mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Electrical Cosmology Introduction If the Sun is essentially an electrical phenomenon, as seems the case, and it is also a fairly typical star, then all stars should exhibit properties that are consistent with the Electric Sun (ES) model. Do they? Let us extrapolate the ES model and compare it to what we have observed about stars. In 1911 Ejnar Hertzspung constructed a plot of the absolute brightness vs. spectral class (temperature) of the stars whose distances we could then accurately measure by the parallax method. In 1913 Henry Norris Russell independently repeated this exercise. This plot is therefore named the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, and is one of the first topics presented in introductory astronomy courses. It is clear that the HR diagram is a plot of actual observations not something deduced from theory. So, any viable model of the workings of a star must be consistent with it. Is the Electric Sun (ES) model of how a star is powered consistent with the HR diagram? If it is not, then this would disprove the ES hypothesis. The HR Diagram In the HR diagram, as it is usually presented, the vertical axis is labeled with two scales: Absolute Magnitude (linear scale from about 18th magnitude at the bottom running up to perhaps -8 or so at the top), and Luminosity x Sun (log scale with 0.00001 at the bottom running up to 100,000 at the top). The horizontal axis also is labeled with several scales: Spectral Class - left to right: O and B [blue], A [white], F [yellow], G [yellow-orange], K [orange], M [red]). More often, recently, the "Johnson B-V index" replaces the Spectral Class scale. B = blue, and V = visual. A star is viewed through a blue (pass) filter and then in visible light. The star's "color index" is the difference in apparent magnitude between the two observations. B-V is zero for the star Vega (spectral class A0), and is about 0.61 for the Sun which is redder than Vega. Red giant Betelgeuse has a B-V index of 1.83 and spectral class M2. Originally, the B-V index was simply the difference between a star's visual and photographic magnitudes. Another horizontal axis scale - Absolute Temperature, also runs from left to right (from around 20,000 K down to 3000 K) corresponding to the (decreasing!) black-body temperature of those spectral classes. [As an engineer, I object to plotting increasing temperature from right to left! But such is the convention of astronomers. We will live with it.] A single given star defines a single point on this plot. A web search for the topic "Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram" will yield many different renderings of the HR plot. Our Sun, being a fairly typical star, falls almost at the center of the diagram (at Luminosity = 1 and Absolute magnitude. = 5, Spectral Class G, and (photospheric) Temp. = 6,000K). The points on the plot seem to group nicely, generally forming a long, slightly diffuse line, that snakes from the upper left down toward the lower right. The line falls very steeply at the lower right end. There are two other less populated clouds of points: one group at the upper right and another one strung out across the bottom of the plot from a concentration in the lower left of the diagram. Stellar Evolution Mainstream astronomy attempts to describe how stars "age" (run out of nuclear fuel) and slowly migrate, taking hundreds of thousands of years to do so, tracing paths from one location on the HR diagram to another (the star going from one spectral class to another). The paths that stars "must take" are, of course, completely predicated on the assumption that stars are fueled by the various stages of nuclear fusion of the lightest elements. The ES model does not make that assumption. Humans have not been around long enough to actually observe any stars making the predicted slow migrations from one place on the HR diagram to another. So, at present, slow "stellar evolution" is another one of those complicated theoretical constructs that live brightly in the minds of astronomers without any observational evidence of their actual existence. Add A New Horizontal Axis In the ES model the important variable is: current density (Amps/sq m) at the star's photospheric surface. If a star's current density increases, the arc discharges on its surface (photospheric granules) get hotter, change color (away from red, toward blue), and get brighter. The absolute luminosity of a star, therefore, depends on two main variables: current density at its effective surface, and its size (the star's diameter). Therefore, let us add a new scale to the horizontal axis of the HR diagram: "Current Density at the Surface of each Star". Consider moving from the lower right of the HR diagram toward the left. In so doing we are moving in the direction of _increasing current density _at the star's surface. Red and Brown Dwarfs The first region on the lower right of the diagram is