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Comets: Deep Impact
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Missing water
Thornhill: An abundance of water on or below the surface
of the nucleus (the underlying assumption of the "dirty
snowball" hypothesis) is unlikely.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
The explosion removed many thousands of tons of material.
But prior to impact, the calculated 'water' output was 550
pounds per second; and not long after the impact, the calculated
output was, once again, 550 pounds per second (See picture above
regarding the return to previous level). So despite the impressive
explosion, the envisioned sub-surface water refused to reveal
itself. By NASA's own calculations, therefore, Deep Impact has
only made matters worse for standard theory.
see [
2005 July 16]
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Comet breakup
Thornhill: So there is some small chance that astronomers
will be surprised to see the comet split apart, if the projectile
reaches the surface of the comet and results in an intense arc.
see [
2001 Oct 18]
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Result
Thornhill: These predictions remain but the intensity
of the electrical effects depend upon the degree to which
the comet is charged with respect to the solar plasma at the
impact point. So it is disappointing that NASA chose a short
period comet that only ranges between the orbits of Jupiter
and Mars. Long period comets spend more time travelling slowly
in the lower voltage regions of the outer solar system. So when
they rush toward the Sun their electrical display is more
energetic than the short period comets. Also, the same electrical
circuit that drives the Sun energizes comets. The Suns activity
is near minimum, so we may expect reduced cometary activity. Of
course, none of these electrical considerations figured in NASAs
thinking.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Advance flash
Thornhill: Electrical interactions with Deep Impact may be slight,
but they should be measurable if NASA will look for them. They
would likely be similar to those of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 prior
to striking Jupiter's atmosphere: The most obvious would be a flash
(lightning-like discharge) shortly before impact.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
What you see is something really surprising. First, there is
a small flash, then there's a delay, then there's a big flash and
the whole thing breaks loose.
see [
2005 July 07]
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Energy release
Thornhill:The electrical energy will be released before impact.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
See previous observation.
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Sheath around impactor
Thornhill: The impactor may form a sheath around it as it enters
the coma, becoming a "comet within a comet". The plasma sheath
could interfere with communications in the same way as experienced
by the Space Shuttle during reentry.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
Finally, why were there no images returned from the impactor
seconds before impact? The lower right image is the last from the
impactor camera. Thornhill predicted an electrical flash before
impact. Yesterday's TPOD reported the surprise expressed by NASA's
expert on high-velocity impacts, Peter Schultz, when two flashes
were seen. The lack of images in the last few seconds would be
explained simply if the impactor was hit by a "cometary lightning
bolt" seconds before contact. The "whiteout" seen in
the lower right quadrant indicates significant electrical discharging
near the impact point. Data from the communications team and the flyby
spacecraft cameras should decide the issue.
see [
2005 July 08]
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System failure
Thornhill: Internal electrical stress may short out the electronics
on board the impactor before impact. That could compromise the
guidance system and the success of the mission.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
See previous observation.
see [
2005 July 08]
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High-energy explosion
Thornhill: The energetic effects of the encounter should exceed
that of a simple physical impact, in the same way that was seen
with comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 at Jupiter.
see [
2001 Oct 18]
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Result
It is now well documented that every scientist associated with
the project was stunned by the energetic outburst.
see [
2005 July 07]
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Multiple craters
Thornhill: If the energy is distributed over several flashes,
more than one crater on the comet nucleus could result - in
addition to any impact crater.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
By tracing rays back to their source we noted the appearance
of two ejecta centers immediately after the impact.
see
[
2005 July 19]
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Water in coma
Thornhill: It is advisable that investigators look at water
abundances both close to the nucleus and in the far coma to
see to what extent water is being formed away from the nucleus
by the combination of negative oxygen ions with protons from
the solar wind. The logical concern here is that these reactions
will, by improper reasoning, give inflated values for the water
ice abundance in the comet nucleus.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
Readings of the relative abundance of OH should drop in
the immediate wake of impact, while in the days after the impact
abundances of OH should rise. Though this is inconceivable under
the standard model, preliminary data released does suggest this
pattern.
