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Starburst galaxy NGC 3310.
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: G.R. Meurer and T.M. Heckman (JHU),
and C. Leitherer, J. Harris and D. Calzetti (STScI), M. Sirianni (JHU)
Jul 30, 2008
Stoking the Star Maker Machinery
Scientists working with four of the most
sensitive observatories ever built have discovered a galaxy
that seems to contradict theories of cosmic evolution.
Astronomers from Caltech
using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, Japan's Subaru
Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Clark
Maxwell Telescope
recently announced that they have found a distant galaxy
that is creating stars at an anomalous rate, over 400 times
faster than the Milky Way.
Nick Scoville of Caltech is
quoted as saying: "The incredible star-formation activity we
have observed suggests that we may be witnessing, for the
first time, the formation of one of the most massive
elliptical galaxies in the universe."
Combined observations from all four telescopes, especially
infrared images from James Clark Maxwell, indicated that the
so-called "Baby Boom" galaxy was shining brightly in
high-frequency infrared and low frequency radio waves.
According to standard theories, when stars ignite they emit
light in the ultraviolet range and disgorge vast quantities
of dust from the nebular clouds out of which they condensed.
Because young stars are intensely hot, the radiant energy
from their exuberant consumption of nuclear fuel heats up
the surrounding dust cloud, causing it to glow like a
comparative ember in the distance.
An analysis of the new galaxy's redshift places it at 12.3
billion light-years so its infrared brightness (implying a
significant population of young stars) makes it a special
class of galaxy called a "super starburst", much more active
than NGC 3310 for example. NGC 3310 is a "starburst galaxy"
thought to be giving birth to new star clusters faster than
most galaxies in the catalog, but it is still slow compared
to the newly tagged super starburst.
New images show several hundred star clusters representing
the formation of up to a million stars in a process that is
stated to take less than 100,000 years. Along with hundreds
of clusters, individual highly luminous stars can be seen.
The overall time period for the formation of the entire
elliptical is calculated to be less than 50 million years
based on 4000 star birth events per year.
All of the time span estimates, the distance calculations
and the ages of the objects under consideration are based on
the premise that galaxies and stars are compressed out of
diffuse clouds of dust and gas that coalesce under the
influence of gravitational attraction. The material reaches
a temperature sufficient to cause the hydrogen and helium at
the core of the compacted spheres to undergo thermonuclear
fusion and start the process that leads to a new star (or a
new collection of stars). If gravity, density and thermal
shock are considered without considering the concepts
embodied by Electric Universe theories then it makes sense
that the measurements are interpreted as they are.
Rather than each new remote observation being identified
with "extraordinary properties" or "baffling results" or
"mysterious events", it seems like it would make more sense
to add the electrical properties of matter in its plasma
state to the theoretical formulation and sew up the loose
ends.
Electrical energy is orders of magnitude more powerful than
gravity. “Plasma ropes” that comprise Birkeland currents
attract one another over distances in a linear relationship
rather than through the “square-of-the-distance” proportions
of gravity. That makes Birkeland currents the most powerful
long-range attractors (and also short-range repulsors) in
the universe. Electric currents flowing through dusty plasma
beget and sustain the stars and the galaxies.
The divergence between the Electric Universe model and the
standard model is based on plasma, which comprises 99% of
the universe. Plasma tends to obey the laws of
electromagnetism, so gravity and kinetic interactions are
subsidiary. The celestial bodies and their interactions are
to be understood principally in terms of electrical
circuits.
By Stephen Smith
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