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The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram by stellar temperature, color and luminosity.
Credit: Mike Bolte, University of California, Santa Cruz
 

Mar 27, 2008
Old Star, New Star, Red Star, Blue Star

Does a star's color determine its age? Or does the electrical input flowing through galactic circuits determine how brightly they shine?

Dr. Donald Scott has recently published a book, The Electric Sky, in which he takes a new look at the plot of stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram. Dr. Scott writes that the mass, temperature and luminosity of stars are not the only factors to consider in how they present themselves or how they came into existence in the first place.

According to standard theory, the "stellar main sequence" is a chart of what happens to the stars over time. From their formation in the gravitational collapse of a 'nebular cloud' to their deaths from heat loss or explosion in supernovae, the stars can be plotted and their characteristics codified through observation of brightness, redshift and total mass. No information as to the electrical input or output of the stars is considered when the various conventional theories are debated. However, not bringing the electrical interaction of stars with their galactic environment into the picture leaves an entire line of investigation fallow. Because astronomers and other specialists are not mapping the current flow through space and determining its influence on stellar evolution, they have seriously overstated the case for the gravitational model of the cosmos.

As Dr. Scott has written:

"In the ES [Electric Star] model, perhaps the most important factor in determining any given star's characteristics is the strength of the current density in Amperes per square meter (A/m2) measured at that star's surface. If a star's incoming current density increases, the arc discharges on its surface (photospheric tufts) will get hotter, change color (away from red, toward blue), and get brighter. The absolute brightness of a star, therefore, depends on two things: the strength of the current density impinging into its surface, and the star's size (the star's diameter). Therefore, we add another scale to the horizontal axis of the HR diagram: Current Density at the Star's Surface."

There are stars that violate the standard model of stellar evolution. Stars that are too cool and too small for atomic fusion to take place in their cores have caused astronomical researchers to scramble for explanations. Since stars are supposed to have a mass of at least 75 times that of Jupiter for fusion reactions to occur, another speculative mechanism for what powers them has been suggested: gravitational collapse. In other words, gravity is pulling the cold, dark star into greater compaction, which must be what is creating the additional heat and x-ray emissions.

On July 11, 2000, the Chandra observatory detected x-rays being generated by a small brown dwarf star. As U.C. Berkeley professor Gibor Basri wrote:

"[The flare] could have its origin in the turbulent magnetized hot material beneath the surface of the brown dwarf. A sub-surface flare could heat the atmosphere, allowing currents to flow and give rise to the X-ray flare - like a stroke of lightning."

Professor Basri has, perhaps, come closer than anyone else in the conventional community toward comprehending what the Electric Star theory elucidates. For such a 'cold', small object to emit x-ray light, a huge electric discharge is required!

Dr. Don Scott once more:

"In the ES [Electric Star] model, there is no minimum temperature or mass requirement. If a brown/red dwarf is operating near the upper boundary of the dark current mode, any slight increase in the level of current density impinging on any portion of the surface of that star will shift this plasma into the normal glow mode. This transition will be accompanied by a rapid change in the voltage rise across the plasma of the star's upper atmosphere. Maxwell's equations tell us that such a change in voltage can produce a strong dynamic electric field and a strong dynamic magnetic field. If they are sufficiently intense, dynamic electromagnetic fields will produce x-rays."
 
In conclusion, young stars might be red stars and old stars might be blue. The critical component in the equation is the current density flowing into them from inter and extra-galactic space.

By Stephen Smith
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