see [
2005 July 19]
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Fine dust
Thornhill: The primary distinction between a comet and an asteroid
is that, due to its elliptical orbit, electrical arcing and
"electrostatic cleaning" will clean the nucleus' surface, leaving
little or no dust or debris on it.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
Both the volume of dust and its extraordinarily fine texture
have created mysteries for cometologists. The ejected dust appears
to be as fine as talcum powder. In no sense was this expected. But
it is characteristic of "cathode sputtering", a process
used industrially to create super-fine deposits or coatings from
cathode materials.
see [
2006 Febrary 17]
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Surface geology
Thornhill: The model predicts a sculpted surface, distinguished by
sharply defined craters, valleys, mesas, and ridges - the opposite
of the softened relief expected of a sublimating "dirty
snowball". (A chunk of ice melting in the Sun loses its sharp
relief, just like a scoop of melting ice cream.)
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
...makes an observation in a NASA release on Deep Impact all
the more noteworthy: "The image [of the nucleus] reveals topographic
features, including ridges, scalloped edges and possibly impact craters
formed long ago".
see [
2005 July 08]
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Possible new jet
Thornhill: The discharge and/or impact may initiate a new jet on
the nucleus (which will be collimated - filamentary - not sprayed
out) and could even abruptly change the positions and intensities
of other jets due to the sudden change in charge distribution of
the comet nucleus.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
An El Roque de los Muchachos observatory (La Palma, Spain)
report states, "New jets appeared after the impact, the two
jets observed in the previous night are still active. Also the curved
expanding impact dust shell is visible at ~18 arcsec (corresponding
to about 12,000km) from the comet nucleus".
see [
2006 March 03]
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Surface arcing
Thornhill: A mechanical impact will not produce the temperatures
of an electric arc, which can be tens of thousands of degrees over
a very small area. The problem will be whether temperature readings
will have the resolution to be able to distinguish a very high
temperature over a tiny area or merely an average over a large impact
area. Anomalous high temperature readings could precede physical
impact, accompany impact, and follow impact. An indicator of arcing
would be the presence of atoms ionised to a higher degree than can be
explained by the energy of the impact.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
We had seen very small white spots on photographs of comet Wild
2, and interpreted them as electrical arcs in the form of coronal
discharges. The highest resolution photographs of Tempel 1, taken by
the impactor, show numerous featureless patches of white-out, most
located where the electrical hypothesis would put them - on the rims
of craters and on the wall of cliffs rising above flat valley floors.
This single feature, we believe, provides the "smoking guns"
we have waited for. Since their initial suggestion that the patches
could be highly reflective spots on the surface, we've heard no further
comment on the subject. The signature of electric arcing should be
clearly evident in the full stream of data now being analyzed.
see [
2005 July 19]
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Subsurface composition
Thornhill: The impact/electrical discharge will not reveal
"primordial dirty ice", but the same composition
as the surface.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
In fact there was no change in measured water after the
impact. Another observation from the Odin telescope in Sweden
found that the total amount of water appeared to decrease after
the impact, probably because of the injection of quantities of
dry dust.
see [
2005 July 15]
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Crater size
Thornhill: The impact/electrical discharge will be into rock,
not loosely consolidated ice and dust. The impact crater will
be smaller than expected.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
The occlusion of the impact site by the unexpected dust
cloud leaves this question of crater size unanswered. (Some
NASA investigators have suggested that the impact did not reach
a deep level, but so far the pronouncements on the subject are
quite contradictory because they're trying to explain things
they did not expect).
see [
2005 July 19]
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Changes to jets
Thornhill: Changes to the appearance of the jets may be seen
before impact.
see [
2001 Oct 18]
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Result
Failed electronics prevented any details from being seen
before impact. See previous observation.
see [
2005 July 08]
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Arcs will be hotter than expected
Thornhill: Any arcs generated will be hotter than can be
explained by mechanical impact. If temperature measurements
are made with sufficient resolution, they will be much higher
than expected from impact heating.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
Though we've found nothing from NASA relating to the
temperatures of the explosion, we said that the discharge
would be "hotter than can be explained by mechanical
impact. If temperature measurements are made with sufficient
resolution, they will be much higher than expected from
impact heating". On this one we are confident as ever.
see [
2005 July 08]
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High-energy electrical noise
Thornhill: The signature of an electrical discharge would be
a high-energy burst of electrical noise across a wide spectrum,
a "flash" from infra-red to ultraviolet and the
enhanced emission of X-rays from the vicinity of the projectile.