where the current density has such a low value that double layers (DLs) (photospheric granules) are not needed by the plasma surrounding the (anode) star. This is the region of the brown and red "dwarfs" and giant gas planets. Recent discoveries of extremely cool L - Type and T - Type dwarfs has required the original diagram to be extended to the lower right (See below). These "stars" have extremely low absolute luminosity and temperature. Notice that the surface temperature of the T - Type dwarfs is in the range of 1000 K or less! For comparison purposes (only) recall that some points on the surface of Venus are in the range of 900 K. T - Type spectra have features due mostly to Methane - they resemble Jupiter's spectrum. The plasma that constitutes a star of this type is in its "normal glow" range - or perhaps, even the "dark current" range. If all stars are indeed powered by a nuclear fusion reaction as is claimed, with the T dwarfs we must be in the "cold fusion" range! Indeed, for any fusion reactions to occur at all, standard theory requires that the temperature in a star's core must reach at least three million K. And because, in the accepted model, core temperature rises with gravitational pressure, the star must have a minimum mass of about 75 times the mass of the planet Jupiter, or about 7 percent of the mass of our sun. Many of the dwarfs do not meet these requirements. One mainstream astronomer, realizing this, has said that these dwarfs must be powered by "gravitational collapse". The orbiting X-ray telescope, Chandra, recently discovered an X-ray flare being emitted by a brown dwarf (spectral class M9). This poses an additional problem for the advocates of the stellar fusion model. A star this cool should not be capable of X-ray flare production. However, in the ES model, there are no minimum temperature or mass requirements because the star is inherently electrical to start with. In the ES model (if a brown/red dwarf is operating near the upper boundary of the dark current mode), a slight increase in the level of total current impinging on that star will move it into the normal glow mode. This transition will be accompanied by a rapid change in the voltage rise across the plasma of the star's atmosphere. Maxwell's equations tell us that such a change in voltage can produce a strong dynamic E-field and a strong dynamic magnetic field. If they are strong enough, dynamic EM fields can produce X-rays. Another similar phenomenon can occur if a star makes the transition from normal glow to arc mode. As we progress leftward in the HR diagram, the plotted points move steeply upward; we enter the spectral M range where some arc tufting becomes necessary to sustain the star's electrical discharge. As current density increases, tufts (plasma in the arc discharge mode) cover more and more of the surface of each star, and the stars' luminosity increases sharply plasma arcs are extremely bright compared to plasma in its normal glow mode. You can look directly at neon signs but not at electric arc welders. This accounts for the steepness of the HR curve in the M region a slight increase in current density produces a large increase in luminosity. As we move upward and toward the left in the diagram, stars have more and more complete coats of photospheric arcs (tufting). A case in point NASA recently discovered a star, half of whose surface was "covered by a sunspot". A more informative way to say this would have been that "Half of this star's surface is covered by photospheric arcing." The present controversy about what the difference is between a giant gas planet and a brown dwarf is baseless. They are members of a continuum it is simply a matter of what the level of current density is at their surfaces. NASA's discovery supplies the missing link between the giant gas planets and the fully tufted stars. In fact, the term "proto-star" may be more descriptive than "giant gas planet". Main Sequence Stars Continuing toward the left, beyond the "knee of the curve", all these stars (K through B) are completely covered with tufts (have complete photospheres), their luminosity no longer grows as rapidly as before. But, the farther to the left we go (the higher the current density), the brighter the tufts become, and so the stars' luminosities do continue to increase. The situation is analogous to turning up the current in an electric arc welding machine. The increased brightness of the arcs accounts for the upward slope of the line toward the left. Mathematically we have the situation where the variable plotted on the horizontal axis (current density) is also one of the factors in the quantity plotted on the vertical axis (luminosity). The more significant this relationship is, the more closely the plot will approach a 45 degree straight line. [Reminder: Our progression from right toward the left is not a description of one star evolving in time - we are just moving across the diagram from one static point (star) to