Alfven and Juergens Circuits, a Reconciliation? 2.0 (v3.0)

[Solar]

"The MAG has also observed waves caused by protons and electrons streaming from the Sun. Further out, near the Earth, these particles are distributed more evenly in the bulk solar wind of charged particles streaming from the Sun, but at Solar Orbiter there are also ‘beams’ protons and electrons coming from the Sun.
(...)
Beams or Birkeland Currents? It will be interesting to see future data from both spacecraft as the solar cycle develops and how solar physicists fit such findings into their thermonuclear solar model.

There are cases when the term "Proton Currents" has been used as well as "Proton Beams".

There have also been cases, like with electrons and (CIR's), where these "beams" or "currents", have been detected propagating sun-ward (inbound) as opposed to anti-sunward (outbound):

SUNWARD PROPAGATING ALFVÉN WAVES IN ASSOCIATION WITHSUNWARD DRIFTING PROTON BEAMS IN THE SOLAR WIND - Jiansen He, Zhongtian Pei, Linghua Wang

[Michael Mozina]

"The MAG has also observed waves caused by protons and electrons streaming from the Sun. Further out, near the Earth, these particles are distributed more evenly in the bulk solar wind of charged particles streaming from the Sun, but at Solar Orbiter there are also ‘beams’ protons and electrons coming from the Sun.
(...)
Beams or Birkeland Currents? It will be interesting to see future data from both spacecraft as the solar cycle develops and how solar physicists fit such findings into their thermonuclear solar model.

There are cases when the term "Proton Currents" has been used as well as "Proton Beams".

There have also been cases, like with electrons and (CIR's), where these "beams" or "currents", have been detected propagating sun-ward (inbound) as opposed to anti-sunward (outbound):

SUNWARD PROPAGATING ALFVÉN WAVES IN ASSOCIATION WITHSUNWARD DRIFTING PROTON BEAMS IN THE SOLAR WIND - Jiansen He, Zhongtian Pei, Linghua Wang

I haven't finished reading the whole paper yet, and it's hard to slog through all the nonsense about open field lines and "magnetic reconnection". However...

The gist of the paper would suggest that protons "beams" are moving inward toward the sun. That observation is fully consistent with Birkeland's cathode model by the way, along with the discovery that the whole solar system is being bombarded by positively charged cosmic rays traveling at nearly the speed of light.

[Robertus Maximus]

Space Hurricanes and the Solar Cycle

Does the existence of the newly discovered ‘space hurricane’ phenomenon at the Earth’s pole serve as an analogue of the solar cycle?

In May 2019 I wrote (1):

The Maelstrom at the Sun’s North Pole
Observations by the SDO and STEREO spacecraft reveal a vortex feature at the Sun’s North Pole. Further research hints at a similar structure at the Sun’s South Pole while both features show a degree of stability over a number of solar cycles.
Can you see it? https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12550

In that post, having presented further evidence for an external cause of the solar cycle, I asked the question: “Solar Maximum – Hurricane Season?”

Can you see it?

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a ... ole304.mp4

The dark lanes trace a vortex feature at the Sun’s North Pole.

Space Hurricane or Polar Vortex?

The authors of a recent paper (2) report: “…a long-lasting space hurricane in the polar ionosphere and magnetosphere during low solar and otherwise low geomagnetic activity. This hurricane shows strong circular horizontal plasma flow with shears, a nearly zero-flow center, and a coincident cyclone-shaped aurora caused by strong electron precipitation associated with intense upward magnetic field-aligned currents. Near the center, precipitating electrons were substantially accelerated to approximately 10 keV. The hurricane imparted large energy and momentum deposition into the ionosphere…”

The description of the ‘space hurricane’ bears a striking similarity to the structure observed in the solar polar atmosphere identified in an earlier post.

