October 28, 2020 The Universe behaves according to the laws of electrodynamics. The prevailing opinion about “planetary” nebulae usually involves gases and dust “blowing” through them, created by “shock waves” from exploding stars. In many cases, a nebula is described as a “star factory,” because X-ray radiation, or extreme ultraviolet,…
October 27, 2020 Stars are conventionally thought to form in regions of high density. According to a recent press release from the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, astronomers detected “1000 times” fewer instances of “star birth” than their astrophysical models predict. Since common ideas about stars require them to form in regions…
October 26, 2020 Electricity powers galactic disks. In an Electric Universe, galaxies act like a homopolar motor, a device invented by Michael Faraday more than a hundred years ago. A homopolar motor works by inducing magnetic fields in a conductive metal plate. The metal plate is placed between the poles…
October 23, 2020 Bad theories mean bad designs. When the Osiris-Rex mission was planned and organized, there was not much known about Bennu, journey’s end for the spacecraft. Osiris-Rex was designed to collect dust and sandy soil from the surface of an asteroid and then return it safely to Earth….
October 22, 2020 Theories provide context for observations. Recent data from the twin Voyager spacecraft reveals that the Interstellar Medium surrounding the Solar System is a diffuse region of charged particles, primarily ionized hydrogen, with a density of about one atom per cubic centimeter. However, between galaxies, astrophysicists estimate that…
October 21, 2020 Galaxies are electrical in nature. According to a recent press release, the Milky Way galaxy is “…surrounded by a clumpy halo of hot gases that is continually being supplied with material ejected by birthing or dying stars.” Named the circumgalactic medium (CGM), it is where astronomers say…
October 20, 2020 FRBs are not gravity bombs. About ten years ago, astronomers discovered what they call a “Fast Radio Burst”, or FRB. It was estimated that the event released more energy in five milliseconds than the Sun puts out in a month. The source was said to be a…
October 19, 2020 Mercury ahead. The BepiColombo satellites to Mercury were launched from French Guyana on October 20, 2018. The mission is named for Giuseppe Colombo (1920-1984) who was the first to realize that Mercury rotates three times for every two orbits around the Sun, because of resonance between the…
October 16, 2020 Astronomers find many celestial phenomena to be unexpected. Many of those phenomena are familiar, even though they are not easily explained. The aurorae at each of Earth’s poles are familiar to most people, although the way they form is not completely understood. Similarly, lightning bolts are familiar…
October 15, 2020 What powers coronal mass ejections? According to a recent press release, solar flares are driven by magnetized loops of plasma. The magnetic fields in the “magnetic flux ropes” experience “reconnection events” in which the field lines break and then reconnect, causing explosions of “magnetic energy.” Some of that…
