Science Daily: Breathing Cycles In Earth's Upper Atmosphere Tied To Solar Wind Disturbances.
ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2008) — A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the periodic "breathing" of Earth's upper atmosphere that has long puzzled scientists is due in part to cyclic solar wind disturbances [and not gravity], a finding that should help engineers track satellites more accurately and improve forecasts for electronic communication disruptions.
Aerospace engineering sciences department Associate Professor Jeff Thayer said the outer, gaseous shell of the atmosphere, known as the thermosphere, is known to expand and contract as it exchanges energy with the space environment, causing changes in thermosphere density [so much for gravity]. Changes in thermosphere density can alter the atmospheric drag [aka inertia] of satellites, causing them to deviate from their predicted paths and complicating tracking and orbital adjustment maneuvers, he said. [LOL @ Newtonian prediction]
While extreme ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the dominant mechanism [i.e. electromagnetism not gravity] that causes the thermosphere to "breathe," the new CU-Boulder study indicates high-speed wind from the sun triggers independent breathing episodes by creating geomagnetic disturbances, heating the thermosphere and altering its density. The wind streams are generated by relatively cool pockets on the sun's surface known as solar coronal holes that periodically rotate around the sun's surface, said Thayer.
"We were surprised to find the density changes were so consistent in our observations," [something Newton and Einstein were unfamiliar with since they died before the Space Age began in 1957] said Thayer, lead study author. "Because of the huge increase in satellite activity in recent years, finding this new thermosphere breathing mechanism should help improve our models and increase the accuracy satellite tracking and collision avoidance."
A paper on the subject was presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union held Dec. 15 to Dec. 19 in San Francisco. Co-authors included Research Associate Jiuhou Lei, Professor Jeffrey Forbes, Research Associate Eric Sutton and Professor Steve Nerem of CU-Boulder's aerospace engineering sciences department.
The thermosphere begins at about 60 miles above Earth and extends to about 300 miles in altitude. The thermosphere gas is known to expand and contract on a 27-day solar rotation period due to changes in extreme UV radiation, said Thayer. The new findings indicate the thermosphere also has periodic oscillations occur at four-to-five days, six-to-seven days and nine-to-11 days caused by the violent effect of the high-speed solar winds interacting with Earth and transferring energy through auroras and enhanced electric currents.
Cool. I wonder what causes the 27 day cycle?
ReplyDelete"...ENHANCED ELECTRIC CURRENTS."
ReplyDeleteSometimes taking the good from the bad, or looking for the silver lining in a dark cloud is what one must do.
First the bad.
"Aerospace engineering sciences department Associate Professor Jeff Thayer said the outer, gaseous shell of the atmosphere, known as the thermosphere..."
"...[T]he outer gasious shell...", is not an accurate description, the proper scientific term is "plasma".
The persistent labeling of plasma as "gasious" even when scientific observations and measurements (the keystone to empirical science) have repeatedly shown this material as charged particles is regrettable.
And another statement is also problematic: "While extreme ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the dominant mechanism that causes the thermosphere to 'breathe,'..."
Is the above statement accurate, or would it be more enlightening to state that "charged particles" in a diffuse stream from the Sun (solar wind) and focussed beams of charged particles and electrons conveyed by Birkeland currents are the "dominant mechanism" that causes the thermosphere to expand and contract in energy levels?
Breathing, again, wrongly, in my opinion, implies a gasious dynamic, not the proper plasma dynamic.
Another statement from the article: "The wind streams are generated by relatively cool pockets on the sun's surface known as solar coronal holes that periodically rotate around the sun's surface, said Thayer."
Is "solar coronal holes" the new term for "sun spots"?
Anyway, the real problem is the phrase, "wind streams". Again, this conveys an image of gases flowing from the Sun to the Earth.
Science, now, knows these are Birkeland currents, electric currents, so to keep referring to them as "wind" is to prop up a failed model.
Enough with the bad and onto the good:
"...caused by the violent effect of the high-speed solar winds interacting with Earth and transferring energy through auroras and enhanced electric currents."
Finally, at the end of the story, you get a hint at the real dynamic involved.
Let's state this for what it is: A breakthrough.
Yes.
Electric currents in space and treating space phenomenon as electromagnetic has been a taboo in astrophysics for a long time, so mentioning "electric currents" in a "near" space phenonenon is significant.
Note that the report does this in conjunction with "auroras" which have already been indisputably confirmed as being an electric current "event" (due to Birkeland currents). This is a building block for more acknowledgement of electrical currents in space and Earth.
Hope springs eternal with proper vigilance to point out the continued failures of the gravitational model to explain observations and measurements of space phenomenon as at the same time future observations and measurements of electrical phenomenon or mechanisms warrant or demand acknowledgement.
This is a struggle that will be won because the observations and measurements will continue to bear out the electrical nature of the Universe.
Unless, the gravitational model's supporters try and morph their dead end theory, which this writer has already observed on at least one occasion.
They must be held to account, so they can't lead science astray again.
A 27 day cycle could be due to ionizing UV radiation hitting and thereby ionizing the Moon at different angles during the lunar month, ergo there are secondary Birkeland Currents and gravitational tides from the Moon in addition to the primary Birkeland Currents from the Sun.
ReplyDeleteQuantum_Flux
ReplyDeleteAnd the 17 day cycle for cicadas.
Oilismastery - good ;-)