“Around the north magnetic pole, a cyclone-like auroral spot (diameter over 1000 km) with multiple arms and a trend of anticlockwise rotation is analogically named as space hurricane hereafter. The space hurricane was observed by four DMSP satellites, and the observed flows at all the spacecraft magnetic local times (MLTs) were consistent with circular fast flows surrounding the hurricane center. It appeared in the polar cap after multiple transpolar arcs disappeared when the interplanetary conditions changed from strongly northward dominated IMF (Bz = ~17 nT, By < 5 nT) with comparable solar wind number density (Nsw =~4 cm) to the conditions described above, similar with the conditions for the appearance of the HiLDA spots…

“…The field-aligned current (FAC) along the satellite track calculated from the magnetic field measurements of DMSP F16 indicates that the space hurricane was associated with an upward FAC.” (3)

The space hurricane appeared following a change in Earth’s electrical environment.

Observations revealed that: “… the space hurricane had zero horizontal flow near its center (the hurricane eye) as well as strong flow shears around the edges: strong sunward flows on its duskside (maximum ~2100 m/s) and antisunward flows on its dawnside (maximum ~800 m/s). Note that there will be a small horizontal offset between the in situ plasma drift data and the auroral images, because the converging magnetic field will cause the flow shears to decrease in horizontal extent from the DMSP in situ observation altitude (860 km) to the auroral mapping altitude (110 km). These flow shears give a clockwise circulation of ionospheric flow, which appears opposite to the rotation trend that might be inferred from the multiple arms of the auroral spot. This indicates an interesting difference from tropospheric hurricanes that is discussed latter.” (4)

One puzzle from my 2019 post was that the rotation of the solar vortex, the ‘spiral arms’ of which form a chevron or herringbone pattern when viewed equatorially, appears to be opposite to the accepted differential rotation direction of the Sun; observations closer to Earth may answer that puzzle.

Concluding their description of a ‘space hurricane’ the authors continue: “A large cyclone-shaped auroral spot is shown with a nearly zero-flow center and strong circular horizontal plasma flow, shears, electron precipitation, and upward FACs. These features resemble a typical hurricane in the lower atmosphere.

“…open field lines are draped by the solar wind to move dawnward and then tailward from the morning side to the afternoon side in the high-latitude lobe region. During their dawnward and tailward motion, an elongated FAC sheet forms due to the flow shear, and the magnetosheath ions precipitate into the cusp ionosphere along field lines to give the downward FACs (like traces of dropping sands from a moving hourglass). In order to maintain current continuity in the ionosphere, the system sets up an upward FAC with a parallel potential that accelerates the existing electrons into the ionosphere and creates an arm of the auroral spot…

“When the lobe reconnection is pulsed or quasi-steady for an extended period of time (e.g., several hours), the reconnected open field lines will gradually return to their previous positions and participate in a new cycle of magnetic reconnection, which will eventually form a cyclone-shaped funnel of FAC with multiple FAC arms and a clockwise circulation of the plasma flow, due to the pressure gradient and magnetic stresses on both sides of the funnel for completing the FACs and the flow shear and curvature of the circular flow. Inside the funnel, a corkscrew magnetic field forms with circular flow and upward FACs, which accelerate electrons that precipitate into the ionosphere and create the auroral spot with multiple arms as observed... In other words, the auroral arm represent the trace of the footprints of the reconnected magnetic field lines, and shows an illusionary trend of anti-clockwise rotation, which is opposite to the flow circulation and different from tropospheric hurricanes.” (5)

From this description and Figure 5a in the paper we can see that both the earthly auroral cyclone and the solar cyclone are somewhat illusory, nevertheless the cyclonic pattern accelerates electrons into the Earth’s ionosphere, can we speculate that the same cyclonic pattern is accelerating electrons into the Sun’s photosphere? This may be a possibility as the ‘arms’ of the solar cyclone trace the path of active regions as the solar cycle progresses.

Of course, in the paper the driver of this process is ‘reconnection’ of open magnetic field lines, of interest here is the association of the cyclone with ‘open magnetic field lines’, in the case of the Sun we are talking about a connection with its environment and not a ‘reconnection’.

Distant Electrons

In another recent paper (6) researchers have found that aurora are powered by electrons arriving from far greater distances than previously thought.

