mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== _THE ELECTRIC SUN_ _Updated 8/3/01_ Figure 1. (a. Left) A solar flare showing the twisting motion characteristic of a Birkeland current. (b. Right) An X-ray image of the sun showing the active lower corona. The Electric Sun hypothesis is a logical extrapolation of the Electric/Plasma Universe theory which came into being through the work of Hannes Alfven, Kristian Birkeland, P. Carlqvist and others. The person who originated and codified these ideas is the late engineer Ralph E. Juergens of Flagstaff, Arizona. _._The ideas embodied by the Plasma Universe are now being developed further by researchers such as Wallace Thornhill, Anthony L. Peratt, Eric Lerner, and others. In this day and age there is no longer any question that electrical effects in plasmas play an important role in the phenomena we observe on the Sun. ______________________________________________________________________ _The Presently Accepted Solar Model_ "The certainty that the Sun generates its prodigious outpourings of energy through thermonuclear reactions deep in its interior has been with us for about half a century." [Juergens 1979]. In almost every article or TV program produced for the general population, the very first sentence usually contains some reference to the "fact" that the Sun is, at its core, a thermonuclear fusion reactor - the same reaction that gives us the Hydrogen bomb. The heat (energy) produced in this core then supposedly slowly rises to the Sun's surface by convection (laminar fluid flow) and is there radiated out into space. The granulations we see on the surface of the photosphere are supposedly the tops of convection columns. This fusion model was first proposed by Sir Arthur Eddington, who simply rejected out of hand the proposal that the Sun might be getting its energy from outside itself. He just could not conceive of such a thing happening. Therefore, if the Sun was getting its energy from inside itself, and it hadn't burned up in a few billion years, Eddington concluded that the source had to be nuclear fusion. _Problems with the Thermonuclear (Fusion) Model_ 1. Missing Neutrinos _ _ A thermonuclear reaction of the type assumed to be powering the Sun must emit a flood of neutrinos. Nowhere near the requisite number of neutrinos have been found after thirty years of searching for them. A series of grandly expensive experiments have failed to find the necessary neutrino flux. Some solar neutrinos have indeed been observed - but _less than half the number required_ if the fusion reaction really is the main source of the Sun's energy production. But, the negative results from the neutrino experiments have resulted not in any re-examination of solar models. Rather, an intense theoretical effort to discover new properties that solar neutrinos "must have" has occurred. As a result of this effort, it has just (June 2001) been announced by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Canada that neutrinos have mass and can change "flavor". This supposedly accounts for why they have not been fully observed previously. However, several important questions remain to be answered about the method that was used by the SNO researchers in arriving at their conclusions. See: [1]Analysis of the Sudbury report Of course, whether neutrinos actually do change "flavor" or not has no bearing whatever on the validity of the Electric Sun model. The neutrino problem is a hurdle only for the standard fusion model. In the Electric Sun model there is no energy produced in the core - _radiant energy is released at the surface _and not by nuclear fusion, but_ by electric arc discharge. _So, there is no "missing neutrino" problem for the electric Sun model. The low neutrino flux that is observed is perfectly consistent with the ES model. (See the section on Temperature Minimum and Fusion in the Electric Sun hypothesis description below). 2. Convection of Energy Up from the Core The accepted view of how the sun transports its energy from its central core outward to its surface is the mechanism dubbed "non-stationary convection." The granules that are visible on the photosphere are claimed to be the tops of laminar columns that penetrate down toward the core. Supposedly, heat (energy) is smoothly transported outward from the core in this "convection zone" via these tubes. This convection process is said to take hundreds of thousands of years. There are some problems with this idea. _Sunspot Temperatures_ Sunspots are depressions in the photosphere - places where we can see down deeper into the surface of the Sun. The temperature of the umbrae (dark center of the spots) is typically around 3800 K to 4000 K. This is 2000 K _lower_ than the temperature of the photospheric surface itself (about 6000 K). If energy is really flowing upward toward the surface of the Sun from a 6 million K core, these holes in the photosphere should be much _hotter_ than the outer layers of the photosphere, not cooler. The usual explanation of this is that strange magnetic waves down below the surface prevent heat energy from flowing up at these points. (How magnetic fields can affect convecting thermal energy flow is unexplained.) _The Reynolds Number_ "The Reynolds number is a dimensionless measure that combines several physical parameters and pinpoints conditions under which a moving fluid will behave this way or that way. The number is essentially a ratio between forces tending to accelerate a fluid medium and viscous forces that resist such acceleration. Under given conditions, motions in one fluid - liquid, gas, or plasma - will be unlike those in another fluid unless their respective Reynolds numbers are approximately the same." - [R. Juergens, 1979] When the Reynolds number of any fluid exceeds a critical value, flow in that fluid due to convection or any other accelerating force will be _turbulent and highly complex._ "The actual Reynolds number of the photosphere, as calculated from observable characteristics of the plasma, turns out to be in excess of 10^11, which is to say, at least 100 billion times greater than the critical value! Clearly, then, any convective motion in the photosphere should be violently turbulent and highly disordered..." [op. cit.]