times as well. Under the new system of topic numbering we've nearly hit 1.4 million (I believe the new system began at 500,000), so that may one reason for it. ;')