The study of auroral arcs, of the type that precede a ‘space hurricane’ concluded: “Our observations agree with the typical characteristics of the acceleration region observed by previous low altitude satellites. This further compels us to modify our previous representation of the acceleration region and extend it to farther than the ~ 30,000 km altitude although the potential drop region along the field line above the satellite is not determined. The physical mechanism of the quasi-electrostatic parallel electric field is, however, still unknown. The double layer at the boundary between ionospheric and magnetospheric plasma has been considered as the location of the associated potential drop, residing at low-altitudes. In the Earth’s radiation belts, near the magnetic equator, intense parallel electric fields are short-lived, narrow spatial structures. This study demonstrates that the parallel electric field accelerating the auroral particle can exist at any height along a field line and is not limited to the transition region where the cold dense plasma from the ionosphere and the hot tenuous plasma from the magnetosphere coexist, suggesting some unknown magnetospheric mechanisms. Understanding the formation mechanism of the quasi-electrostatic parallel electric field is crucial for following the processes of discrete aurora emission and current transport on other planets, including Jupiter and Mars where potential-driven acceleration has been reported.”(7)

The authors readily admit that potential-driven acceleration has been reported at other planets, now, as plasma processes are scalable, I’m suggesting that a similar process produces features observed in the solar atmosphere; not only that, the same accelerated electrons power the solar discharge as originally proposed by Ralph Juergens.

How long before the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter spacecraft find similar processes and features centred on the Sun?

References:
1. https://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/php ... 25#p127597
2. Zhang. Q-H. et al. 2021, A space hurricane over the Earth’s polar ionosphere, Nature Communications, 12:1207 (10pp), 2021 February 22
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467- ... 59-y#Sec10
3. Ibid. pp.2
4. Ibid. pp.2-3
5. Ibid. pp.6
6. Imajo. S. et al. 2021, Active auroral arc powered by accelerated electrons from very high altitudes, Nature Research, Scientific Reports 11:1610 (8pp), 2021 January 18
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79665-5
7. Ibid. pp.3

[Robertus Maximus]

The Heliotube?

Over 5 years ago, on this thread, I introduced the concept of what I imaginatively called the 'Heliotube'. This concept was based on observations by the IBEX and Cassini spacecraft:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/php ... 20#p115766

A few years later I revised the orientation of the Heliotube:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/forum/php ... 55#p128309

Wild New Paper Claims Earth May Be Surrounded by a Giant Magnetic Tunnel

Recent studies have led to the suggestion of a "wild" idea- the solar system is surrounded by a "magnetic tunnel".
https://www.sciencealert.com/earth-may- ... tic-tunnel
https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.14720

"Mysterious structures in the sky that have puzzled astronomers for decades might finally have an explanation – and it's quite something."

"If we were to look up in the sky," said astronomer Jennifer West of the University of Toronto in Canada, "we would see this tunnel-like structure in just about every direction we looked – that is, if we had eyes that could see radio light."

"Magnetic fields don't exist in isolation. They all must connect to each other. So a next step is to better understand how this local magnetic field connects both to the larger-scale galactic magnetic field, and also to the smaller scale magnetic fields of our Sun and Earth," West said.

"I think it's just awesome to imagine that these structures are everywhere, whenever we look up into the night sky."

Has consensus astronomy acknowledged this existence of the Heliotube? According to the author the next step is to understand how all the various magnetic fields "connect" together.

I disagree, it is electrical currents in the "magnetic tunnel" that not only connect the Sun to the galaxy but also provide the Sun with all its radiant energy.

[jacmac]

Robertus

I disagree, it is electrical currents in the "magnetic tunnel" that not only connect the Sun to the galaxy but also provide the Sun with all its radiant energy.

Yes.
The new "Wild Idea" is certainly not new to EU advocates.
They talk about this as if the filamentary nature of the cosmos is a new discovery.
The extensive work you have done describing the EXTERNAL power sources of our SOLAR SYSTEM have been strongly confirmed.
I appreciate and agree with your work.
I, however, take this opportunity to restate my own concerns about our EU solar model.

