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.

[Robertus Maximus]

‘Escape Tunnel’?

‘3D map reveals our solar system's local bubble has an 'escape tunnel'’

https://www.space.com/milky-way-hot-col ... supernovas

https://www.mpe.mpg.de/8038794/news20241029

A recent article claims that the Sun’s local environment exhibits: ‘Hot spots and tunnels to neighboring "superbubbles" seem to have been created by supernovas and infant star outbursts…’

The claim is related to observations carried out by the eROSITA All-Sky Survey.

‘The researchers also found what seems to be an "interstellar tunnel,"…a channel between stars directed towards the constellation Centaurus. This tunnel may link the solar system's home bubble with a neighboring superbubble…’

In the past collecting observational data was hindered by Earth’s geocorona: ‘One of the major problems with this theory emerged in 1996, when scientists found that exchanges between the solar wind, a stream of charged particles blown out by the sun, and particles in Earth's "geocorona," the outermost layer of our planet's atmosphere, emit X-ray photons with energies similar to those proposed…’

Now, thanks to the eROSITA telescope which is positioned beyond Earth’s geocorona, X-ray observations of the Sun’s environment have been successfully carried out.

Observations, carried out during solar minimum, have found: ‘This revealed that the LHB is stretched toward the poles of the galactic hemisphere. Hot gas expands in the direction that offers the least resistance, which, in this case, is away from the galactic disk. Thus, this wasn't a huge surprise to the researchers as it is also finding that had been revealed by eROSITA's predecessor, ROSAT, around 3 decades ago.’ (my emphasis)

Data also revealed the existence of ‘tunnels’ of ‘hot-gas’: ‘Excitingly, the team suspects that the Centaurus tunnel in the LHB may just be a part of a network of hot gas tunnels that bore their way between the cool gas of the interstellar medium between stars.’

And…

"Another interesting fact is that the sun must have entered the LHB a few million years ago, a short time compared to the age of the sun [4.6 billion years]," team member and MPE scientist Gabriele Ponti said. "It is purely coincidental that the sun seems to occupy a relatively central position in the LHB as we continuously move through the Milky Way." (my emphasis)

Purely coincidental that the Sun is at the centre? Perhaps, there is no coincidence?

Sometime ago, I introduced the concept of what I imaginatively call the ‘heliotube’ as an alternative to the heliosphere, a concept that was more fitting for the electric Sun model.

In 2016 I questioned the consensus view of the heliosphere and proposed the heliotube as an alternative:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/ ... 20#p115766

In 2017 I suggested that the heliotail does not exist:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/ ... 35#p119269

In 2019 I corrected my earlier view of the orientation of the heliotube:
https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/ ... 25#p127597

In that post I mentioned that: ‘In 1980 a study by a group of astronomers from the former USSR Academy of Sciences identified a large-scale background interplanetary magnetic field concluding that the “…reversal of the Sun’s dipolar field seems to be controlled by the Galaxy”.

Back to the latest report, it was also found that a temperature dichotomy existed between northern and southern hemispheres when viewed in galactic co-ordinates; with the south being slightly hotter than the north. Keep in mind this was during solar minimum, it will be interesting to see if any changes occur as the current solar cycle progresses, I suspect they will.

The Centaurus and Canis Majoris ‘connecting’ tunnels are both found in the galactic plane, closer to the Sun this is where we find the Cassini Belt, whether they play a role in the solar cycle at this stage is unclear as they may be more reflective of Birkeland currents flowing in the galactic plane.

Finally, I would suggest that it is not by accident that the Sun was found to be near the centre of the Local Hot Bubble, in reality this a feature of the Sun’s environment one which leads to the heliotube concept and which supplies the Sun with all its radiant energy.

[jacmac]

The papers from the Max Plank Institute describe our solar environment as a HOT BUBBLE, and talk about HOT GAS.
This practice is very common in the standard model publications and in many papers.
If a scientist called the moisture in our atmosphere HOT WATER that would create a lot of confusion.
For some reason they get away with not using the name PLASMA.
They surly know what they are calling hot gas is PLASMA, but that would bring them closer to using the words "charged particles" or,
heaven forbid, "electricity" .
They seem to believe, or imply, the plasma gets that way because it has become very HOT;
....it only exists because regular gas has become very hot.
They don't acknowledge that plasma exists at much lower temperatures as well as high temperatures.

