Alfven and Juergens Circuits, a Reconciliation?
At the 2014 SIS Autumn Meeting Bob Johnson asked us to reconsider the nature of the Sun (see: http://www.sis-group.org.uk/event/2014-10-25/2014-autumn-meeting.htm). At question was the nature of the Electric Sun model, not the mainstream fusion model, in particular, the model initially proposed by Ralph Juergens in 1972 (1) and subsequently developed by Earl Milton, Don Scott and Wal Thornhill.
Bob Johnson had hoped to stimulate discussion in trying to resolve the outstanding issues that he identified with the Juergens Milton Scott Thornhill (JMST) model which would ultimately lead to a viable Electric Sun model.
I’m presenting a very tentative approach that may lead to a workable Electric Sun model my starting points are the sunspot and Hale solar magnetic cycles which this proposal views as key to understanding how the Sun is powered by its environment; none of the 4 proposals above fully address both cycles and Bob Johnson claims that one explanation (Wal Thornhill’s) concerning the timing of sunspots and the Sun’s equatorial torus is at odds with the data. Any comments would be welcomed (except regarding my illustrations, they were the best I could do with Microsoft Paint!).
The Negative Anode
In his original work (1) Ralph Juergens suggested that the Sun was highly negatively charged but its environment carried an even greater negative charge, as a result the Sun functioned as an anode in an electrical discharge of galactic proportions. In order to sustain the discharge Ralph Juergens assumed that charges were separated on a galactic scale with a gradual transfer of charge between regions of differing potentials. Since that time we now know that the interstellar plasma is far more filamentary; is it possible that current filaments directly impinge on the solar surface to sustain the discharge and if so, how?
The Sun’s Orientation
In order to appreciate the approach I am suggesting a brief understanding of the Sun’s orientation as it moves around the Milky Way Galaxy is needed. A common misconception is that the Sun’s rotational axis (North and South poles) is aligned with the rotational axis of the galaxy (North and South Galactic poles). This is not the case, the Sun’s rotational axis is inclined some 63 degrees (2) from the rotational axis of the galaxy; the Sun and the solar system are effectively tipped over on their side with the Sun’s north pole pointing in the direction of motion (see: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=3188&mode=view). A similar situation exists in the solar system were Uranus’ rotational axis is tilted (some 98 degrees) in relation to the Sun’s axis. Interestingly, given that Uranus’ axial tilt is more closely aligned to that of the galaxy is this an indication that Uranus is a captured former brown dwarf?
Current Filaments
In the Plasma/ Electric Universe model helical Birkeland currents (3) flow through the arms of a spiral galaxy (see: http://www.ice-age-ahead-iaa.ca/small/electric_galaxy_dynamics.jpg). As the Sun is located in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy it is reasonable to assume that a degree of interaction must occur between it and any Birkeland currents present in the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM). The possibility of interaction is greatly increased given the size of the Sun’s heliosphere. The spacecraft Voyager 1 was reported to have left the heliosphere and entered interstellar space at a distance of approximately 18 billion kilometres or ~122 AU (Astronomical Units), now a sphere with a radius of 122 AU could contain all the stars of 2 Milky Way sized galaxies!
Due to the helical nature of Birkeland currents any point of contact between the current and the heliosphere will be a varying one (see: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=3189&mode=view). Now, from this illustration we can see that relative motion between the Sun/heliosphere and a (rotating?) helical Birkeland current (helicity of which is represented by zigzag or saw-tooth line) will vary cyclically. At one point of the cycle the local current will impinge on the heliosphere at an angle that is not too dissimilar to the Sun’s rotational axis. As the cycle progresses current flow will impinge on the heliosphere perpendicular to the rotational axis, eventually the current will once again be focused at the poles, having passed through every angle in-between.
One way to visualise the idea in 3 dimensions is to imagine a table tennis ball as representing the heliosphere, held in the centre of a stretched-out slinky (spring) which represents helical Birkeland current filaments.