I have recently watched Wall Thornhill and Don Scott being interviewed by Gareth on his See the pattern You Tube channel.
Don Scott clearly labels the Chromosphere in his diagrams(these have also been on the EU forum) as a Double Layer.
Yet, it is not discussed.
You, Robert, speak of the "discharge" of the sun, and stop there without details.
How does the discharge of the sun take on these complicated, and constant, three distinct parts ?
The Chromosphere is clearly the structural double layer that maintains separation between the photosphere and the corona and also conducts current between the two to power the sun.
To me, this is not a simple "discharge".
I think the EU community has taken the path of looking for, and/or describing, the CIRCUIT that powers the sun, and has failed to follow up on the abilities of plasma to self organize. These abilities and resulting plasma events take place in 3 dimensional open space.
Our concept of circuits is linear.
We need a power source and a load connected by two LINES. Along each line we place a NODE
and call one an anode, the other a cathode. When the current changes direction the names switch. It's all very linear.
The SAFIRE project is an example of a linear circuit.
However,
with our solar system, everything is happening in the same space, and at the same time, all mixed together; yet somehow there is a complicated three part structure we call the sun and it's atmosphere.
The plasma does this !
I suggest we look at our solar SYSTEM as a plasma cell, with a complicated plasma nucleus, powered externally by the sources you have described above. We need to focus more on THE double layer of primary importance; the Chromosphere.
It seems to me to be the almost unnoticed elephant in the room !

[BeAChooser]

Regarding the "wild idea" mentioned above, the gnomists do indeed have their blinders on. Here’s a link to an article from the university hosting this research: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-astron ... lar-system , and a link to the scientific paper authored by the discoverers, Jennifer West, et al: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2109.14720.pdf. What's interesting is that in the paper itself, the closest the authors get to seeing an electrical connection is when they write “We still do not fully understand the origin and evolution of regular magnetic fields in galaxies and how this field is maintained. In this picture, where long-lived filaments are elongated along the field lines, they could be one source where electrons are trapped, and contribute to maintaining such a regular field (Heiles 1998).” Yes, they actually mentioned electrons. So close ... but so far. And when the lead author, Jennifer West, was quoted in the utoronto article saying “Magnetic fields don’t exist in isolation” she was right ... just for the wrong reasons. I believe that an obstacle to her understanding what is really going on is that the paper doesn’t even contain the word “plasma”? Wonder what she thinks these filaments she discovered are made of ... if not plasma?

She also essentially ignores the biggest telltale. Her paper and modeling essentially assume that the filaments are parallel. But at one point on pages 13 and 14 of the paper, when talking about the North Polar Spur (NPS) and two other loops (IX and Is), it's observed that brightness gradients along the length of the filaments “could be due to variations in magnetic field orientation” and that filaments inclined to the galactic plane 30 degrees show a better correspondence between model and data. Then, importantly, the paper states “This could be produced if the filaments consist of a bundle of finer filaments with a twisted or helical structure”. A helical structure. Well well well. OH SO CLOSE TO UNDERSTANDING. But then they go on to say “even though the case where β = 30◦ shows a better correspondence for the brightness along the NPS, we choose to discuss the β = 0◦ case for the remainder of this paper." They just can’t look past the blinders that their education has given them, can they? What a shame. But I do love the author being quoted at the end of the utoronto article saying something which only a decade or two ago would have resulted in absolute derision from her fellow gnome believers: “I think it’s just awesome to imagine that these structures are everywhere whenever we look up into the night sky.”

[Robertus Maximus]

Switchbacks?

Beginning on an original thread in March 2014 I proposed a tentative scenario by which Birkeland Currents in the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM) provide the Sun with all its radiant energy.

The motivation for the thread was the critique of the Electric Sun hypothesis by Bob Johnson at the EU 2013 ‘Tipping Point’ Conference; it formed my defence of what I called the Juergens, Milton, Scott, Thornhill (JMST) Electric Sun model. JMST is not to be confused with JWST.