. Again, to quote Juergens: "Many facile assertions to the contrary, it becomes increasingly obvious that photospheric granulation is explainable in terms of convection _only if we disregard what we know about convection_. Surely the cellular structure is _not_ to be expected." The reason the "cellular structure is not to be expected" is that if strong turbulence exists in the convection zone, those thin 150,000 mile long convection columns, the well defined tops of which we supposedly view as granules, cannot be stable. In the Electric Sun model there is no transporting of energy going on from the core up to the surface - _power is released at the surface. _There is no need for magical "non-stationary convection." The "granules" are really anode tufts (electric plasma arc discharges), not the tops of non existent columns. Much criticism has been raised by skeptics recently about Juergens' conclusions relative to the Reynolds number. Whether or not his analysis proves to be correct in every detail, the coolness of sunspot umbra temperatures make the existence of 150,000 mile long smooth convection columns that are transporting all of the Sun's energy up from its core (taking hundreds of thousands of years to do it) improbable at best. And the question of where all this thermal energy is converted into magnetic fields is another unaddressed question for the fusion model. 3. Temperature Minimum below the Corona Any typical source of radiant energy is expected to obey an inverse square law. That is to say, the farther we get away from it, the less energy we receive per unit area. A wood stove is hottest at its core, a bit less on its outside surface, and as we backup away from it, we feel continually less and less radiant energy on each unit area of our body. This analogy was used in the cover article in the Scientific American; June 01, 2001 entitled "THE PARADOX OF THE SUN'S HOT CORONA" by Bhola N. Dwivedi and Kenneth J.H. Phillips to describe the problem of the 2 million Kelvin temperature of the Sun's lower corona: "It is as though you got warmer the farther away you walked from a fireplace." Near the Sun's surface, its atmosphere is _coolest _- the photosphere - only about 6000K! (And cooler yet at the deepest part of its sunspots.) But then, as we go farther away from the photospheric surface, the temperature of the atmosphere first begins to rise smoothly and then abruptly jumps wildly to about 2 _million_ K in the tenuous lower corona. If radiant energy is produced at the core and radiated at the tops of those convection columns (as per the fusion model) this wide temperature leap is not easily explained - certainly not without reference to the electric phenomena that are obviously occurring. Figure 2. (a) Temperature profile as a function of radial distance from the Sun's surface. (Note: The vertical axis is logarithmic.) Image Credit: Big Bear Solar Observatory The standard fusion model views this temperature discontinuity as an inconvenience for which several ad hoc explanations have been offered. One noted astronomer actually told the author in front of witnesses that the minimum was due to the fact that the temperature sensor "couldn't see the entire sun when it was too close to the surface". I then asked him if a mosquito hovering right next to a blazing wood stove would find it cooler there than farther out because he "couldn't see the whole stove if he was close enough to it"! Other mainstream astronomers invoke the idea that magnetic loops and MHD waves somehow throw heat out into the lower corona. (The question of exactly what mechanism converts thermal energy directly into magnetic fields inside the Sun and then performs the inverse operation up in the lower corona is not answered.) Bhola N. Dwivedi and Kenneth J.H. Phillips in their June 2001 Scientific American article state as much: "Astronomers have _implicated_ magnetic fields in the coronal heating; _where those fields are strongest, the corona is hottest_. Such fields can transport energy in a form other than heat, thereby sidestepping the usual thermodynamic restrictions. _The energy must still be converted to heat_, and researchers are testing two possible theories: small-scale _magnetic field reconnections_--the same process involved in solar flares--and _magnetic waves_." [Ital. added] Coronal hot spots occur on top of sunspots where the outward + ion flux (an electric current) is extremely high. High currents produce intense magnetic fields. Voila! - The magnetic fields are strong in coronal hotspots. That is to be expected in the Electric Sun model. The notion that magnetic field lines "reconnect" (presumably after _dis_connecting) is blatantly impossible according to Maxwell's equations. This is discussed below. See the section on Prominences, Flares, and CME's under the Electric Sun description. _ The Electric Sun model simply and accurately predicts the Sun's temperature profile_ and shows why it occurs. In fact if there were no temperature discontinuity, this would pose a problem for the Electric Sun hypothesis. 