Solar Cycles: Minimum
At this starting point the solar magnetic field North (positive) is located in the solar northern hemisphere likewise magnetic South (negative) is located in the solar southern hemisphere. Current is arriving at an angle normal to the poles- the ‘Y’ axis. (See: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=2941&mode=view). This is solar minimum, the Sun’s magnetic field is dominated by its dipolar component, and no sunspots are visible in the equatorial regions. This is because currents originating from the edge of the heliosphere are aligned and focused at both poles manifesting themselves as coronal holes (4) near to the sun. This broad concentration of current filaments, appear as the Fast Solar Wind (750km/s) at high solar latitudes. Coronal holes exhibit ‘open’ magnetic field lines suggesting a current source beyond the heliosphere. The Fast Solar Wind (FSW) composition nearly matches that of the photosphere. The Sun appears dark in X-ray images (5 (12 o’clock position)) and total solar irradiance falls slightly- as the bulk of electrons arriving at the Sun are arriving at the poles. At this time the corona adopts a lenticular form or forms an equatorial torus of energetic particles in a region that is now dominated by the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS) and Slow Solar Wind (350km/s). Unlike the FSW the Slow Solar Wind (SSW) composition closely matches that of the corona.
Findings from the Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the plasma outside the heliosphere is 40 times denser than the plasma inside the heliosphere. (6) Whilst the Ulysses spacecraft found the temperature of the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) plasma to be 6500K. (7) As the Birkeland current is entering a region of lower density a current carrying double layer (CCDL) may well form, as: ‘the current has to pass through a region of decreased ion density. In order to prevent charge from accumulating, the current in the system must be the same everywhere. The electron density also has to be close to the ion density (quasineutrality), so there is also a dip in electron density. The electrons must therefore be accelerated into the density cavity, to maintain the same current density with a lower density of charge carriers. This implies that the density cavity is at a high electrical potential. As a consequence, the ions are accelerated out of the cavity…’ (8) The acceleration ability of a double layer may well be the cause of the FSW high velocity.
So, at solar minimum current is being accelerated toward the Sun and focused at the Sun’s higher latitudes and poles, from this image we can see how sharp the division is between the two solar winds- just as if the FSW is a Birkeland current (9). The density of the current is such that openings in the corona form but changes to the photosphere are minimal. Observations by the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft revealed the origin of the FSW to be ‘coming from the edges of honeycomb-shaped patterns of magnetic fields at the surface of the Sun.’ In Doppler velocity maps coronal holes are reminiscent of extremely large diffuse sunspots. (10)
Overall, the picture at solar minimum is not too dissimilar to Don Scott’s view as we can see in this image (see:http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=2849&mode=view) and the Alfven circuit (see: http://www.holoscience.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Alfvens-heliospheric-circuit.jpg).
Solar Cycles: Maximum
(See: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=2942&mode=view).
If, as is assumed here, Birkeland currents are rotating past the heliosphere in a helical motion then the intensity of any incoming currents will fluctuate in response to that motion. This is what we find, sunspots gradually appear in a band at mid to higher solar latitudes the bands first widen, then as the cycle continues move toward the solar equatorial regions. (11). The above diagram shows that the impinging current has rotated away from the poles (having passed through every angle in-between) and is arriving in the equatorial regions at the ‘Y’ axis- this is solar maximum. We find that the polar coronal holes, FSW and equatorial torus have all now disappeared (corona now spherical). The current filaments now merge with the HCS all activity is confined to the equatorial regions. The solar magnetic field has lost its dipole structure and is in complete disarray, (12, 13) even exhibiting a four pole structure (14).
The same diffuse polar currents of 6 years earlier are now intense filamentary currents at the equator with strong magnetic fields, which exhibit the same structure as a Birkeland current – the sunspots. ‘Magnetic field strengths within sunspots range from 1,000 to 4,000 Gauss, and are thousands of times more intense than Earth's average surface field strength of about 0.5 Gauss. The fields within sunspots are also much stronger than the Sun's global average field, which is around 1 Gauss. Larger sunspots have higher field strengths’ (15).
