If you guys would consider getting the discussion at least back onto the Sun, even if everybody got tired of arguing over whether or not the density gradient is an issue,
there is another facet to the model in question that some of you might find interesting: sunspots.
I agree with the EU that sunspots are electromagnetic, and I agree that "magnetic reconnection" is not an EM theory -- it's a way of making an observation sound like an explanation. So this is our territory. Given the distinctive nature of these phenomena, we should consider these to be goldmines of evidence. But I can't seem to find anybody making contentions that match the specificity of the data. Steve Smith did a TPOD on
Sunspot 1112, and echoed the general EU sentiment that sunspots are EM. But contrary to the Electric Sun model, none of the properties of sunspots constitute evidence of a galactic circuit. Rather, the circuit is internal to the Sun itself.
First of all, I should lay out some of the salient data that need to be explained. Except as otherwise noted, this information was pulled from the following sources.
Magnetic Structure of Sunspots
The fine structure of the sunspot penumbra
ircamera.as.arizona.edu/astr_250/Lectures/Lecture_12.htm
- While the Sun's overall magnetic field is roughly 1 Gauss (only twice as powerful as the Earth's), the field along the axis of the sunspot can be over 4,000 Gauss.
- At and above the photosphere, the magnetic lines of force generated by a sunspot splay outward. In the penumbra, the lines of force come out of the sunspot, arc across the photosphere, and dive back into the photosphere. Above the photosphere, the lines of force do more or less the same thing, but on a bigger scale.
- In addition to the general splaying, the magnetic fields near penumbral filaments show a downward deflection on one side, and an upward deflection on the other side, indicative of electric currents in the filaments connecting the sunspot to the surrounding photosphere. These are "field aligned" currents, meaning that the electrons rotate around the magnetic lines of force, generating a solenoidal field that agrees with the sunspot's overall field, while the net motion of the electrons parallel to the magnetic lines of force generates a field that wraps around the filaments. (See Borrero, J. M.; Lites, B. W.; Solanki, S. K., 2008: Evidence of magnetic field wrapping around penumbral filaments. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 481(1): L13-L16)
- Arc discharges are apparent at both ends of the penumbral filaments (especially at the distal ends, away from the sunspot).
- Sunspots typically occur in pairs of opposite polarity, where the axial lines of force emerge from one and descend back into the other. The first sunspot to appear always has the same polarity as the Sun's overall polarity in that hemisphere. The second sunspot to appear always has an inverted polarity.
- Solar flares typically occur in the vicinity of sunspots, but they are not arcs between the sunspot pairs. Rather, the arc discharges are from the individual sunspots into the surrounding photosphere. So while the sunspot pairs have opposing magnetic polarities, they do not have opposing electric polarities.
- CMEs accelerate particles to relativistic speeds away from the Sun, but not because the arc discharge was between the Sun and interplanetary space. The arcs in solar flares are across the photosphere, where the explosive nature of the discharges accelerates particles outward in CMEs. If solar flares were exchanges between the Sun and interplanetary space, they would look like spicules, not flares. The rarity and relative weakness of spicules indicates that the exchange between the photosphere and the overlying atmosphere is relatively insignificant.
- Helioseismic data show a weak downdraft in sunspots, while Doppler data show an updraft. It's possible that both are true, and that the difference is that the helioseismic data reveal the downward motion of atomic nuclei, while the Doppler data reveal the upward flow of electrons. In other words, the two datasets taken together are suggestive of the presence of an electric field, sending protons down and electrons up, meaning that the negative pole in the E-field is below, and the photosphere is the positive pole.
My take on all of this is as follows.
The magnetic lines of force associated with a sunspot are in a solenoidal configuration, with the greatest field density along the axis, and with the lines of force splaying outward at the top of the sunspot. Solenoidal fields are generated by rotating currents.
http://charles-chandler.org/Geophysics/ ... lenoid.png
Helioseismic data have not revealed any rotation in the plasma itself. This can only mean that what is rotating is the electrons, flowing through the near-perfect conductivity of the plasma, while the protons remain relatively stationary. This begs the question of what got the electrons rotating.