4. Acceleration of the Solar "Wind" Ions The positive ions that are the main constituent of what mainstream astronomers euphemistically call the solar "wind" move faster and faster the farther away from the Sun they get. They _accelerate! _Nothing in the fusion model predicts nor explains this observed phenomenon. One orthodox explanation that has been put forward is that photons collide with the ions and accelerate them. However, as of May 2000, mainstream astronomy still had no real explanation for this observed phenomenon (nor for the temperature minimum): Dr. Peter T. Gallagher from the Big Bear Solar Observatory presented a seminar on Observations and Modeling of the Corona and Solar Wind. "Understanding the physics of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration remains one of the _unsolved problems of solar physics_. It is believed that the corona is heated by either high frequency MHD waves or by many small scale reconnections, but the exact heating mechanisms and how they relate to the acceleration of coronal plasma are still uncertain." (Italics added) Figure 2. (b) Solar wind speeds as a function of radial distance from the Sun. Any student of physics who has heard of electric charge and electric fields, knows that the easiest way to get electrically _charged_ particles to _accelerate_ is to apply an _electric field_ to them. The acceleration of the positively charged solar "wind" particles is clearly an electrical phenomenon. It is accurately predicted by the Electric Sun model. 5. Periodic Fluctuations in the Sun's Output and Size There is experimental evidence that the Sun vibrates in a way that throws doubt on both the assumed convection process for heat transportation and the thermonuclear reaction itself. Bear in mind that the standard model requires the transportation of energy to take hundreds of thousands of years to go from the core to the surface in those 150,000 mile long columns. But: * here is a fluctuation with a 27 day 43 minute period observed in the stream of particles emanating from the sun. Why? * In the 1970's the Sun was observed to be oscillating in brightness with variable cycles lasting from a few minutes to nearly one hour. How? * Russian investigators found a periodic rise and fall of the entire solar surface, the amplitude of which was 10 kilometers in height. Why and how? * The sun actually expands and contracts in size (diameter) with a periodicity of 160 minutes. _This periodicity of two hours and forty minutes is impossible for mainstream theorists of "helioseismology" to explain._ The results of "helioseismology" (the study of these pulsations) are also consistent with a model wherein the Sun is an iso-dense sphere of gas that supports, on its outer surface, an electric arc discharge powered externally, electrically. ______________________________________________________________________ _The Electric Sun Hypothesis_ The Basics Juergens, Milton, Thornhill, Alfven and others propose an electrical mechanism for the energy release of the Sun. The major properties of this Electric Sun model are as follows: * Most of the space within our galaxy is occupied by plasma (rarefied ionized gas) containing electrons (negative charges) and ionized atoms (positive charges). Every point in the plasma has a measurable (electric) potential energy (or voltage). * The Sun is at a more positive electrical potential (voltage) than is the space plasma surrounding it - probably in the order of 10 billion volts. * The Sun is powered, not from within itself, but from outside, by the electric (Birkeland) currents that flow in our arm of our galaxy as they do in all galaxies. In the Plasma Universe model, these currents create the galaxies and the stars within those galaxies by the electromagnetic z-pinch effect. It is only a small extrapolation to propose that these currents also power those stars. Galactic currents are of low current _density_, but, because the size of the stars are large, the total current (Amperage) is high. The Sun's radiated power at any instant is due to the energy imparted by a combination of incoming cosmic electrons and outgoing +ions. As the Sun moves around the galactic center it may come into regions of higher or lower total current and so its output may vary both periodically and randomly. * Positive ions leave the Sun and cosmic electrons enter the Sun. Both of these flows _add _to form a net positive current leaving the Sun. This constitutes a plasma discharge analogous in every way (except size) to those that have been observed in electrical laboratories for decades. * The Sun's radiative lifetime will extend only until the solar _charge_ (and therefore, its electrical potential [voltage]) equals that of its galactic surroundings. Incoming cosmic ray protons, which bombard the Earth and Sun, represent currents (solar "winds") from higher voltage stars which liberate positive ions with sufficient energy to overcome the Sun's repelling voltage and impinge on its surface. (Is this mechanism, by which the Sun is able to regain some + charge, significant in extending its ultimate lifetime?) * Because of the Sun's positive charge (voltage), it acts as the anode in a plasma discharge. As such, it exhibits many of the phenomena observed in earthbound plasma laboratories, such as _anode tufting_. The granules observed on the surface of the photosphere are anode tufts (plasma in the arc mode). Electrical Properties of the Photosphere and Chromosphere The essence of the Electric Sun hypothesis is an analysis of the electrical properties of its photosphere and the chromosphere and the resulting effects on the charged particles that move across them. A cross-section taken through a photospheric "granule" is shown in the three plots in Figure 3, below. The horizontal axis of each of the three plots is distance, measured radially outward, starting at at a point near the bottom of the photosphere (the true surface of the Sun - which we can only observe in the umbra of sunspots). The first plot shows the energy per unit (positive) charge of an ion as a function of its radial distance out from the solar surface. The second plot, the _E_-field, shows the outward radial force (toward the right) experienced by such a positive ion. The third plot shows the locations of the charge densities that will produce the first two plots. The chromosphere consists of a plasma double layer (DL) of electrical charge. Figure 3. Energy, Electric field