Observations by SOHO found ‘A sunspot turns out to be a kind of whirlpool, where hot gas near the Sun’s surface converges and dives into the interior at speeds of up to 4000 kilometres per hour’ (16, 17). Sunspots are also known to rotate. SOHO found that there was a strong plasma vortex beneath the rotating sunspot and that the magnetic fields confining the sunspot appeared to be twisted beneath the surface, in the sunspot umbra the magnetic field is normal to the solar surface whilst in the penumbra the field is more inclined almost as if the very structure of a Birkeland current is being plotted on the photosphere. The Sun now appears bright in X-ray images (5 (5 and 7 o’clock positions)) and total solar irradiance increases slightly- as the bulk of electrons arriving at the Sun are now arriving in the equatorial regions.
During solar cycle 23 SOHO discovered what mission scientists called ‘Mysterious clouds of gas falling towards the Sun’, they were ‘mysterious’ because they ‘go against the fast-moving streams of gas that pour out continuously into space, in the solar wind’ (18). From this European Space Agency (ESA) report (19) we find: ‘About 8000 inflow events have now been logged - most of them since 1998 while the Sun has been at its most active, as judged by the high count of sunspots. The inflows can start at an altitude of up to 2,700,000 kilometres above the visible surface, a distance equal to twice the Sun's diameter. Here the accelerating solar wind, leaving the Sun, has reached a speed of about 120 kilometres per second. Fighting against it, the gas clouds travel in at 50-100 kilometres per second. Typically they appear to come to rest about 700,000 kilometres out.’
However, the LASCO instrument aboard SOHO was designed to explore the region from 700,000 to 3,500,000 kilometres from the visible surface, so it is possible that the inflows of gas descended much closer to the photosphere. Of course we are really talking about plasma not ‘clouds of gas’.
The report continued: ‘Although the gas feels a very strong pull from the Sun's gravity, this is not the decisive force acting on the inflows. The high rate at which they gather speed initially, and their eventual slowdown, suggest instead that they are firmly under the control of a magnetic force. A few inflows are a backwash from explosive mass ejections, which are sporadic events, but the overwhelming majority occur quite regularly within regions of slow solar wind.
‘A downpour of 20 inflows per day, seen on the left side of the Sun, can be followed after a lull of two weeks by a similar downpour seen on the right side. This means that the occurrences persist in a particular region on the Sun, which takes two weeks to move from left to right as the Sun rotates. The regional association can continue for months...’ (my emphasis).
The inflow events occurred as the solar cycle was progressing to solar maximum, inflows on one side of the Sun were visible two weeks later on the other side- sunspots can take approximately two weeks to traverse the solar disc! There appears to be a correlation between sunspots and inflow events, almost as if the Birkeland currents, responsible for the formation of sunspots, are causing an avalanche of plasma from the corona toward the photosphere. Plus, the LASCO instrument could only detect inflows on the solar limb, is it possible that there never was a two week lull, rather, the inflows had simply rotated out of the view of SOHO?
The evidence from SOHO indicates that close to the Sun a constant flow of plasma toward the Sun is present. Even with the LASCO instrument it was difficult to observe. Mission scientists as expected, attributed the inflows to ‘collapsing magnetic loops’ rather than an electric current but as a professor of astrophysics admitted to Wal Thornhill ‘When we don’t understand something we blame it on magnetism’ (20).
Solar Cycles: Return to Minimum
(See: http://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=2943&mode=view).
As the cycle continues the main Birkeland current rotates around the heliosphere. Closer to the Sun in its filamentary form the Birkeland current crosses hemispheres and migrates towards the opposite solar pole. Once again the current gradually concentrates at the poles. Sunspots fade, the FSW reappears, the corona becomes more lenticular and the magnetic field regains its dipole structure only now we find the solar magnetic field South (negative) is located in the solar northern hemisphere and magnetic North (positive) is located in the solar southern hemisphere.