Since the Doppler data indicate an upward flow of electrons, and since there are arc discharges where the penumbral filaments connect with the photosphere, we can confidently infer that sunspots represent a current, with electrons flowing up through the sunspot and outward into the positively charged photosphere. This is confirmed by the orientation of the magnetic fields around the penumbral filaments, which show a left-hand rule field centered on the filament, traveling from the sunspot to the surrounding photosphere.
So... if the general sense of electron flow is up through the sunspot and out into the photosphere, why would the electrons rotate as they go?
The answer is that the electrons are flowing upward in the presence of the Sun's overall magnetic field, creating an ExB force. If the electrons rotate as they go, they'll generate a solenoidal field whose axis agrees with the Sun's overall field.
Once the helical upward flow of electrons is established, the solenoidal field is 4,000 times more powerful than the Sun's overall field. These lines of force have to close on themselves, which means that they dive down through the surrounding photosphere. Where they dive back down, the perceived magnetic polarity is reversed, because these closing lines of force from the sunspot are far more powerful than the Sun's overall field. If a secondary sunspot gets established in the presence of
these lines of force, rising electrons will rotate in the opposite direction, to generate a solenoidal field that agrees with the reversed external field.
http://scs-inc.us/Other/QuickDisclosure ... otPair.png
The voltage between the photosphere and a deeper layer within the Sun is explained as the result of a primary charge separation between the core and the radiative zone, where the core is positive, and the radiative zone is negative, and the charge separation, despite the near-perfect conductivity of the plasma, is maintained by magnetic pressure resulting from the rapid rotation of the core (as described elsewhere). Once the initial charge separation is accomplished, a tertiary layer can form, which will be positively charged, and which doesn't need its own charge separation mechanism. In other words, if the core is positive and the radiative zone is negative, and if opposing magnetic fields act as a high-permittivity dielectric between them, we've got this:
+ | -
Before long, we'll have this:
+ | - +
The tertiary layer of positive charge is attracted to the negative charge in the middle, while repelled by the positive core. So it clings to the negative layer without penetrating it. And the negative charge does not recombine with the outer positive layer, because it is equally attracted to the positive layers on either side, leaving no potential gradient through which to flow. So the (effective) dielectric between the positive core and the negative radiative zone supports all three layers. (The "dielectric" here is actually magnetic pressure, but it has the same effect as an insulator in electrostatics.)
Despite the stability of these layers, there will nevertheless be a significant voltage between the radiative zone and the top of the convective zone (i.e., the photosphere). This is because the outer aspect of the convective zone is shielded from the bulk of negative charge in the radiative zone by the depth of its own layer. (In other words, it is attracted to the negative charges below, but also repelled by the positive charges in its own layer.) But if we dropped an insulated cable down through the convective zone, as it got near the radiative zone, we'd see a current flowing from the radiative zone through the wire to the top of the convective zone, where it would find protons in want of electrons.
In a quiescent Sun, we have no such wire. But during the active portion of the sunspot cycle, differential rotation of the equatorial band versus the polar cap of the Sun creates boundary vortexes. (See Zhao, J.; Kosovichev, A. G., 2004: Torsional Oscillation, Meridional Flows, and Vorticity Inferred in the Upper Convection Zone of the Sun by Time-Distance Helioseismology. IOP Publishing, 603: 776) The reduced pressure in the vortexes also reduces the electrical resistance of the plasma, opening up a conduit for the flow of electricity from the radiative zone to the top of the convective zone. The difference in resistance is slight, as there is little resistance to begin with, and the vorticity in the boundary layer is weak. Nevertheless, in the presence of extreme voltages, a slight difference in resistance can certainly result in an electric current.
Lastly, one of the toughest things for the magnetic reconnection theory to explain is the fact that after the supposed reconnection event that causes a solar flare, there is always a huge surge in prominences. So the magnetic fields are the strongest after they have released all of their pent-up energy in a solar flare?
Solar flares are obviously arc discharges, with one end on the edge of a sunspot and the other end out into the photosphere somewhere. Once the discharge channels open up, electrons flow freely from the sunspot into a massive area of the photosphere. This creates a demand for more electrons, which flow up through the sunspot, enhancing the solenoidal field as they go. Hence after the "reconnection" event, the magnetic field density becomes enormous.