strength, and Charge density as a function of radial distance from the Sun's surface. All three of these plots are related mathematically. By the laws of electrophysics: _E_ = - dV/dr, and Chg density = d_E_/dr. In words: The value of the _E-_field, at every point r, is the (negative of) the slope of the energy plot at that point. The value of the charge density at each point, r, is the slope of the _E-_field plot at that point. The charge density plot necessary to produce the compound shaped energy curve between points c and e used to be called a "double sheath". Modern nomenclature calls it a "double layer" (DL). It is a well known phenomenon in plasma discharges. Because of the DL being there between points c and e, a +ion to the right of point e sees no electrostatic force from +ions to the left of point c. The "primary plasma" of the corona and the "secondary plasma" of the photosphere are compartmentalized by the DL - a well known, and often observed property of plasmas. The energy plot in figure 3 is valid for _positively charged _particles. Because the _E-_field represents the outward radial force (toward the right) per unit charge on such a particle, the region wherein the _E-_field is negative (a to b) constitutes an energy barrier that positive ions must surmount in order to escape the body of the Sun. Any +ions attempting to escape outward from within the Sun must have enough energy to get over this energy barrier. So the presence of the single positive charge layer at the bottom of the tuft plasma serves as a constraint on unlimited escape of +ions from the surface of the Sun. Tuft Shrinkage and Movement In order to visualize the effect this energy diagram has on _electrons_ (negative charges) _coming in_ toward the Sun from cosmic space (from the right), turn the energy plot upside down. Doing this enables us to visualize the "trap" that these photospheric tufts are for incoming electrons. As the trap fills, the energy level between b and c lowers, and so the tuft shrinks, and eventually disappears. This is the cause of the observed random movement and shrinkage of photospheric granules. Temperature Minimum Charged particles do not experience external electrostatic forces when they are in the range b to c - within the photosphere. Only random "thermal" movement occurs due to diffusion. (Temperature is simply the measurment of the violence of such random movement.) This is where the 6,000 K temperature is measured. Positive ions have their maximum electrical potential energy when they are in this photospheric plasma. But thier kinetic energy is relatively low. At a point just to the left of point c, any random movement toward the right (radially outward) that carries a + ion even slightly to the right of point c will result in it being swept away, down the energy hill, toward the right. Such movement of charged particles due to an _E_-field is called a "drift current". This drift current of accelerating positive ions is a constituent of the solar "wind" (which is a serious misnomer). Temperature Minimum and Fusion As positive ions begin to accelerate down the potential energy drop from point c through e, they convert the high (electrical) potential energy they had in the photosphere into kinetic energy - they gain extremely high outward radial velocity and lose side-to-side random motion. Thus, they become "dethermalized". In this region, in the upper photosphere and lower chromosphere, the movement of these ions becomes extremely organized (parallel). The pinch effect of high intensity, parallel current filaments in a plasma is very strong. The relatively small amount of nuclear fusion that is taking place on the Sun is occurring here in the chromosphere (not deep within the core). The result of this fusion process are the "metals" that give rise to absorption lines in the Sun's spectrum. Most of the radio frequency noise emitted by the Sun emanates from this region. Radio noise is a well known property of DLs. It is also well known that the neutrino flux from the Sun varies with sunspot number. This is expected in the ES hypothesis because the source of those neutrinos is z-pinch produced fusion which is occurring in the chromosphere - and sunspots destroy the double layers which support this process. The Transition Zone When these rapidly traveling + ions pass point e they move beyond the radially directed _E_-field force that has been accelerating them. Because of their high kinetic energy (velocity), any collisions they have at this point (with other ions or with neutral atoms) are violent and create high amplitude random motions, thereby "re-thermalizing" the plasma to a much greater degree than it was in the photospheric tufts (in the range b to c). When +ions fall through the voltage drop contained in the chromosphere, they convert the high potential energy they had in the photosphere into kinetic energy. This kinetic energy of the +ions is released into the lower corona by collisions with the ions and atoms there. This is what is responsible for the high temperature we observe in the lower corona. Ions just to the right of point e are reported to be at temperatures of 1 to 2 million K. Nothing else but exactly this kind of mechanism could be expected from the electric sun (anode tuft - double layer) model. The "re-thermalization" takes place in a region analogous to the turbulent "white water" boiling at the bottom of a smooth laminar water slide. In the fusion model no such ("water slide") phenomenon exists - and so neither does a simple explanation of the temperature discontinuity. Acceleration of the Solar "Wind" The energy plot in figure 3 (to the right of point e) actually trails off, with slightly negative slope, toward the negative voltage of deep space (our arm of the Milky Way galaxy). Consistent with this, a low amplitude (positive) _E-_field extends indefinitely to the right from point e. This is the effect of the Sun being