A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe - New
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This same ‘jumping around’ action <strong>of</strong> discharging<br />
plasma on a much larger scale is what occurs on the<br />
surface <strong>of</strong> comets when the discharges move from one<br />
raised sharp edge to another as the charge conditions<br />
around the comet itself change in response to the<br />
rotation <strong>of</strong> the comet nucleus, <strong>of</strong>f-centre within its<br />
plasma sheath or coma.<br />
Comet Tempel 1 with discharges concentrating on sharp edges<br />
Credit: University <strong>of</strong> Maryland JPL-Caltech NASA<br />
As this process continues the surface material is<br />
stripped, atom by atom, to form gouges, gashes,<br />
craters, ridges and mountains, either as single features<br />
or in groups that are <strong>of</strong>ten seen to have overall patterns<br />
associated with them. All <strong>of</strong> these features now easily observed on comets and other solid bodies are due to<br />
electrical discharge and machining events. There is more to come about this surface sculpting process when we<br />
discuss the surfaces <strong>of</strong> the planets and moons <strong>of</strong> our solar system.<br />
Comets can actually be hot! Yes, I am afraid even NASA said this is the case in one <strong>of</strong> their 2002 articles [6-49] . In<br />
this article and on the basis <strong>of</strong> data received from the Deep Space 1 spacecraft mission, Dr. Laurence Soderblom<br />
<strong>of</strong> the U.S. Geological Survey’s Flagstaff, Arizona said … ‘The spectrum suggests that the surface is hot and<br />
dry. It is surprising that we saw no traces <strong>of</strong> water ice’. Then in the same article there is this quote by Dr. Bonnie<br />
Buratti, JPL planetary scientist and co-author <strong>of</strong> that article ... ‘Comet Borrelly is in the inner solar system right<br />
now, and it’s hot, between 26 and 71 degrees Celsius (80 and 161 degrees Fahrenheit), so any water ice on the<br />
surface would change quickly to a gas.’ … ‘As the components evaporate, they leave behind a crust, like the<br />
crust left behind by dirty snow.’ So, first they say it is hot and dry and there is no ice, then the analysis gets<br />
support from the old snowball story. This seems at best to highlight a lack <strong>of</strong> clarity in their ability to describe<br />
what has actually been found, and at worst, a level <strong>of</strong> confusion and lack <strong>of</strong> clear communication ability [6-50] .<br />
Some comets have been found to give <strong>of</strong>f X-rays, a form <strong>of</strong> high-energy radiation that cannot be explained at<br />
all by the snowball model. Again, EU theory can provide an answer. We have already established how electrons<br />
are stripped from the comet nucleus. When this happens they are accelerated by the strong electric field at<br />
the boundary <strong>of</strong> the comet's coma from where they go on to collide with solar wind protons. This process can<br />
cause radiation including X-rays to be generated. We have technology here on Earth that generates X-rays for<br />
scientific research and medical purposes, where one important method for this involves a device known as a<br />
‘Synchrotron’, the radiation produced being referred to as synchrotron radiation [6-51] .<br />
134 | The <strong>Electric</strong> <strong>Universe</strong> answers I see