Comet Hartley 2 supposedly surrounded by "snowballs" of water ice.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

 

Snowballs in Hell
Dec 27, 2010

Comets are assumed to be icy conglomerations of dust, gases, and mineral grains from the earliest days of the Solar System. As many Picture of the Day articles have argued, that assumption leaves many puzzles unexplained.

As early as July 2004, Electric Universe advocates have provided analytical data that contradicts the theory of comet "snowballs." For example, some comets demonstrate comas, tails, and jets when they are far from the Sun, supposedly the energy source for all cometary activity. If the Sun is what causes water ice to melt, or as a recent press release has announced with some surprise, dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) to sublime and form "jets," then a comet past the orbit of Jupiter should not exhibit those features.

Now, the EPOXI mission website has stated that water ice has been detected by the infrared camera onboard the recommissioned Deep Impact spacecraft. Despite some differences between the spectrum of pure water and the emissions from Hartley 2, NASA scientists state: "Data collected by Deep Impact's onboard infrared spectrometer show without a doubt that the particles are made of frozen H₂O, i.e., ice."

As Thornhill writes: "The EU model predicts that all active comets will exhibit frequent, short outbursts in different spots on their surface. The outbursts happen because they are electrical discharge phenomena, known technically as (cold) cathode jets. Their onset will be as sudden as an electric spark (described in one report as 'nearly instantaneous') and their duration extended only because space plasma has a limited current carrying capacity. The jets will focus on an extremely small bright area generally situated on a raised point or edge of the comet surface."

The cathode sparks erode minerals from the surface of comets (such as carbon) and, as Thornhill elucidates, they can dissociate comet minerals containing oxygen atoms so that the ionized O- atom combines with H+ ions, or protons, from the Sun's solar wind, forming the OH hydroxyl molecule. "It is an assumption," Thornhill insists, "that it is formed by the breakdown of H2O 'vapor' by solar UV radiation." The carbon from comet minerals may similarly combine with ionized oxygen to form carbon monoxide in his electric comet model.

Since comets are probably the blasted out debris left over from catastrophic events in the recent past, then they are most likely composed of many different substances. In that scenario, there could be comets in the Solar System that are composed of water ice, since ocean water could have also been explosively launched into solar orbit at the same time as the chunks of rock. However, those water-based objects have not been seen by space borne imaging equipment.

As Wal Thornhill has made abundantly clear, mission specialists from the EPOXI team are relying on assumptions to make their observations fit. Comets that have been lately investigated all appear to be rocky bodies, lacking snow fields or icy plains. Since they are most likely stoney, then they could be composed of silicon dioxide, as well as several other mineral compounds. If silicon is present, then the cloud of large particles could be small rocks with hydroxyl coatings. Research done in 1964 demonstrated that the surfaces of silica gels can contain hydroxyl groups.

Stephen Smith

Hat tip to Thane Hubbell

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