at a higher voltage level than is distant space beyond the heliopause. The outward force on positive ions due to this _E-_field causes the observed _acceleration_ of +ions in the solar "wind". Cosmic Rays The particles in our solar wind eventually join with the spent solar winds of all the other stars in our galaxy to make up the total cosmic ray flux in our arm of our galaxy. Juergens points out that the Sun is a rather mediocre star as far as radiating energy goes. If it is electrically powered, perhaps its mediocrity is attributable to a relatively unimpressive driving potential. This would mean that hotter, more luminous stars should have driving potentials greater than that of the Sun and should consequently expell cosmic rays of greater energies than solar cosmic rays. A star with a driving potential of 20 billion volts would expell protons energetic enough to reach the Suns surface, arriving with 10 billion electron volts of energy to spare. Such cosmic ions, when they collide with Earth's upper atmosphere release the muon neutrinos that have been much in the news recently. Fluctuations in the Solar "Wind" It is interesting to note in passing that the three plots shown in figure 3 are identically the plots of energy, _E_-field, and charge distribution found in a pnp transistor. Of course in that solid-state device there are different things going on at different energy levels ("valence band" and "conduction band") within a solid crystal. In the solar plasma there are no fixed atomic centers and so there is only one energy band. In a transistor, the amplitude of the collector current (analogous to the drift of +ions in the solar "wind" toward the right) is easily controlled by raising and lowering the difference between the energy levels at points a and b (the base-emitter voltage). Is the same mechanism (a voltage fluctuation between the anode-Sun and its photosphere) at work in the Sun? e.g., If the Sun's voltage were to decrease slightly - say, because of an excessive flow of outgoing +ions - the voltage rise from point a to b in the energy diagram of figure 3 would increase in height and so reduce the solar wind (both the inward electron flow and the outward +ion flow). In May of 1999 the solar wind completely stopped for about two days. There are also periodic variations in the solar wind. The mechanism described above is certainly capable of causing these phenomena. The fusion model is at a complete loss to explain them. Characteristic Modes of a Plasma The volt-ampere characteristic of a plasma discharge has the general shape shown in figure 4. Figure 4. The volt-ampere plot of a plasma discharge. This plot is easily measured for a laboratory plasma contained in a column - a cylindrical glass tube with the anode at one end and the cathode at the other. These two terminals are connected into an electrical circuit whereby the current through the tube can be controlled. In such an experiment, the plasma has a constant cross-sectional area from one end of the tube to the other. The vertical axis of the plot in figure 4 is the voltage rise from the cathode up to the anode (across the entire plasma) as a function of the current passing through the plasma. Current density is the measurement of how many Amps per square meter are flowing through a cross-section of the tube. In a cylindrical tube the cross-section is the same at all points along the tube. When we consider the Sun, of course, a spherical geometry exists - with the sun at the center. The cross-section becomes an imaginary sphere. Assume a constant total electron drift moving from all directions toward the Sun and a constant total flow of +ions outward. Imagine a spherical surface of large radius through which this total current passes. As we approach the Sun from deep space, this spherical surface has an ever decreasing area. Therefore, for a fixed total current, the current _density _(A/m^2) increases as we move inward toward the Sun. * In deep space the current density there is extremely low even though the total current may be huge; we are in the _dark current _region; there are no glowing gases, nothing to tell us we are in a plasma discharge - except possibly some rf emissions. * As we get closer to the Sun, the spherical boundary has a smaller surface area; the current _density_ increases; we enter the _normal glow_ region; this is what we call the Sun's "corona". The intensity of the radiated light is much like a neon sign. * As we approach still closer to the Sun, the spherical boundary gets to be only slightly larger than the Sun itself; the current density becomes extremely large; we enter the _arc region_ of the discharge. This is the anode tuft. This is the photosphere. The intensity of the radiated light is much like an arc welding machine or continuous lightning. A high intensity ultraviolet light is emitted. Sunspots and Coronal Holes In a plasma, both the dimensions and the voltages of the anode tufts depend on the current density at that location (near the anode). The tufts appear and/or disappear, as needed, to maintain a certain required relationship between +ion and electron numbers in the total current. This property of anode tuft plasmas was discovered, quantified, and reported by Irving Langmuir over fifty years ago. In the Electric Sun model, as with any plasma discharge, tufting disappears wherever the flux of incoming electrons impinging onto a given area of the Sun's surface is not sufficiently strong to require the shielding produced by the plasma double layer. At any such location, the anode tufting collapses and we can see down to the actual anode surface of the Sun. Since there is no arc discharge occurring in these locations, they appear darker than the surrounding area and are termed "sunspots". Of course, if a tremendous amount of energy were being produced in the Sun's interior, the spot should be _brighter and hotter_ than the surrounding photosphere. The