The energy of a mechanical impact is not sufficient to generate
X-rays.
see [
2001 Oct 18]
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Result
So far there has been no indication that any instrument
based near or on Earth had the temporal or spatial resolution
to decide this issue.
see [
2005 July 19]
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Copious X-rays
Thornhill: X-rays will accompany discharges to the projectile,
which will not match X-ray production through the mechanics
of impact. The intensity curve will be that of a lightning bolt
(sudden onset, exponential decline) and may well include more
than one peak.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
So far there has been no indication that any instrument
based near or on Earth had the temporal or spatial resolution
to decide this issue.
see [
2005 July 19]
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Speed of transport
Electrical theorists suggest that NASA carefully review the
rate at which ejecta filled the coma. Could kinetic effects
(the effects of physical impact alone) have generated such
speeds? Acceleration of negatively charged material is a
predictable effect of electric discharge.
see [
2005 July 04]
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Result
See previous observation.
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Ionized copper
Thornhill: Copper atoms ionized to a surprisingly high degree
should be detectable from Earth-based telescopes.
see [
2001 Oct 18]
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Result
See previous observation.
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Heavy elements
Thornhill: If an arc is struck between the comet nucleus and
the projectile, we may expect to see metals such as Li, Na, K,
Ca, Mg and Fe in a flash spectrum before impact. They will
have been removed from the rocky comet in the cathode arc.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
See previous observation.
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Negative ions
Thornhill: NASA investigators should look for an abundance
of negative ions in the impact ejecta. This would be an obvious
signature of a negatively charged comet. Forbidden spectral
lines from negative oxygen ions have been detected spectroscopically
in comet comas in the past. They indicate the presence there
of a strong electric field.
see [
2005 July 03]
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Result
See previous observation.
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[ top ]
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Comets: Stardust
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Subsurface composition
Thornhill: Comets are the result of electrical discharge
machining of planetary bodies that occurs in the catastrophic
evolution of planetary orbits. It is far too simplistic to
assume that the planets were formed along with the Sun and
remained in their present orbits ever since.
see [
2004 January 06]
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Result
NASA researchers announced on March 13 another in the
long procession of surprises about comets. The grains from
comet Wild 2, trapped in aerogel and returned to Earth,
were much larger than expected and made from the same
high-temperature minerals as found in the most abundant
meteorites. This discovery was so unexpected that an early
sample was thought to be contamination from the spacecraft.
see [
2006 March 14]
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Comet origins
Thornhill: Plasma cosmologists have shown that stars do not
form by gravitational accretion. Stars form in a cosmic
discharge, inside a plasma z-pinch. The dusty disks seen about
some stars may not be due to gravitational accretion but are
more likely to be matter expelled electrically by the central
star. Electrical expulsion can also explain the formation of
the observed close orbiting gas giants. In a hierarchical
fashion, comets can be seen as the debris, or afterbirth, of
a planet. They are not primordial.
see [
2008 January 25]
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Result
Wild 2 should still be considered a comet, she adds,
because it is throwing off gas and dust as ice on its surface
evaporates in sunlight. But she says the new findings bolster
the view that there is no sharp dividing line between comets
and asteroids. "This is a good indication that there is
a continuum between asteroids and comets," she says.
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Mars: Themis
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Dust devils at heart of dust storm
The global dust storm that engulfed the planet Mars in
August and September of 2001, involved a packed assembly
of "dust devils" carrying great volumes of
Martian dust into billowing clouds.
see [
2005 Nov 09]
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Result
The image above, released December 30, 2003, shows
apparent vortices (a word that would not be used by NASA
scientists) rising into billowing clouds from the margins
of the south polar ice cap in the Martian summer. The caption
accompanying the release, reads: "Like billowing smoke
from a brush fire, clouds of dust are seen streaming off the
edge of the Martian south polar cap. The southern hemisphere
is in the middle of its summer season and experiencing a
multitude of small dust storms like this one. The net effect
is an increasingly dusty atmosphere across the whole planet
and with it, warmer atmospheric temperatures."
see [
2007 May 9]
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[ top ]
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Mars: Russell crater
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No evidence of flowing liquid
When viewed more closely no evidence of flowing liquid will
be found.
see [
2007 May 14]
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Result
Awaiting sufficient data.