another.] That the stars do not all fall precisely on a line, but have some dispersion above and below the line, is due to their variation in size. The relatively straight portion of the HR diagram is called the "main sequence." This nomenclature gives a false impression, that stars move around "sequentially" in the HR plot. The HR diagram is a static scatter plot, not a sequence. White and Blue Stars When we get to the upper left end of the main sequence, what kind of stars are these? This is the region of O type, blue-white, high temperature (35,000+ K) stars. As we approach the far upper-left of the HR diagram (region of highest current density), the stars are under extreme electrical stress - too many Amps per sq. meter. Their absolute luminosities approach 100,000 times the Sun's. Extreme electrical stress can lead to a such a star's splitting into parts, perhaps explosively. Such explosions are called _novae_. The splitting process is called _fissioning_. Fissioning To quote from [1]page 6 of Wal Thornhill's web site on the Electrical Universe: ".. internal electrostatic forces prevent stars from collapsing gravitationally and occasionally cause them to "give birth" by electrical fissioning to form companion stars and gas giant planets. Sudden brightening, or a nova outburst marks such an event. That elucidates why stars commonly have partners and why most of the giant planets so far detected closely orbit their parent star." _If a sphere of fixed volume splits into two smaller (equal sized) spheres, the total surface area of the newly formed pair will be about 26% larger than the area of the original sphere. _(If the split results in two unequally sized spheres, the increase in total area will be something less than 26%.) So, to reduce the current density it is experiencing, an electrically stressed, blue-white star may explosively fission into two or more stars. This provides an increase in total surface area and so results in a reduced level of current density on the (new) stars' surfaces. Each of two new (equal sized) stars will experience only 80% of the previous current density level and so both will jump to new locations farther to the lower-right in the HR diagram. A possible example of two equal sized offspring may be the binary pair called Y Cygni. This is a pair of giant O or B type stars that orbit each other in a period of 2.99 days. Each star is some 5 million miles in diameter and 5000 times as luminous as our Sun - absolute magnitudes about -4.5. They are some 12 million miles apart (less than 2.5 times their diameters!). Their masses are 17.3 and 17.1 times the mass of our Sun. If the members of the resulting binary pair turn out to be unequal in size, the larger one will probably have the larger current density - but still lower than the original value. (This assumes that the total charge and total driving current to the original star distributes itself onto the new stars proportionally to their masses.) In this case, the smaller member of the pair might have such a low value of current density as to drop it, abruptly, to "brown dwarf" or even "giant planet" status. That may be how giant gas planets get born (and are in close proximity to their parents). There was an interesting statement made in this regard in the Jan. 1, 2001 issue of _Science Now_ magazine (p.4). "Astronomers are scratching their heads over a strange new planetary system. A team discovered a huge gas ball -- apparently a failed star called a brown dwarf -- circling a star that holds another planet in its sway. But no one understands how something so massive as a brown dwarf could form so close to a normal star with a planetary companion." This was in an article called "An awkward trio disturbs astronomers" by G. Schilling. The final distribution of mass and current density is sensitive to the mechanics of the splitting process. Such a process can only be violent - possibly resulting in a _nova _eruption. Some mass may be lost to the _plasma_ cloud that later can appear as a planetary nebula or _nova-remnant_ that surrounds the _binary pair_. If the charge on the original star was highly concentrated on or near its surface, and the fissioning process is similar to the peeling off of a grape's skin, then most of that original charge (and current) may end up on the offspring star that is constituted only of the skin of the original star. In this way the smaller, rather than the larger of the two members of the resulting binary pair, can be the hotter one. In any event, both stars will _move to different positions in the HR diagram_ from where their parent was located. FG Sagittae The star FG Sagittae is a case in point. Wal points out that FG Sagittae has changed from blue to yellow since 1955! It, quite recently, has taken a deep dive in luminosity. FG Sagittae, is the central star of the planetary nebula (nova remnant?) He 1-5. It is a unique object in the sense that for this star we have direct evidence of