Do nuclear decay rates depend on our distance from the sun?

the physics arXiv blog ^ | 8/29/08

[Kevmo]

Seagulling onto threads is pretty common for some “frevos”.

In case you don’t know what that means, a seagull flies in from above, makes a bunch of noise, leaves his calling card and then flies away.

[Kevmo]

God may have a ‘thing’ for spinning things as He seems to for spirals.
***I get that impression as well, just by reading Ezekiel.

[Quix]

True. LOL.

I hadn’t connected that!

[Swordmaker]

It sorta reminds me of what the matter shell expelled from a recently-exploded nova/supernova might look like...

Pray tell: what is it?

You are right. Good analysis!

It is the Chandra x-ray image of Tycho’s Star, the supernova that Tycho Brahe saw in 1572.

Tycho's Star, remnants of a Supernova.
Thunderbolts.info Picture of the Day
Picture Credit: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J.Warren & J.Hughes et al.

[Rockingham]

A change in the fine structure constant that varied with the distance from the Sun could also explain the Pioneer anomaly.

[Straight Vermonter]

ping

[buckrodgers]

I remember reading a few months back someone came up with a direct way to measure the ( Fine structure constant ? ). I will see if I can find the article .

[sefarkas]

The values assigned to the decay-rate for particular isotopes are derived from laboratory experiments and statistical analyses of the raw data made available. Nuclear decay is not a deterministic (e.g., F=ma) type of phenomenon. It is a statistical estimate. Although there are many hypotheses about how matter acts at the atomic level, none have yet to be demonstrated to be comprehensive. I suspect that the variation in decay rate reported in this article is a simplistic way of describing statistical analysis results that have created a mean estimate that is several standard deviations (or other error measurement) away from the expected value(s).