Perhaps our community can embark on a simple campaign to get the mainstream to call plasma ....PLASMA !!!
If we join forces and reach out to other like minded folk to do the same we might start to put a dent in the
Gravity Bubble the mainstream lives in.
Jack

[Robertus Maximus]

Superclouds or Birkeland Currents?

From ScienceNews: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sev ... ystem-star

‘Astronomers have found a septet of superclouds lying just beyond the solar system. These giant strings of gas — five of which were previously unknown — sit nearly parallel to each other, and most of them undulate up and down in a wave pattern…’

‘“We finally [know] the interstellar cloud structure near us,” says independent astrophysicist Bruce Elmegreen, based in Katonah, N.Y. “It’s always been hard to see what is very local” to the solar system…’

‘After linking them up, the team identified seven long superclouds — including the Radcliffe Wave and a previously found one called the Split — lying nearly parallel to each other along the disk of the galaxy. All but the Split zigzag up and down, showing the shape is a common feature.’

‘Moreover, most of the known nearby stellar nurseries reside within the superclouds, particularly along their central axes. The arrangement suggests that superclouds are the “mothers” of smaller, denser clouds that collapse and produce stars, says astrophysicist João Alves of the University of Vienna.’

‘Alves, Kormann and their colleagues are still figuring out why the superclouds weave up and down, how they spur star-birthing clouds and how they regulate their average densities — which closely match one another, despite considerable variation in the amount of material packed into any given stretch. “It’s just opening a lot of doors,” Alves says.’ Emphasis mine.

I’m sure the reader by now, unlike the authors of the paper, has recognised the description of ‘superclouds’ as matching that of Birkeland Currents.

The description of a zigzag pattern made me chuckle, anyone who remembers my early illustrations on this thread, may recall I used a zigzag pattern in an attempt to convey to the reader a rotating Birkeland Current.

https://thunderbolts.info/wp/forum/phpB ... &mode=view

I found the observation that, and I quote: “It’s always been hard to see what is very local” to the solar system...” very interesting. From the actual paper we read: “The possibility that the Sun is embedded within the remnants of an ancient supercloud, as suggested by Olano (2016), further complicates identification.”

For those who ask “Where is the Birkeland Current that powers the solar discharge?” We know have an answer, the closer we get to the solar system such structures become increasingly difficult to observe, we are simply not going to find a Birkeland Current waving a flag saying “I’m over here!” On my wish-list would be a fleet of Ulysses-type spacecraft orbiting the Sun out to, say, 30AU but we know it’s simply not going to happen.

With that said, current observational techniques may well have the ability to reveal the very local Birkeland Currents which I contented power the solar discharge manifesting in the solar cycle. It may be that because consensus science assumes ‘superclouds’ cannot be there, they simply do not look for them.

Birkeland Currents that power the solar discharge may be hiding in plain sight.

The paper The Superclouds of the Local Milky Way can be found here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14883

[jacmac]

Thanks Robertus: super clouds indeed !
We need to get them to say the word PLASMA, then perhaps they might be ready for the
Birkeland Currents concept.
Jac

[Robertus Maximus]

Sunspots, Coronal Holes and the Solar Cycle

In this thread I have proposed that the sunspot cycle is a manifestation of subtle Birkeland Currents in the local interstellar medium that supply the Sun with all its radiant energy.

My original aim was to counter a number of criticisms of the electric sun hypothesis raised by Bob Johnson at the EU 2013 Conference ‘The Tipping Point’.

I have suggested that during solar minimum current arrives, roughly at the Sun’s poles, whilst during solar maximum current arrives away from the poles. During solar maximum current arrives mainly at ‘active longitudes’ separated by approximately 180 degrees.

I have suggested that this is primarily due the orientation of the Sun’s rotational axis with respect to its local environment and motion through the Local Interstellar Medium.