stellar evolution but _in a time scale comparable with the human lifetime_. "Around 1900 FG Sge was an inconspicuous hot star (T = 50,000 K) of magnitude 13. During the next 60 years it cooled to about 8000 K and_ brightened _in the visual region to magnitude 9, as its radiation shifted from the far-UV to the visual region. Around 1970 a whole new bunch of spectral lines appeared due to elements such as Sr, Y, Zr, Ba and rare earths. .... The star cooled further in the 1970s and 80s and then all of a sudden in 1992 its magnitude dropped to 14. Further drops occurred from 1992 to 1996 with a very deep minimum near magnitude 16 in June of 1996." [Italics added] So, after abruptly _brightening by four magnitudes_, it has _dropped seven magnitudes_. From the end of the last century FG Sagittae has moved across the HR diagram changing from a normal hot giant to a "late spectral type" (cool) star with marked changes in its surface chemical composition. This is not the kind of slow stellar "evolution" mainstream astronomers expect. And FG Sagittae is a _binary pair!_ The official wording was, "In 1995 FG Sge changed in brightness in a quite sporadic manner from V~10.5 to ~13.0 according to the data by Hungarian Astronomical Association-Variable Star Section. During the spectral observations on 9/10 and 10/11 August, FG Sge was very faint (HAA-VSS data: V~12.5-13.0, according to Variable Stars Observers' League of Japan: ~13.3) and therefore erroneously _the visual companion_ 8'' apart from FG Sge was actually observed. This is probably the first high resolution spectrum of the companion ever obtained. The spectrum turned out to correspond to a quite normal giant with the spectral type around K0." Is FG Sagittae an example of the binary fissioning (caused by electrical stress) that was described above? It seems to have all the basic characteristics: _nova_-like brightening followed by loss of luminosity and loss of temperature - _moving to a different spectral type_ with marked changes in its surface chemical composition, and discovery of a _binary_ companion. So, in the Electric Star version of "stellar evolution" things happen fast. If the fusion model were correct, even if a star's "central core" could be instantaneously extinguished, it would take hundreds of thousands of years for the effect to be seen at the star's surface. It would not be observed within a "human lifetime". It didn't take FG Sagittae hundreds of thousands of years to "run down." Migrating across the HR diagram can happen (astronomically) very quickly - and apparently does! Binary stars are extremely common. Red Giants The diffuse group in the upper right hand corner of the HR diagram are stars which are cool (have low values of current density powering them) but are luminous and so must be very large. They are highly luminous _only_ because of their size. These are the red giants. They are not necessarily any older than any other star. Notice that some are relatively quite cool - in the range of 1000 K. How do stars at this low a temperature maintain an internal fusion reaction? The simple answer is: They cannot! White Dwarfs Similarly, the group in the lower left hand corner have very low absolute luminosity but are extremely hot. The ES model simply explains them as being very small stars that are experiencing very high current densities. These are the "white dwarfs." Although most of them are concentrated in the lower-left corner of the diagram, the white dwarf group actually extends thinly across the bottom of the diagram. Thus the name white dwarf is a kind of misnomer. The shape of this thin grouping begins to drop off steeply at its (cooler) right end much as the main sequence does. A professional astronomer has been quoted as saying: "The observed white dwarfs are basically cooling embers. The nuclear fire of the stars burned out billions of years ago. The light emitted comes from the heat remaining from the earlier nuclear burning. By measuring the spectrum of the light, the brightness in various colors, the temperatures of the stars were determined. The two coolest of the white dwarfs studied, PSR J0034-0534 and PSR J1713+0747, are 3400 degrees Kelvin (5600 F), making them the coolest known white dwarfs. For comparison, the surface of the sun measures 5800 degrees Kelvin and the coolest previously known white dwarfs are 4000 degrees Kelvin." But then, why are these relatively cool stars called "white"? One presumes it is only because they seem to be members of the grouping in the HR diagram that was originally given that name. Stars in Globular and Open Clusters Relatively recently, other more distant groups of stars have been plotted on HR axes with quite different results from when the stars near our Sun are plotted. Two examples of this are shown on the web page: [2]http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/hr/hr.html. The two different shapes of the HR diagrams given in that web site, one for the globular