fact that sunspots are dark and cool strongly supports the contention that very little, if anything, is going on in the Sun's interior. The center of the spot is called its umbra. Figure 5. A sunspot showing the umbra, penumbra, and surrounding anode tufts (DLs). Because there is no anode tuft where a spot is located, the voltage rise (region a to b in figure 3 above), which normally limits the local flow of positive ions leaving the anode surface, does not exist there. In sunspots, then, a large number of ions will flood outward toward the lower corona. Such a flow constitutes a large electrical current - and, as such, will produce a strong localized magnetic field near the sunspot. The Sun's corona is difficult to see except in solar eclipses and in X ray images. This is because the corona is a "normal glow" discharge compared to the tufts which are in "arc mode". In some X ray images of the Sun (such as the one shown in figure 1(b) at the very top of this page) we can see "coronal holes" - large dark regions in the brighter image of the solar corona. The bright regions in X-ray images of the corona indicate hotter, more energetic areas; these are mainly above the sunspot regions. In the three images of a sunspot group, shown in Figure 6, below, the top one is the photosphere - taken in visble light - where, in the umbras, we can see down to the dark (cool) surface of the Sun. Ions are pouring upward out of the Sun at these locations. The middle image is taken in ultraviolet light and shows the chromosphere / transition region. The lower panel is an X-ray image showing the violent activity in the lower corona. This activity is due to the flood of accelerating positive ions escaping the Sun and colliding with atoms higher in the atmosphere (lower corona). Figure 6. The effects of +ions flowing out of a sunspot. Strong electric currents also flow in and above the Sun's surface at the edge of sunspot umbras due to the voltage difference between nearby anode tufts and the umbrae of the spots (where there are no tufts). This region is called a sunspot's penumbra. These currents of course produce magnetic fields. Since, in plasmas, electrical (Birkeland) currents follow the direction of magnetic fields, the glowing plasma in these regions often shows the complicated shapes of these spot-related looping magnetic fields. Prominences, Flares, and CME's All of the above discussion applies to the _steady-state_ (or almost steady-state) operation of the Electric Sun. But there are several _dynamic_ phenomena such as flares, prominences, and coronal mass ejections (CME's) that we observe. How are they produced? Nobel laureate Hannes Alfven, although not aware of the Juergens Electric Sun model, advanced his own theory (3) of how prominences and solar flares are formed electrically. It is completely consistent with the Juergens model. It too is electrical. Any electric current, _i_, creates a magnetic field (the stronger the current - the stronger the magnetic field, and the more energy it contains). Curved magnetic fields cannot exist without either electrical currents or time varying electric fields. Energy, Wm, stored in any magnetic field, is given by the expression Wm = 1/2 L_i _^2. If the current, _i_, is interrupted, the field collapses and its energy must be delivered somewhere. The magnetic field of the Sun sometimes, and in some places on its surface, forms an "omega" shaped loop. This loop extends out through the double sheath layer (DL) of the chromosphere. One of the primary properties of Birkeland currents is that they generally follow magnetic field lines. A strong looping current will produce a secondary toroidal magnetic field that will surround and try to expand the loop. If the current following the loop becomes too strong, the DL will be destroyed1. This interrupts the current (like opening a switch in an inductive circuit) and the energy stored in the primary magnetic field is explosively released into space. Figure 7 - Hannes Alfven's Solar Prominence Circuit Figure 8 - TRACE Image of Plasma Loops It should be well understood (certainly by anyone who has had a basic physics course) that the magnetic field "lines"2 that are drawn to describe a magnetic field, have no beginning nor end. They are closed paths. In fact one of Maxwell's famous equations is: "div _B_ = 0". Which says precisely that (in the language of vector differential calculus). So when magnetic fields collapse due to the interruption of the currents that produce them, they do _not_ "break" or "merge" and "recombine" as some uninformed astronomers have claimed (e.g., see the quote regarding the mainstream concerns above - in 4. Acceleration of the Solar "Wind" Ions). The field simply collapses (very quickly!). On the Sun this collapse releases a tremendous amount of energy, and matter is thrown out away from the surface - as with any explosively rapid reaction. This release is consistent with and predicted by the Electric Sun model as described above. Some astronomers have proposed that heat is routinely transported out to the lower corona by magnetic fields and released there by "reconnection of magnetic field lines, whereby oppositely directed lines cancel each other out, converting magnetic energy into heat. The process requires that the field lines be able to diffuse through the plasma." This idea is inventive but, unfortunately, has no scientific basis whatever. Note that although astronomers ought to be aware that _magnetic fields require electrical currents or time varying E-fields _to produce them, currents and _E_-fields are never mentioned in standard models. Possibly because they do not seem to be included in astrophysics curricula. _1. Double layers can be destroyed by at least two different mechanisms: a) Zener Breakdown - The electric field gradient becomes strong enough to rip all charges away from an area, thus breaking the discharge path; b) Avalanche