Oct 03, 2013 Dione exhibits some unusual features that may indicate electrical forces at work. Recently, the Cassini-Solstice spacecraft made a close flyby of the moon Enceladus. As the Picture of the Day from May 3, 2012 discussed, the bright plumes emanating from the 500 kilometer moon are most…
Oct 02, 2013 Radial filaments within galaxies identify them as plasma phenomena. “If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him.” — Seneca The irregular galaxy M82—otherwise known as the Cigar Galaxy—forms a pair with M81, Barnard’s Galaxy in the constellation Ursa…
Oct 01, 2013 How can dunes form in an environment “wet with hydrocarbons”? Dune formations have been found in four locations in the Solar System: Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan. In one instance the average temperature ranges from between 15 and 17 Celsius, with an environment rich in liquid…
Sep 30, 2013 Galactic magnetic fields were discovered more than 50 years ago. Astronomers continue to ask basic questions about galaxies: what generates their magnetic fields? What gives those fields their shape and their strength? Researchers using the latest computer simulations think they have found the answers. Cool gas…
Sep 26, 2013 External electric flux influences Earth’s climate According to a recent press release, ten years of data analysis has revealed that cloud height changes over time in response to an electric field generated by “global thunderstorms”. Although Earth’s electric field is brought into the discussion, and the electric charge…
Sep 24, 2013 Consensus opinions state that a star in the latter stages of its life will undergo violent upheavals as its supply of hydrogen fuel diminishes and the “ash” of heavier elements accumulates in its core. According to prevailing theory, before a star reaches the final white dwarf…
Sep 19, 2013 The northern aurora is a highly energetic region. “It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds.” — Kristian Birkeland The curtains of blue, green,…
Sep 17, 2013 Are comets “dirty snowballs”? (This TPOD originally ran on Apr 01, 2013) Comet 2012 S1, an object approximately three kilometers in diameter, is presently inside the orbit of Jupiter. It is “remarkably bright” according to astronomers, although it is still millions of kilometers from the Sun….
Sep 13, 2013 The largest moon in the Solar System shows signs of what could be electric scarring. Jupiter and its moons have been the destination of several deep space missions over the last four decades. Beginning with Pioneer 10 in 1973, and including the most recent visit by…
Sep 12, 2013 Modern astronomy surely suffers from a kind of blindness. It is either a blindness of mind or one of practice. The continuing presence of Big Bang cosmology among those who are charged with increasing the store of scientific knowledge proves that there certainly is blindness in…