A paper published in 2022 looks at the relationship between sunspots, coronal holes and the sunspot cycle. (1)

‘Regions on the Sun with open magnetic fields are sources of the fast solar wind, and thus play a crucial role in Heliophysics as a main driver of geomagnetic activity. Key structures indicative of open magnetic fields are coronal holes, which are large regions of the corona that are unipolar, low-density regions that appear to be dark when observed both on the solar disk and above the solar limb in EUV observations. During solar maximum the area of the polar coronal holes diminishes while the area of equatorial coronal holes increases.’ (2) (my emphasis)

‘The dynamics of CHs during 11-year cycle was studied. Comparison of the variations in the daily total CHs areas with the sunspot areas made it possible to reveal some features of the dynamics of the polar and nonpolar CHs areas in the period May, 13 2010 – May, 13 2021. In the 24th solar activity cycle, the South led for polar CHs and the North led for nonpolar ones. There is a connection between the number and area of CHs and the phase of the solar cycle. The number and daily total area of polar CHs increases at the minima of solar activity and decreases at the maximum of the cycle. This is consistent with the general concept of polar CHs as the main source of the solar dipole magnetic field … It is shown that the areas of nonpolar CHs change quasi-synchronously with sunspot activity, which suggests a physical connection between these two phenomena.’ (3) (my emphasis)

The authors note that there is a ‘physical connection’ between sunspot and coronal hole phenomena, this is what I have suggested. They further note that polar CHs (coronal holes) are ‘the main source of the solar dipole magnetic field’. Of course, the dipole magnetic field fades at solar maximum only to reform at solar minimum.

A more recent paper presented a study of the polarity of coronal holes. (4)

‘Coronal holes are considered to be the sources of the fast solar wind. However, the spe-cific energy source and acceleration mechanisms of such highly energized solar plasma originating from coronal holes are still an open question. Coronal holes are temporary regions that appear dark in images of the solar corona, most commonly in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-rays. They exhibit low density, temperature, and intensity emission compared to noncoronal hole regions. The magnetic field within coronal holes is considered to be open and unipolar… These open magnetic field lines play an im-portant role in the formation of the fast solar wind.' (5)

'Our analysis of coronal hole unipolarity supports the theoretical definition that coronal holes are regions associated with open magnetic field lines.' (6)

Considering the observations detailed above it is clear that coronal holes (CHs) are uni-polar magnetic regions. When CHs migrate to and coalesce at the Sun’s polar regions, at solar minimum, they form the Sun’s observed dipolar magnetic field.

As observed, CHs are somehow connected with sunspots. I have previously (2018) commented on the work on Unipolar Magnetic Regions (UMRs) by Akasofu. (7)

In that earlier post I wrote:

‘Single isolated sunspots are quite common, more common than commonly believed. Single sunspots possess the same basic structure as a sunspot pair. Positive polarity single sunspots are only found in positive polarity UMRs, negative polarity single sunspots are only found in negative polarity UMRs.

‘A sunspot pair (positive and negative polarity) is only found at the boundaries of opposing polarity UMRs.

‘On the subject of single sunspots and their association with UMRs Akasofu writes: “A theory of the formation of sunspot pairs requires the explanation of the above observed facts mentioned in this paper, as well as the well-known Hale’s law of the sunspot cycle. Obviously, it is not possible to explain the formation of single spots and pairs of sunspots simply by rising magnetic flux tubes that was proposed by Babcock [1961]. Further, the origin of UM regions appears to be different from magnetic fields of decaying sunspots and active regions.

‘“It is suggested that UM regions play a very important role in the formation of single spots and sunspot pairs, in particular in connection with and the Hale boundary…’

Hopefully, the ‘physical connection’ between sunspots and CHs is now clear. At solar minimum Birkeland currents providing the Sun’s radiant energy are to be found focussed at the Sun’s polar regions. As the solar cycle progresses towards solar maximum the same currents migrate towards the Sun’s mid and equatorial regions; as they do so they become increasingly filamentary, appearing as unipolar CHs and sunspots. Despite increased complexity observed on the solar surface at solar maximum the reality is really quite simple. UMRs still dominate the solar surface, it is only at the boundaries of UMRs where we find the more familiar sunspot pairs and active regions.

This is the ‘physical connection’ Andreeva et al. are searching for- will they find it?

References:

1. Andreeva. O. et al. 2022, 11-year dynamics of coronal hole and sunspot areas
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... spot_areas
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Katuwal. K. et al. 2026, Unipolarity of the Solar Magnetic Field in Equatorial Coronal Holes
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3 ... ae41ba/pdf
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Akasofu. S.I, 2015, Single spots, unipolar magnetic regions, and pairs of spots: 2. The development of sunspot pairs and the Hale boundary, Geophysical Research Letters, No. 42, 2571–2576, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ... 14GL062887