Breakdown - A literal avalanche occurs wherein all charges are swept away and no conducting charges are left - thus the conducting path is opened._ _2. A magnetic field is a continuum. It is not a set of discrete "lines". Lines are drawn in the classroom to describe the magnetic field (its direction and magnitude). But the lines themselves do not actually exist. They are simply a pedagogical device. Proposing that these lines "break", "merge", and/or "recombine" is an error (violation of Maxwell's equations) compounded on another error (the lines do not really exist in the first place). Magnetic field lines are analogous to lines of latitude and longitude. They are not discrete entities with nothing in between them - you can draw as many of them as close together as you'd like. And they most certainly do not "break", "merge", or "recombine" any more than lines of latitude do. Lately the term "merge" has been used a great deal. Magnetic field lines do not merge or reconnect. Oppositely directed magnetic intensity H-fields simply cancel each other - no energy is stored or released in that event._ ______________________________________________________________________ The Power Source The question, "Are there enough electrons out there in nearby space to power the Sun?" is a valid one. In an article by Earl Milton compiled from Juergen's notes after his death, "Electric Discharge As the Source of Solar Radiant Energy", Juergens (and Milton) essentially made the following argument: The solar constant, defined as the total radiant energy at all wavelengths reaching an area of one square centimeter at the Earth's distance from the Sun, is about 0.137 watts per square centimeter (see R.C.Wilson, Journal of Geophysical Research, 83,4003-4007 1978). It works out, then, that the Sun must be emitting about 6.5x10^7 watts per square meter of solar "surface", and the total power output of the Sun is a (very nearly) constant 4x10^26 watts. The hypothetical electric discharge must then have a power input of 4x10^26 watts.......suppose that the Sun's cathode drop may be of the order of 10^10 volts, ...then..the total power input divided by the cathode drop [is] 4x10^16 amperes..... Let us suppose that the effective velocity of a typical interstellar electron would be about 105 m/s, corresponding to a kinetic temperature of a few hundred Kelvin. From current estimates of the state of ionization of the interstellar gas, we might conclude that there should be as many as 50,000 free electrons per cubic m.(S.A. Kaplan, Interstellar Gas Dynamics - Pergamon 1966). The random electric current of these electrons then would be Ir = Nev where N is the electron density per cubic meter, e is the electron charge in coulombs, and v is the average velocity of the electrons. Using the given values, we find that the random electric current density should be about 3x10^-13 Amperes per square meter through a surface oriented in any manner. The total electron current that can be drawn by the discharge is the product of the random current density and the surface area of the sphere occupied by the cathode drop. There is little to indicate how large this sphere might be, but in view of the enormity of the cathode drop it seems likely that the radius of the sphere would be large in terms of solar system dimensions. The mean distance of Pluto's orbit is 39.5 AU, or about 6x10^12 meters. We might guess that the cathode drop would reach to at least 10^14 meters from the Sun, so that its spherical boundary would have a collecting surface area of somewhat more than 10^29 square meters. Such a surface could then collect a current of interstellar electrons amounting to approximately 4x10^16 amperes - and of course a larger sphere could collect an even greater current. So there _are _enough electrons out there to power the Electric Sun. ______________________________________________________________________ Why Doesn't the Sun Collapse of Its Own Weight? How can we account for the fact that the Sun has been around for a long time with something like the same luminosity, yet has not collapsed in upon itself? 3 In orthodox theory, a main-sequence star like the sun behaves like a ball of gas, its temperature and pressure both increasing monotonically from the outer surface toward the center. The temperature is needed to sustain the pressure, and the pressure is needed to fend off gravitational forces which, in the absence of sufficient pressure, would lead to collapse. It is hard to understand how in Juergens' theory, with no fusion going on in the core, such a "reverse" temperature gradient can be maintained. The answer is best stated by physicist Wal Thornhill: "The electric star model makes the simplest assumption - that nothing is going on inside the Sun. ..... So for most of the volume of a star where the gravity is strongest, atoms and molecules will predominate. (In the electric model that applies to the entire star). The nucleus of each atom, which is thousands of times heavier than the electrons, _will_ be gravitationally offset from the centre of the atom. The result is that each atom becomes a small electric dipole. These dipoles align to form a radial electric field that causes electrons to diffuse outwards in enormously greater numbers than simple gravitational sorting allows. That leaves positively charged ions behind which repel one another. That electrical repulsion balances the compressive force of gravity without the need for a central heat source in the star. An electric star will be roughly the same density throughout, or isodense." We should remember, considering a pair of such protons, that the strength of the electrostatic repulsion force between them is something like 35 orders of magnitude greater than the strength of gravitational attraction! (Not 35 TIMES, but 35 _Orders Of Magnitude_). So the offset of the electron from the nucleus can be truely miniscule and yet produce an