IBEX
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer or IBEX is a NASA Earth orbiting spacecraft designed to explore the edge of the heliosphere (21). Since 2008 IBEX has been making measurements of this region, pertinent to my proposal, some of the major discoveries according to the IBEX Principle Investigator, Dave McComas include: the discovery of an Enhanced Neutral Atoms (ENA) Ribbon and its connection to the interstellar magnetic field, the discovery of rapid (~6 month) time variations in the heliosphere’s interstellar interaction and connection to decreasing solar wind output, the discovery that the very local interstellar medium is rotating ahead of the heliosphere (22). (my emphasis)
IBEX also discovered that the structure of the FSW and SSW extend to the edge of the heliosphere (23) and recorded changes over a five year period of what was called the ‘IBEX Ribbon’ for part of solar cycle 24 (24). I propose that these changes at the edge of the heliosphere are directly related to the sunspot and Hale solar magnetic cycles, furthermore any future observations from solar maximum, will reveal changes in the FSW component, at the edge of the heliosphere, in line with what I have suggested above.
The Origin of the Photosphere
In 1982 two papers by Ralph Juergens were compiled by Earl Milton and published posthumously, in the first of those papers Earl Milton wrote: ‘…Juergens showed that the solar photosphere can be compared to a "tufted anode glow" in an electric discharge tube. The tuft forms because the body of the Sun, immersed in the interplanetary plasma, which at its inner boundary is the weakly luminous outer solar region called the corona, cannot maintain an electrical discharge into the surrounding electrified galactic space. Juergens noted that the problem could arise from any one or more of the following conditions:
‘(1) the solar body forms too small a surface to conduct the current required for the discharge, (2) the surrounding plasma is too "cool", and/or (3) the cathode drop is too large. The "anode tuft" detached from, and now lying above, the "surface" of the solar body increases the effective surface area over which the Sun can collect electrons. Within the "tuft", volatile material — vaporized from the Sun — increases the gas density and contributes large numbers of extra electrons because, now, many of the frequent collisions between the gas atoms result in ionization. A highly luminous arc discharge thus forms between the Sun and its environment; it stabilizes the electrical flow between the Sun and surrounding galactic space. This secondary discharge — the granular solar photosphere — provides the needed additional electron flow towards the Sun, thereby allowing it to launch an appropriate ion current from the Sun to the galaxy.’ (25)
We now know that the composition of the FSW closely matches that of the photosphere. I have suggested that filamentary currents from beyond the heliosphere are the cause of the FSW and ultimately the mechanism by which electrons are delivered to the Sun; we can now ask, is this an indication that the photosphere’s characteristics are being influenced from beyond the heliosphere? I believe that they are. Whilst we may not be able to answer with any certainty which of the three options, offered by Juergens above, as to the cause of photospheric tufting is the correct one, it is interesting to note that it is thought that the Sun entered the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) between 44,000 and 150,000 years ago (26). This event could have led to a change in the mode of discharge- from glow to arc perhaps- as the Sun entered a different electrical environment; with the consequences being felt by any planets in the system.
Uranus, a Model for the Heliosphere?
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun at an average distance of 2,870,671,400km and takes approximately 84 years to complete one orbit. Its axis is tilted some 98 degrees and the planet takes just over 17hours to complete one rotation about this axis. Only one spacecraft has visited Uranus- Voyager 2 in January 1986 (27).
One of the discoveries by Voyager 2 was that Uranus has an off-set magnetic field (28). Looking at the orientation of the field it is almost as if it is attempting to align itself normal to the plane of the solar system- as if it is being imposed by the environment- only to be disrupted by a field generated by a charged Uranus.
These images show Uranus’ magnetosphere at the time of the Voyager 2 encounter (see: http://vega.lpl.arizona.edu/~gilda/images/Bag_Ura2.gif). The magnetic axis (large straight arrow) is off-set with respect to the rotation axis (curled arrow). Therefore as the planet orbits the Sun and the rotation axis continues to point in a constant direction, the magnetic axis rotates. Observations by Voyager 2 in 1986 (at southern summer solstice) showed a ‘quiet’ Uranus with an off-set magnetic dipole field approximately located in each hemisphere. More recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Earth based telescopes at Uranian equinox showed an ‘active’ planet with storms and aurora at lower latitudes (29, 30, 31). Would in-situ measurements of Uranus’ magnetic field at this time have revealed magnetic poles at the planet’s equatorial regions?
