Apparently it "rains" on the Sun...

[kc0itf]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... nsane.html

What will they think of next?

[junglelord]

How can they still use the term gas?
The direction of the plasma, thats something already stated by the EU.
The sun is powered from the outside.
The corona is the first place of electrical interaction into glow mode via the galactic current.
The Corona is the hottest place because its the first place of glow mode plasma.
The surface of the sun is a mere 6000 degrees. No idea presented in the article will account for the thermonuclear furnace idea, where essentially, the space gets hotter and hotter, the further you get from the stoves surface....some oven....full of gas.

I would like to sell that gas and own one of those ovens.

[jjohnson]

"Rain" Mmm-hm. Rain is condensed matter in the liquid state. A "cold gas...at tens or hundreds of thousands of degrees" has to be highly ionized particles and therefore in the plasma state, and if these ions and electrons are moving through the Sun's magnetic field, guess what??!! ("Oh, no, Mr. Bill; - not the E word again..!")

These pesky little differences in interpretation of phenomena visible to all are gonna get us down.

I wonder if when these giant rain drops hit the surface that they cause all those magnetic ripples?

Bulletin!! OH- ions observed in Sun's atmosphere; Sun confirmed to be made of water at tens

or hundreds of thousands of degrees; possible use is as cooling jacket for fusion furnace at core." Titanium aliens thought to be surfing giant magnetic ripples. Dude!

Ads by Magic R Us, Science Fiction American, and Al's Wands and Fusion Surprise Treats (free delivery)

Moderator note: post edited- double spacing on line with superscript for legibility purposes

[MattEU]

Coronal rain as a marker for coronal heating mechanisms
Authors: P. Antolin, K. Shibata
(Submitted on 13 Oct 2009)

Abstract: Reported observations in H-alpha, Ca II H and K or or other chromospheric lines of coronal rain trace back to the days of the Skylab mission. Offering a high contrast in intensity with respect to the background (either bright in emission if observed at the limb, or dark in absorption if observed on disk) these cool blobs are often observed falling down from high coronal heights above active regions. A physical explanation for this spectacular phenomenon has been put forward thanks to numerical simulations of loops with footpoint concentrated heating, a heating scenario in which cool condensations naturally form in the corona. This effect has been termed 'catastrophic cooling' and is the predominant explanation for coronal rain. In this work we further investigate the link between this phenomenon and the heating mechanisms acting in the corona. We start by analyzing observations of coronal rain at the limb in the Ca II H line performed by the SOT instrument on board of the Hinode satellite. We then compare the observations with 1.5-dimensional MHD simulations of loops being heated by small-scale discrete events concentrated towards the footpoints (that could come, for instance, from magnetic reconnection events), and by Alfven waves generated at the photosphere. It is found that if a loop is heated predominantly from Alfven waves coronal rain is inhibited due to the characteristic uniform heating they produce. Hence coronal rain may not only point to the spatial distribution of the heating in coronal loops but also to the agent of the heating itself. We thus propose coronal rain as a marker for coronal heating mechanisms.

Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)

Coronal rain as a marker for coronal heating mechanisms

Alfvén wave Definition

An Alfvén wave in a plasma is a low-frequency (compared to the ion cyclotron frequency) traveling oscillation of the ions and the magnetic field. The ion mass density provides the inertia and the magnetic field line tension provides the restoring force.

The wave propagates in the direction of the magnetic field, although waves exist at oblique incidence and smoothly change into the magnetosonic wave when the propagation is perpendicular to the magnetic field.

The motion of the ions and the perturbation of the magnetic field are in the same direction and transverse to the direction of propagation. The wave is dispersionless.

Alfvén wave Definition - wiki

[mharratsc]

Firstly- I would like to point out to Jim that he owes me a cup of coffee since he made me spew mine when I read his post up at the top here... a 'Mr. Bill' and 'surfer aliens' in one post exceeded my composure threshold...

Secondly- the only thing I know about this subject so far is what I read from that New Scientist article, so I know that I have to take that with a grain of salt... if not a 5 lb. salt lick. However, if the video that New Scientist embedded on that page with the article is supposed to show the phenomenon to which they are alluding... then those guys need to go to rehab.

If those incandescent arcs of filamentary matter of uniform width arcing up out of the surface and then back down in graceful arcs are what those guys think of as "rain", then I'll tell you what- NASA needs to let their boys and girls out of their cages and go outside a little more often!

Mike H.

[jjohnson]

Sorry, Mike. I got carried away... I can just see your keyboard now!

I have a pointer to a website with instructions on how to do your keyboard in the dishwasher if you'd like to tackle that!

j

[mharratsc]

Why thanks, Jim- I appreciate the concern!

Luckily however, I have a bit of training from being one of the crash recovery guys for my Avionics shop from my old squadron in the Navy. I just washed it with some bottled water and blow-dried it- I'm a-ok!

Mike H.