extremely strong electrical force to counteract gravitational collapse. The Sun does not require internally generated heat in order to avoid collapse. _3. The same question ("Why doesn't it collapse due to gravity?") should be asked about globular clusters of stars. The real answer in this case is also electrical in nature. And no "missing matter" or "dark energy" is required._ ______________________________________________________________________ Questions Still to Be Answered There are many questions still to be answered regarding the Electric Sun model. * What is the exact circuit diagram? - Precisely what paths do the galactic currents take in the vicinity of the Sun? The number of extremely high velocity incoming cosmic electrons necessary to power the sun is extremely small compared to the local electron density of the plasma surrounding the solar system. The recent discovery of "thin straight tubes" emanating from the south pole of the Sun (and presumed also to come from the north pole as well) that reach out a distance greater than the orbit of Mars, strongly suggest the presence of - previously undetected - Birkeland currents streaming into the Sun. Are they there? Will NASA look for them? * Will the solar charge be replenished over time by cosmic ions ("rays")? Do incoming cosmic rays help power the Sun? * We know that currents and/or time varying electric fields are necessary to produce the Sun's strange and changing magnetic fields. Magnetic fields cannot exist without them. Are the magnetic field reversals observed on the Sun due to reversals (or changes of some sort) in the galactic currents or _E_-fields through which the Sun is traveling? Or is the Sun simply traversing slightly different magnitde current streams? (Are we making "lane changes" on the super highway of galactic electric current flow?) The Sun is a typical star - if the Sun is primarily an electrical entity, then so must the stars be. Is this possible? For example, is the Electric Sun model consistent with the well known Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the stars in our vicinity? Are we, in reality, discussing the _Electric Star_ Model? For the answer see: [2]The Electric Sun and the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. ______________________________________________________________________ Conclusion This has been a brief introduction to Juergens' Electric Sun model: - the realization that our Sun functions electrically - that it is a huge electrically charged, relatively quiescent, sphere of gas that supports an electric plasma arc discharge on its surface and is powered by the subtle currents that move throughout the now well known tenuous plasma that fills our galaxy. Today's orthodox thermonuclear models fail to explain many observed solar phenomena. The Electric Sun model is inherently_ _predictive of all these observed phenomena. It is simple. It is self-consistent. And it does not require the existence of mysterious entities such as the unseen solar "dynamo" that lurks somewhere beneath the surface of the fusion model. The Electric Sun model does not violate Maxwell's equations as the fusion model does. Ralph Juergens had the genius to develop the Electric Sun model back in the 1970's. His model uniquely passes the harsh tests of observed reality. His seminal work may eventually get the recognition it deserves. Or, of course, others may try to claim it, or parts of it, and hope the world forgets who came up with these ideas first. There is now enough inescapable evidence that a majority of the phenomena we observe on the Sun are fundamentally electrical in nature. Ralph Juergens was the person with the vision to see it. Ralph Juergens in 1949. DES 8/01 ______________________________________________________________________ References: 1. The Physics of the Sun and the Gateway to the Stars - Eugene N. Parker, Physics Today June 2000 p26-31. 2. Guest Editorial - Anthony L. Peratt IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.613. 3. Double Layers and Circuits in Astrophysics - Hannes Alfven (Nobel Prize) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.779. 4. Model of the Plasma Universe - Hannes Alfven (Nobel Prize) IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.629. 5. The Persistent Problem of Spiral Galaxies - Halton Arp, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.748 6. Evolution of the Plasma Universe: I Double Radio Galaxies, Quasars, and Extragalactic Jets - Anthony L. Peratt IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986 p.639. 7. Evolution of the Plasma Universe: II The Formation of Systems of Galaxies - Anthony L. Peratt IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.763. 8. Intergalactic Plasma - Grote Reber IEEE Transactions on Plasma Physics, Dec 1986. p.678. 9. STELLAR THERMONUCLEAR ENERGY: A FALSE TRAIL? - Ralph Juergens, KRONOS A Journal of Interdisciplinary Synthesis, Vol. IV, No. 4 Summer 1979, pp. 16-27. 10. THE PHOTOSPHERE: IS IT THE TOP OR THE BOTTOM OF THE PHENOMENON WE CALL THE SUN? - Ralph Juergens, KRONOS A Journal of Interdisciplinary Synthesis, Vol. IV, No. 4 Summer 1979, pp. 28-54. 11. THE NOT SO STABLE SUN - Earl R. Milton, KRONOS A Journal of Interdisciplinary Synthesis, Vol. V, No. 1 Fall 1979. 12. THE PARADOX OF THE SUN'S HOT CORONA - Bhola N. Dwivedi and Kenneth J.H. Phillips, Scientific American, Jun 1, 2001, p. 40-47. ______________________________________________________________________ [3]Astronomy & Cosmology in Collision with Reality [4]The Electric/Plasma Universe [5]The Dynamic Sun [6]The work of C.E.R. Bruce References 1. file://localhost/www/sat/files/Sudbury.htm 2. file://localhost/www/sat/files/HRDiagr.htm 3. file://localhost/www/sat/files/Cosmology.htm 4. file://localhost/www/sat/files/ElectricUniverse.htm 5. http://www.spacescience.org/ExploringSpace/VirtualExhibit/TheDynamicSun/1.html 6. http://www.catastrophism.com/texts/bruce/index.htm