As Uranus orbits the Sun its atmosphere exhibits what we may call ‘minimum’ and ‘maximum’ activity. We see the same phenomena occurring on the Sun; with the Sun, however, this is not due to the motion of the Sun around a parent body, it is due to large scale rotational fluctuations in the local Birkeland current.
Conclusion
Earl Milton wrote: ‘That a negatively charged body like the Sun can increase its charge by emitting a proton wind is reasonable only if the space surrounding the Sun is more negatively charged than is the Sun itself!’ (32) Observations from Ulysses, SOHO, IBEX and Voyager 1 all support this premise and the JMST Electric-Sun model. The electron flow into the heliosphere, which supplies the energy the Sun radiates, takes the form of a rotating filamentary Birkeland current, in other words the sunspot and Hale magnetic cycles are due to an offset rotating Alfven circuit overlying a Juergens circuit, with the solar wind, a flow of ions away from the Sun, carrying part of the electric current.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a very tentative idea intended to address some issues with the JMST Electric Sun model. Hopefully, I am not, to quote Bob Johnson “trying to modify a theory that was fundamentally flawed from the start” with one that is more so.
References:
1. Juergens. Ralph. E. 1972. Reconciling Celestial Mechanics and Velikovskian Catastrophism. Pensée Vol. 2 No 3.
2. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3BBS1yq7U7s/T-YBT2pwTVI/AAAAAAAAB5s/RQsap5O-VQA/s1600/Ecliptic+vs+Galactic+Plane.png
3. http://www.plasma-universe.com/Birkeland_current
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_hole
5. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/The_Solar_Cycle_XRay_hi.jpg/1024px-The_Solar_Cycle_XRay_hi.jpg
6. http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/voyager/solar-wind-models-20140723
7. http://sci.esa.int/ulysses/33636-beyond-the-heliosphere/?fbodylongid=1328
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_layer_%28plasma%29
9. http://sci.esa.int/science-e-media/img/6f/12399%20screen2.jpg
10. http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/1999_01_03/
11. http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/SunspotCycle.shtml
12. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/22apr_currentsheet/
13. http://www.thesuntoday.org/solar-facts/suns-magnetic-poles-flipped-solar-max-is-here/
14. http://global.jaxa.jp/article/interview/2013/vol79/img/img06_e.jpg
15. http://www.windows2universe.org/sun/atmosphere/sunspot_magnetism.html&edu=high
16. http://sci.esa.int/soho/28320-soho-reveals-how-sunspots-take-a-stranglehold-on-the-sun/
17. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2001/november7/sunspot-117.html
18. http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2001_11_20/
19. http://sci.esa.int/soho/28996-soho-s-latest-surprise-gas-near-the-sun-heading-the-wrong-way/
20. http://www.holoscience.com/wp/sunspot-mysteries/
21. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/index.html
22. http://ibex.swri.edu/archive/2013.10.19.shtml
23. http://ibex.swri.edu/archive/2013.07.10.shtml
24. http://ibex.swri.edu/ibexpublicdata/Data_Release_7/
25. Juergens. Ralph. E. 1982. Electric Discharge As The Source Of Solar Radiant Energy. Kronos Vol. 8 No 1.
26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Interstellar_Cloud
27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus
28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#/media/File:Uranian_Magnetic_field.gif
29. https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/planetary/uranus/science/
30. http://phys.org/news/2015-03-giant-methane-storms-uranus.html
31. http://www.space.com/15270-auroras-uranus-hubble-telescope-photos.html
32. Milton. Earl. R. 1980. Electric Stars in a Gravity-Less Electrified Cosmos. SIS Review Vol. 5 No 1.