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Topography ignored
When viewed more closely it will be seen that the channels
do not follow topography in the fashion of flowing liquid.
see [
2007 May 14]
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Result
A recent HiRise close-up image of a crater appears to
confirm this. This will be clarified in a future TPOD.
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Proximity to electrostatic sculpting
Since the channels are carved into a smooth surface (i.e., a
surface not strewn with boulders and rocky rubble), the immediate
surroundings should have preserved more subtle evidence of
particle beam activity, electrostatic sculpting, and glassification.
see [
2007 May 14]
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Result
The shiny appearance of the ravines is at least consistent
with the possibility of glassification, though far from
definitive. Further investigation is pending.
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Terminal craters
Cratering in connection with channel formation must be
anticipated, particularly at the starting points and
terminations of the channels.
see [
2007 May 14]
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Result
Recent HiRise images confirm the prediction of craters
strategically placed along the ravines, particularly at the
terminations. This will be discussed in a future TPOD.
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[ top ]
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Saturn
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Shape of hot pole
Returning to Saturn's polar very hot "tip", it should be
found on closer inspection to exhibit a similar structure
to the Venusian polar dipole. Its compactness is due to
the electromagnetic pinch effect where it enters Saturn's
atmosphere.
see [
2005 February 5]
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Result
Unknown
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Variable hot pole
The hot spot's behavior should be variable like that on
Venus and correlated with the appearance of Saturn's ring
spokes, which are a visible manifestation of a heightened
equatorial discharge in that part of Saturn's Faraday
motor circuit.
see [
2005 February 5]
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Result
Unknown
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Both poles hot
The Electric Universe also predicts, experimentum
crucis, that BOTH poles should be hot, not one hot
and the other cold.
see [
2005 February 5]
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Result
Saturn's chilly north pole boasts a hot spot of
compressed air, a surprising discovery that could shed
light on other planets within our own solar system and
beyond, researchers said on Thursday. Scientists already
knew about a hot spot at Saturn's sunny south pole but
data from the Cassini spacecraft now shows that the winter
pole drenched in darkness also has a hot spot, said Nick
Teanby, a planetary scientist, who worked on the study.
With this Cassini mission we can also see the winter pole,
which we are not able to see from Earth because of the
tilt of the planet, said Teanby of the University of Oxford.
"We didn't expect it to have a hot spot at the north."
The hot spot is essentially a small, narrow region hotter
than the gas surrounding it, the international team reported
in the journal Science.
see [
2008 January 3]
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[ top ]
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Saturn's moons
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Melted craters and rilles
Telesto, Calypso and Pandora may not have had their craters
and rilles softened by a layer of dust. Their craters and
rilles may have been literally softened by melting. Radar
measurements should be able to distinguish between the two.
see [
2007 May 15]
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Result
Awaiting sufficient data.
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Moving geysers
Regarding Enceladus, electrical theorist Wallace Thornhill and
his colleagues suggest there is no geyser of subsurface water
analogous to the Yellowstone geyser. They say that if NASA will
look they will find that the jets 'move across the surface'.
And in their motion across the surface, the electric arcs that
produce the jets are 'creating' the observed channels as they
excavate material from the surface and accelerate it into space.
see [
2006 Mar 13]
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Result
It turns out that NASA has had sufficient data in hand
for at least several months confirming that the jets do indeed
move across the surface (see for example
[this video],
in which the jets move in opposition to the visual rotation of
the sphere).
see [
2006 Nov 8]
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Galvanic coupling
In a June 13, 2007 European Space Agency release it was
announced that two other moons of Saturn, Tethys and Dione,
are "flinging great streams of particles into space."
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) made the discovery when
data from Saturn revealed that a torus of charged particles
surrounds the planet, trapped within its magnetic field. So far,
three moons have demonstrated connections with a vast electric
field that links them to Saturn. We predict that other moons
within the Saturnian system will reveal similar galvanic coupling
as more data is received.
see [
2008 Feb 25]
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Result
Awaiting sufficient data.
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Cassini safe passage
Cassini has been in orbit around Saturn since July 1, 2004.
