This image of Saturn’s south polar aurora is an artistic rendition, converting ultraviolet data into the nearest visible color. CREDIT: NASA, ESA and A. Schaller, STScI-PRC05-06b
Posted on 03/12/2007 11:29:12 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
Astronomers have recently discovered that their earlier “explanation” for anomalous heating of Saturn’s upper atmosphere doesn’t work.
The temperatures of the upper atmospheres of giant planets have long presented a conundrum to astronomers. They are hotter than can be explained by absorbed sunlight, and other attempts to explain the temperature anomalies in mechanical terms have met with failure. The electrical theorists suggest that such problems will persist as long as astronomers ignore electricity.
Since the giant planets display spectacular auroras at their polar regions, scientists believed that these auroras generated heat that was somehow directed toward the planets' equators. On Earth, a similar mechanism (magnetic energy in the magnetosphere) is claimed to drive the Northern Lights and heat the upper atmosphere.
But according to a report last month in the journal Nature, the proposed mechanism would actually COOL Saturn's upper atmosphere at the lower latitudes. Thus scientists must deal with an energetic meteorological phenomenon for which they have no ready explanation. "This unexplained 'energy crisis' represents a major gap in our understanding of these planets' atmospheres," the scientists write.
"We need to re-examine our basic assumptions about planetary atmospheres and what causes the observed heating," said study team member Alan Aylward of the University College London.
Proponents of the Electric Universe welcome this candor, though it does not go far enough. The "basic assumption" that has directed the space sciences for nearly a century is the belief that space is electrically inert. Most astronomers and meteorologists still do not realize what has already been demonstrated by recent discoveries of the Earth-Sun connection: charge exchange is continuous, and the auroras are just one effect of the ongoing electrical transactions. The planetary theater is, in fact, filled with electrical circuits across the conducting plasma medium.
It is the electric model of the Sun that will enable us to understand the highly energetic meteorological phenomena we see on many planets in our solar system. In this view, electrical storms on planets – including Earth -- are fed by interplanetary currents focused largely on the Sun. The increases in solar output, together with the incoming currents directly intercepted by planets, can charge up the planetary ionospheres – the outcome being “anomalous” heating of the upper atmospheres.
Once we see the issue in electrical terms, it becomes clear that scientific inquiry on other questions will continue to be misguided until the electrical component is acknowledged. It is well past time for scientists to revisit the debate on “global warming” on Earth, for example, since virtually all published articles in the debate have ignored the crucial role of the electric Sun.
This image of Saturn’s south polar aurora is an artistic rendition, converting ultraviolet data into the nearest visible color. CREDIT: NASA, ESA and A. Schaller, STScI-PRC05-06b
Beautiful pic, even though it's an artists concept.
The tricky part with outer atmospheres is their extreme rarity, meaning that they have a very low volume-specific heat. Rarefied gases and plasmas can attain very high temperatures without storing large quantities of energy.
The tone of this article puts it in line with a long crank tradition in physical astronomy which touts electrical forces as the unacknowledged master of the cosmos. I believe Arp was an important promulgator of this idea. Then we have the likes of Velikovsky, who had the planets being yanked around like pith balls.
Anyway, it's well to appreciate the complexities and mysteries of planetary and cosmological science, but try to keep your feet on the ground.
You meant to say keep "keep your feet grounded" didn't you? ;-)
ping
Yeah, I thought of that afterwards.
Did he really? I didn't know that, do tell me more.
Here is the picture of Saturn taken by the Hubble telescope in ultraviolet light. The glowing, swirling material at Saturn's poles is its auroral "curtains," rising more than a thousand miles above the cloud tops.
"To explain the celestial mechanics necessary to permit these changes to the configuration of the solar system, Velikovsky thought that electromagnetic forces might somehow play a greater role to counteract gravity and orbital mechanics."
'nuf said, deprecations of Wikipedial authority notwithstanding, especially since this is in accord with my deep but unsubstantiated memory.
that's the crux of the article.
This is an example of a "running difference" image of the sun's surface revealed by the TRACE satellite using its 171 angstrom filter. This filter is specifically sensitive to iron ion (FE IX/X) emissions and records a C3.3 flare and mass ejection in AR 9143 in 171Å on 28 Aug. 2000. The flare activity is caused by increased electrical activity as fast moving plasma sweeps over surface ridges, resulting in increased electrical activity on the windward side of the mountain ranges.
http://www.thesurfaceofthesun.com/
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The Whole Enceladus
Science News Online | 05/06/06 | Ron Cowen
Posted on 05/07/2006 2:17:31 PM EDT by KevinDavis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1628242/posts
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Hot stuff on Saturn
University College London | January 29, 2007 | Fiona Davidson
Posted on 02/11/2007 9:34:29 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1783182/posts
New insights into composition of giant planets
Spaceflight Now | October 18, 2006 | Division For Planetary Sciences
Posted on 10/19/2006 2:22:12 AM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1722070/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=saturn
From the looks of the "painful" ring in the picture, I would have guessed Uranus as the planet.
Well, what process will create ultraviolet emission in that pattern and location. And what does that say about the interior of Saturn?
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