The essence of my proposal was that the Sun’s radiant energy arrives at the Sun via Birkeland Currents, this process manifests as the ‘solar cycle’. The solar cycle occurs due a complex relationship between the Sun’s axial tilt, relative to the galactic plane, and Birkeland Currents found in the LISM.

How does this relate to ‘switchbacks’?

A recent announcement by the European Space Agency (ESA) claims that the mystery of ‘switchbacks’ has been solved.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration ... ck_mystery

From the associated paper we find that despite claims by mainstream heliophysicists: “solar wind acceleration mechanisms, its complex dynamics and interaction with the solar magnetic field, and the observed plasma heating are still outstanding questions in heliophysics.”

The settled science of heliophysics, like other areas of ‘settled science’, is far from settled.

History and characteristics of switchbacks

“First observed in the outer heliosphere by the Ulysses spacecraft in high-latitude fast solar wind (Balogh et al. 1999; Yamauchi et al. 2004), switchbacks are markedly Alfvénic, pressure-balanced structures, characterized by constant temperature and magnetic field magnitude, and associated with substantial acceleration of the plasma. Later analysis of Helios data in the ecliptic fast solar wind showed an abundance of such structures in the inner heliosphere (Horbury et al. 2018). More recently, extensive measurements by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP, Fox et al. 2016) confirmed that the presence of switchbacks increases dramatically near the Sun (Bale et al. 2019; Kasper et al. 2019) and allowed a thorough study of their characteristics.”

“At close distances from the Sun, switchbacks appear in dense, irregular clusters that alternate with quiet periods of stable field polarity and smaller magnetic fluctuations, with a modulation on a timescale of a few hours (Bale et al. 2021). The size and spatial distribution of the switchback patches, as well as the plasma characteristics within them, are compatible with the coronal magnetic structure determined by solar supergranulation (Bale et al. 2021)."

The authors admit that: “Despite the numerous and thorough experimental studies, the nature of the mechanisms generating the switchbacks is still being debated. For example, it is not clear if they are driven by processes in the lower solar atmosphere (Magyar et al. 2021) or self-consistently generated in the solar wind.”

A number of models exist to explain the nature of switchbacks, one suggests: “The observed coupling with solar supergranulation (Bale et al. 2021) seems to suggest that switchbacks are nonlinear Alfvénic structures somehow associated with the global circulation of open magnetic flux at the solar surface (Fisk & Kasper 2020; Zank et al. 2021).”

Observations by Solar Orbiter confirmed that switchbacks are associated with active regions: “The structure formed above the complex loop system related to the Active Region (AR) 12972…” and have a “wavy” shape. This wavy shape is, in reality, a 2D view of a 3D vortex: “a single large propagating S-shaped vortex”.

Switchbacks and the Solar Cycle

Switchbacks were observed by the Ulysses spacecraft during solar minimum (1994-1995) but only at high solar latitudes.
Solar Orbiter has observed switchbacks at lower solar latitudes this time during the rising phase of solar cycle 25.
Both observations were associated with the Fast Solar Wind.

We can see that their numbers increase closer to the Sun, this is to be expected as the impinging Birkeland Currents become ever more filamentary as they approach the Sun.

We can see that they are associated with active regions, again, this is to be expected as the solar cycle progresses and the orderly arrival of Birkeland Current at the solar poles gives way to the more complex arrival of currents at solar mid and equatorial regions.

Given that switchbacks are associated with the Fast Solar Wind they will provide useful markers as the solar cycle progresses, as the Fast Solar Wind disappears, to where the actual impinging currents are, before they retreat back towards the solar poles at solar minimum.

We can now see that switchbacks are further evidence of what has been proposed on this thread.

[Robertus Maximus]

The Heliotube!

https://phys.org/news/2022-09-cat-eye-nebula-3d.html

A far better graphic, compared to my original ones, of what I have called the 'heliotube'.

Although of the Cat's Eye Nebula, it gives an indication of how the Sun's environment would appear to an external observer if it were visible.