cluster, M5, and the other for the Perseus "double open cluster" give possible clues to the structure of those star clusters. For example, current density seems to be roughly the same for most of the stars in M5, but their luminosity (size) varies widely. And the largest of these stars seem to have the lowest current density. Are they at the dense center of the cluster and therefore somewhat shielded from the current? Another group of stars in M5 seem to be of a similar size but with high and varying levels of current density. Are they the stars doing the shielding? The HR diagram for the stars in the h and chi Persei double cluster has a markedly different shape from both that of M5 and the one for the stars in our neighborhood. Each of these different HR shapes simply indicates the contrasting properties (size, electrical input levels) of the stars in these groupings. The different shapes of the HR diagrams should _not_ be thought of as being indicative of the ages of those stars or their interior composition or the "evolutionary processes" they are undergoing. It's not that complicated. Blue Stragglers Up until recently no O or B type stars were observed in globular clusters. It was thought that all stars in any given globular cluster were of a similar age. Therefore, it came as a big shock when it was discovered that there were some blue "stragglers" (stars that hadn't "aged properly") in certain clusters. It was said, in awe, that these stars were "rejuvenated stars that glow with the blue light of young stars"! "Stellar evolution" doesn't seem to be working too well in these cases. Another example of "stellar evolution" that is difficult to explain via the H-He fusion reaction is that in recent years, the centers of elliptical galaxies have been found to emit unexpectedly high amounts of blue and ultraviolet light. Elliptical galaxies (and the stars in them) are thought to be quite old. How, then, can there be so many "young" blue stars in them? One mainstream answer is that some dying old stars suddenly decide to burn the Helium they had been previously producing or we hear (as always) the mantra that perhaps there were "collisions between stars". From the ES point of view, any star can move quickly across the HR diagram if its electrical environment changes. Anyone who has seen the aurora's plasma curtains moving and folding in the polar sky realizes that Birkeland current filaments are not fixed, static, things. They move around. If the galactic Birkeland currents move around, it is likely they will move relative to some stars - either increasing or decreasing the current densities these stars experience. A blue star is just one that is experiencing the full brunt of a strong Birkeland current. "Blue stragglers" aren't stragglers at all. They are just blue. Variable Stars When I was researching topics for this article, Wal Thornhill said to me, "Have a look at variable stars, particularly bursters, where I think you will find the brightness curve is like that of lightning with a sudden rise time and exponential decay. Some stars are regular and others irregular. The irregular ones seem to average the power over the bursts. When they are more frequent, the energy is less per burst. If there is a long latency, the next burst is more powerful. It's the kind of thing you would expect from an electrical circuit when the trigger level is variable and the power input constant. I think _many variable stars are actually binaries with some kind of electrical interaction_. Long period Miras (A type of variable star) may actually have an object orbiting within the shell of a red giant (as I have proposed for the proto-Saturnian system)" Following Wal's suggestion, I looked at the recent Hubble image of Mira itself, the flagship star of that class of variable stars. Mira's image reveals a huge plasma emission on one side of the star. The official explanation includes the words, " Mira A is a red giant star undergoing dramatic pulsations, causing it to become more than 100 times brighter over the course of a year. . Mira can extend to over 700 times the size of our Sun, and is only 400 light-years away. The . photograph taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the true face of Mira. But what are we seeing? The unusual extended feature off the lower left of the star remains somewhat mysterious. Possible explanations include gravitational perturbation and/or heating from Mira's _white dwarf star companion_." [Italics added.] Mira has a white dwarf companion, just as Wal suggested was likely. So, a much better possible explanation of its pulsating output is that an electrical discharge is taking place between Mira and its companion, much like a relaxation oscillator. It's not really "mysterious" at all. There are many examples of unequally sized, closely spaced, binary pairs that are variable and emit frequent nova-like explosions. The list includes: * SS Cygni - A yellow dwarf and a hot blue-white