As it made its way into the electrically active environment
of the monstrous gas giant it slowly equalized its charge
potential with that of Saturn and its surroundings. It can
be expected that it is now at equilibrium with the ionized
potential of the system so there should be no arcing between
the spacecraft and Enceladus as it passes through the rarified
vapor that is being drawn upward from the moons fractured
pole. There is the remote possibility that Cassini will make
contact with a Birkeland current filament that is excavating
material out of the moon, but the coincidence would be
surprising. For all intents and purposes, there will be no
effect on Cassini when it encounters Enceladus at its closest
approach.
see [
2008 Feb 25]
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Result
Awaiting sufficient data.
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[ top ]
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Io
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Hot plumes
Thornhill: I predict that when seen close up the temperature
of those hot spots will approach that of the Sun as they are
both electric arcs. (Electric arcs create intensely hot spots.)
see [
1999 Oct 8]
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Result
The spacecraft measured the temperatures of Io's
"volcanic" hot spots and gave readings, averaged
over a pixel, that were hotter than any lava on Earth - in
fact, too hot to be measured by Galileo's instruments.
see [
2004 Dec 15]
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Channel shapes
Thornhill: On the contrary, most of the dark patterns seen
radiating from the crater in this image of the Marduk
"volcano" are not lava flows. They have the shape
of lightning scars on Earth and are caused by powerful currents
streaking across the surface to satisfy the arc's hunger for
electric charge. They rip huge sinuous furrows in the soil and
hurl it to either side to form levee banks and side lobes. The
stubby side channels will be found to have rounded ends like
those seen on Martian "rivers".
see [
1999 Oct 8]
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Result
The best resource for this is the closeups of Io's
"volcanoes" that show the stubby, round-ended
channels. One of the clearest is PIA02545 where you see
the scalloped channels off to the right of the so-called
"caldera".
see [
PIA02545]
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Moving plumes
The plumes are the jets of cathode arcs, and they do not
explode from a volcanic vent but move around and erode the
periphery of dark areas (called "lava lakes" by
planetary geologists).
see [
2004 Dec 15]
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Result
None of the expected volcanic vents could be found.
Rather, the plumes of the "volcanoes" are actually
moving across the surface of Io, an exclamation point being
provided by the plume of Prometheus which, in the years since
Voyager, has moved more than 80 kilometers.
see [
2004 Dec 15]
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Cool "lava lakes"
The "lava lakes" themselves are merely the solid surface
of Io etched electrically by cathode arcs and exposed from beneath
the sulfur dioxide "snow" deposited by continuous discharge
activity. Therefore, they will not reveal the expected heat of a
recent lava flow.
see [
2004 Dec 15]
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Result
As predicted by Thornhill, the discharging was discovered to
be focused on the edges of the so-called "lava lakes",
though the rest of these dark fields are comparatively cold.
see [
2004 Dec 15]
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[ top ]
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Europa
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Ice cracks
Thornhill: Europa receives a lot of attention because it is
thought to have an ocean that might harbour life hidden under
the icy surface. But if geologists' cracked ice models are
so wide of the mark then they may be disappointed. On the
other hand, the electrical model suggests a far more interesting
history of the solar system than textbooks allow!
see [
1999 October 21]
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Result
Awaiting sufficient data.
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[ top ]
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Asteroid: Vesta
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Circular crater
I predict that the crater on Vesta, when photographed more
closely, will be circular also. (Thornhill - Thoth Vol 1,
No 25, November 3 1997)
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Result
Unknown
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[ top ]
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Supernovae: SN1987A
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Structure of equatorial rings
Thornhill: If the equatorial ring shows the Birkeland currents
in the outer sheath of an axial plasma current column, then
the supernova outburst is the result of a cosmic z-pinch in the
central column, focused on the central star. It is important to
note that the z-pinch naturally takes the ubiquitous hourglass
shape of planetary nebulae. No special conditions and mysteriously
conjured magnetic fields are required.
see [
2005 August 24]
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Result
The Red Square shows the stellar Z-pinch in close-up and we
can see the Birkeland filaments for the first time, called 'combs'
in the Science paper. They match the electrical model. Supernova
1987A was successfully decoded. The hallmark of a successful
theory is its ability to predict or explain new discoveries with
no additional assumptions.
see [
2007 April 17]
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