Sporadic bursts of X-ray and
gamma-ray radiation were
superimposed on a regular X-ray
oscillation of 9.1 seconds. After
the bursts, the intensity decreased
as expected, but the oscillation
period did not. If the period is a
reflection of the star’s rotation
(and
what else could it be.),
a burst of radiation and particles
will carry rotational energy away,
causing the star to slow down.
Since the star didn’t slow down,
the magnetic field must be weaker
than normal. But then, as the
press release puzzles,
“where does the energy come from to
power bursts and the persistent
X-ray emission”?
They’re asking the right
questions. However, they’ve limited
answers to the pocket lexicon that
came with the gravity-in-a-box
wind-up science toy from a couple of
centuries ago. They propose a
winding up of internal magnetic
field lines that unwind at the
surface and heat or accelerate
particles.
Imaginary lines may, like iron
filings, help in visualizing the
magnetic field around a bar magnet.
When used to visualize a fluctuating
magnetic field, the metaphor sends
all the wrong signals.
First in importance is that it
obscures the origin of the field in
an electric current. Adding
“electricity” to the lexicon opens
answers to the possibility of
lab-testable explanations: X-ray
oscillations can be generated with
the electrical properties of
inductance, capacitance, and
resistance found in ordinary stellar
plasma.
X-ray and gamma-ray bursts can be
generated from
exploding double layers
in a plasma discharge. Recourse to
“spooky neutronium” and mechanical
over-twisting of reified field lines
is unnecessary. The “particles” that
are heated and accelerated can be
understood simply as charge carriers
in a star-sized Birkeland current.
Mel Acheson
New
DVD
The Lightning-Scarred
Planet Mars
A video documentary that could
change everything you thought you
knew about ancient times and
symbols. In this second episode of
Symbols of an Alien Sky, David
Talbott takes the viewer on an
odyssey across the surface of Mars.
Exploring feature after feature of
the planet, he finds that only
electric arcs could produce the
observed patterns. The high
resolution images reveal massive
channels and gouges, great mounds,
and crater chains, none finding an
explanation in traditional geology,
but all matching the scars from
electric discharge experiments in
the laboratory. (Approximately 85
minutes)
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