dwarf. Orbital period 6.5 hours! Separation distance 100.000 miles or less. Burnham asks, "Is SS Cygni ..... dying out after having been [a full scale nova] in the past?" * U Geminorum - A B-type blue dwarf and a G-type dwarf. Orbital period 4.5 hours! Separation distance a few hundred thousand miles. In this case Burnham states, "Spectroscopic studies reveal the existence of a "rotating ring of gas" (plasma) around the blue star, and it appears that the explosive increase of light is due not only to the brightening of the star, but to a large increase of radiation from the cloud." * Z Andromedae and R Aquarii - Both of these consist of a hot blue dwarf mated to a red giant. * T Coronae and RS Ophiuchi - Both have recurrent nova-like eruptions and are close binary systems. Gamma Ray Bursters If you check the web page [3]http://www.science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast13oct98_1.htm you will see the following description of what constitutes a "gamma ray burster". "October 13, 1998: Cosmic gamma-ray bursts have been called the _greatest mystery of modern astronomy_. They are powerful blasts of gamma- and X-radiation that come from all parts of the sky, but never from the same direction twice. Space satellites indicate that Earth is illuminated by 2 to 3 bursts every day. What are they? No one is certain. Until recently we didn't even know if they came from the neighborhood of our own solar system or perhaps from as far away as the edge of the universe. The first vital clues began to emerge in 1997 when astronomers detected an optical counterpart to a gamma-ray burst. In February 1997 the BeppoSAX X-ray astronomy satellite pinpointed the position of a burst in Orion to within a few arcminutes. That allowed astronomers to photograph the burst, and what they saw surprised them. They detected a _rapidly fading star_, probably the aftermath of a _gigantic_ _explosion_, _next to a faint amorphous blob_ believed to be a very distant galaxy." [Italics added.] Doesn't this sound like fissioning again? An _explosion_, followed by a _rapidly fading star_, accompanied by some sort of _companion_! Might it be that the reason they "never [come] from the same direction twice" is that the creation of the binary pair has relieved the electrical stress (at least for a long enough time that we humans haven't yet seen a recurrence)? The February issue of Sky & Telescope magazine contains these words, "Does every gamma-ray burst begin with the supernova explosion of a massive star? New observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Italian-Dutch BeppoSAX satellite suggest this is so. Some astronomers think it's still too early to draw firm conclusions, though they hail the new observations as revolutionary. In any case, a link between gamma-ray bursts and supernovae seems to be convincingly confirmed." Pulsars Although pulsars do not occupy a specific place in the HR diagram, it is worth noting that they, too, have characteristics that are most comfortably explained via the ES model. Pulsars are stars that have extremely short periods of variability in their production of EM radiation (both light and radio frequency emissions) . When they were first discovered it was thought that they rotated rapidly - like lighthouses. But when the observed rate of "rotation" got up to about once per second for certain pulsars, despite their having masses exceeding that of the sun, this official explanation became untenable. Instead, the concept of the _"neutron star"_ was invented. It was proposed that only such a dense material could make up a star that could stand those rotation speeds. But, one of the basic rules of nuclear chemistry is the zone of stability. This is the observation that if we add neutrons to the nucleus of any atom, we need to add an almost proportional number of protons (and their accompanying electrons) to maintain a stable nucleus. In fact, it seems that when we consider all the natural elements (and the heavy man made elements as well), there is a requirement that in order to hold a group of neutrons together in a nucleus, a certain number of proton-electron pairs are required. Indeed, in 1935 Hidekei Yukawa postulated that neutrons and protons were bound by the very rapid exchange of a nuclear particle called a pi meson. The stable nuclei of the lighter elements contain approximately equal numbers of neutrons and protons, a neutron/proton ratio of 1. The heavier nuclei contain a few more neutrons than protons, but the limit seems to be 1.5 neutrons per proton. Nuclei that differ from this ratio SPONTANEOUSLY UNDERGO RADIOACTIVE TRANSFORMATIONS that tend to bring their compositions into or closer to this ratio. Flying in the face of this fact, mainstream astronomers continue to propose the existence of stars made up of solid material consisting only of neutrons, "Neutronium". This is yet one more example of Fairie Dust entities fantasized by astronomers to explain otherwise inexplicable observations. So, the neutron star is simply another fantasy conjured up, this time, in order to avoid confronting the idea that pulsar discharges are electrical in nature. A nucleus or charge free atom made up of only neutrons has never been realized in any laboratory nor can it ever be. In fact, a web search on the word neutronium will produce only references to a computer game not to any real or scientific discussion or description. Lone neutrons decay into proton - electron pairs in less than 14 minutes. And in addition, atomlike collections of two or more neutrons will fly apart almost instantaneously. Wal Thornhill has written at length about how impossible the mainstream explanations of pulsar emissions are: "The discovery now of an x-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 (J1808 for short), located in the constellation of Sagittarius, that flashes every 2.5 thousandths of a second (that is 24,000 RPM!) goes way beyond the red-line even for a neutron star. So another ad hoc requirement is added to the already long list - this pulsar must be composed of something even more dense than packed neutrons - _strange matter!_ ...When not associated with protons in a nucleus, neutrons decay into protons and electrons in a few minutes. Atomic nuclei with too many neutrons are unstable. If it were possible to form a neutron star, why should it be stable?" "Strange matter"! Yet another fanciful invention. They have been getting away with this kind of nonsense for decades. Will no responsible astronomer cry out that the Emperor Has No Clothes On? So, some pulsars oscillate with periods in the millisecond range! Their radio pulse characteristics are: the "duty cycle" is typically 5% (i.e., the pulsar flashes much like a lighthouse - like a strobe light - the duration of each output pulse is much shorter than the length of time between pulses); some individual pulses are quite variable in intensity; the polarization of the pulse implies the origin is near a magnetic pole. These characteristics are consistent with an _electrical arc (lightning) interaction between two closely spaced binary stars_. Relaxation oscillators with characteristics like this have been known and used by electrical engineers for many years. Therefore, I was pleased when I saw the following announcement: Hubble Space Telescope Observations Reveal Coolest and Oldest White Dwarf Stars in the Galaxy "Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have detected five optical _companion stars _orbiting _millisecond pulsars_. Only two other such systems are known. Three of the companions are among the coolest and oldest white dwarf stars known." [Italics added] It is becoming obvious that pulsars are electrical discharges between members of binary pairs. The Crab Pulsar The "Crab Nebula" (M1) is a cloud of gas (plasma) that is the remnant of a _nova_ explosion seen by Chinese astronomers. Lying at the center of the nebula is a _pulsar_ - a star called CM Tauri. The frequency of repetition of the pulsar's output is 30 pulses per second. The length of each "flash", however, is approximately 1/1000 sec., one millisecond! The obvious question to ask next is: Is this star a binary pair? No companion is visible from even the largest earthbound telescopes. But, the Hubble orbiting telescope has found_ a companion_, "a small knot of bright emission located only 1500 AU (1500 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun) from the pulsar. This knot has gone undetected up until now because even at the best ground-based resolution it is lost in the glare of the adjacent pulsar. The knot and the pulsar line up with the direction of a jet of X-ray emission. A second discovery is that in the direction opposite the knot, the Crab pulsar is capped by a ring-like 'halo' of emission tipped at about 20 degrees to our line of sight. In this geometry the polar jet flows right through the center of the halo." M1 - The Crab Nebula The shape of this pulsar centered area is exactly that of a homopolar motor - generator. Supernova Remnant G11.2-0.3 On August 6, 2000, and October 15, 2000, the orbiting X-ray telescope Chandra discovered a _pulsar_ at the geometric center of the _supernova_ remnant known as G11.2-0.3. Chandra provides very strong evidence that the pulsar was formed in the supernova of 386 AD, which was also witnessed by Chinese astronomers. The official description of the image included the words: "The Chandra observations of G11.2-0.3 have also, for the first time, revealed the _bizarre_ appearance of the pulsar _wind nebula_ at the center of the supernova remnant. Its rough cigar-like shape is in contrast to the graceful arcs observed around the Crab and Vela pulsars. However, together with those pulsars, G11.2-0.3 demonstrates that such complicated structures are ubiquitous around young pulsars." Upon examination, the image of the central star reveals that it is at the center of a "cigar shaped" _plasma discharge_, not a "bizarre wind nebula" (whatever that is). Although no binary companion has (yet) been found, the presence of the observed plasma discharge makes one suspect it is only a matter of time. Each new discovery of a _binary pair_ of stars, one of which is either a _variable star or pulsar_, at the center of a _nova_ remnant, is one more piece of evidence that Juergens' electric star model and Thornhill's theory of the fissioning of those electric stars are both valid. Electric Star Evolution Mainstream astronomers accept and promote the notion that O type stars are young; they are thought to age due to the nuclear burning up of their Hydrogen fuel. In the ES interpretation, there is no reason to attribute youth to one spectral type over another. We conclude that a star's location on the HR diagram only depends on its size and the electric current density it is presently experiencing. If, for whatever reason, the strength of that current density should change, then the star will change its position on the HR diagram. Perhaps, like FG Sagittae, abruptly. Otherwise, no movement from one place to another on that plot is to be expected. And its age remains indeterminate regardless of its mass or spectral type. This is disquieting in the sense that we see now that our own Sun's future is not as certain as is predicted by mainstream astronomy. We cannot know whether the Birkeland current presently powering our Sun will increase or decrease, nor how long it will be before it does so. Summary A fresh look at the HR diagram, unencumbered by the assumption that all stars must be internally powered by the thermonuclear fusion reaction, reveals an elegant correspondence between this plot and the Electric Sun model proposed by Ralph Juergens. Assuming, as he did, that stars are powered externally by the vast Birkeland currents that exist in the arms of their galaxies, the details in the shape of the HR diagram are exactly what his ES model predicts. The observed actions of nova-like variable stars, pulsars, and the high frequency of occurrence of binary pairs of stars are all in concordance with Thornhill's Electrical Universe theory, his stellar fissioning concept, and the Electric Star model as well. So is the otherwise totally inexplicable behavior of FG Sagittae. We eagerly await NASA's next "mysterious discovery" to further strengthen the case for the Electric Star hypothesis. [4]Next Page ----> [5]Return to the Main Page ______________________________________________________________ References & Links: Burnham, R., "Burnham's Celestial Handbook", Dover, 1966, 1976, Three vols. Chandra Detection of an X-ray Flare from the Brown Dwarf LP 944-20 Authors: Robert E. Rutledge (Caltech), Gibor Basri (UCB), Eduardo Martin (Caltech), Lars Bildsten (ITP/UCSB) See: [6]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000712.html Also see Wal Thornhill's page: [7]http://www.holoscience.com/news/failed_star.html T.Kipper in collaboration with V.G.Klochkova (SAO, Russia). See [8]http://www.aai.ee/~annuk/tekst.html COMMISSIONS 27 AND 42 OF THE IAU INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS, No. 4346, Konkoly Observatory, Budapest, 21 May 1996, HU ISSN 0374 - 0676. See [9]http://www.konkoly.hu/cgi-bin/IBVS?4346 See [10]http://www.holoscience.com/eu/synopsis/6.elecstars.html See [11]http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/hr/hr.html See [12]http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/HST/press/oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR /97/35/a.html See [13]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991103.html See [14]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981011.html See [15]http://xrtpub.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/1227/index.html See [16]http://cnas.ucr.edu/~physics/Active/Abs/abstract-6-NOV-97.html [17][hit.asp?sSiteName=dascott2] References 1. http://www.holoscience.com/eu/synopsis/6.elecstars.html 2. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/hr/hr.html 3. http://www.science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast13oct98_1.htm 4. file://localhost/www/sat/files/galaxies.htm 5. file://localhost/www/sat/files/index.htm 6. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000712.html 7. http://www.holoscience.com/news/failed_star.html 8. http://www.aai.ee/~annuk/tekst.html 9. http://www.konkoly.hu/cgi-bin/IBVS?4346 10. http://www.holoscience.com/eu/synopsis/6.elecstars.html 11. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/hr/hr.html 12. http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/HST/press/oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/97/35/a.html 13. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991103.html 14. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981011.html 15. http://xrtpub.harvard.edu/photo/cycle1/1227/index.html 16. http://cnas.ucr.edu/~physics/Active/Abs/abstract-6-NOV-97.html 17. http://www.stats4all.com/asp/login.asp?sSiteName=dascott2