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Today, we begin a series of reports on groundbreaking
scientific data from the ESA's Rosetta mission to Comet 67P.
In previous episodes Dr. Franklin Anariba, a lecturer
at Singapore University of Technology and Design has presented
a scientific argument for electrochemical processes on comets.
In episode one of this five-part series Dr. Anariba begins his analysis
of recently published scientific papers which provide perhaps the best
direct evidence to date of the electrical nature of cometary activity.
Let me provide a context for this episode series on comet 67P.
The Rosetta mission is providing us with a plethora of scientific reports
filled with very valuable information on the composition of the coma and
nucleus of comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko, hereafter referred to as 67P.
In this episode series I intend to pinpoint relevant findings from different published
scientific articles that are relevant from the perspective of the Electric Universe.
It is a critical review that recognizes the significant contributions of all authors
where no misrepresentation is intended, and which overall purpose was to inform
the general audience of an alternative interpretation of the reported findings.
This is accomplished by commenting on recent findings reported
using various instruments and techniques,
including the Rosetta Plasma Consortium Ion and Electron Sensor (RPC-IES),
Rosetta Plasma Consortium Ion Composition Analyzer (RPC-IEA),
which is a mass spectrometer capable of detecting positive ions or cations,
and the Rosetta Orbitor Spectrometer for Neutral
Analysis Cometary Pressure Sensor (ROSINA-COPS).
My analysis is derived from observations made on Comet 67P
at heliocentric distances of 2 to 4 astronomical units (AU).
At such heliocentric distances,
Comet 67P displays low cometary activity as it is far from reaching perihelion,
but this fact might be decisive in elucidating phenomena that
otherwise will be convoluted and difficult to discern.
My commentary is based on reported data and interpretation of the
same by the authors, which on occasion I re-interpret
from the perspective of someone with an electrochemical background.
As can be ascertained by reading most of the reports published on scientific
journals on Comet 67P, the main paradigm is the one proposed by Whipple
some time ago which can be called the Condensation Sublimation model.
I am not here to refute this model, which I recognize to be of
importance near perihelion distance if comets were to contain
large amounts of volatile ices on the surface, or in their subsurface.
Instead, my intention is to bring to everybody's attention
that there could be other mechanisms at work
for the origin of water and other chemical species in the cometary coma.
One mechanism is proton implantation,
which has been recalled to explain water ice presence in craters on the moon,
can be invoked to explain the presence of small amounts of water ices
on the surface of comets with tenuous ion density in their comas.
Another mechanism mostly unknown to the astronomical community
is based on electrochemical principles which I have named, 'electron stripping'.
This mechanism can be dominant at larger heliocentric distances,
away from perihelion, when the voltage differential between the comet
and the surrounding plasma sheath of the Sun can be largest.
This mechanism can also be recalled
to explain the presence of water vapor in the coma of comets.
The invocation of these two other mechanisms is necessary
because so far no significant amount of water ices have been identified
on the surface and subsurface of the nucleus of Comet 67P.
Furthermore, the recent findings of molecular oxygen in the coma of Comet 67P,
along with it's link to the presence of water vapor points to the
presence of an electrochemical method of production.
Before I continue on to discuss the various findings,
it is important to clarify and define important terminology used in the current
condensation-sublimation model for cometary origin,
and it's relationship to the plasma environment near the nucleus of comets.
In this model, the solar wind-associated interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
interacts with comet's coma creating a bow shock due to the
pile up of magnetic fields on the sunward direction of the comet.
According to the current proposed mechanism, an induced magnetosphere
forms at the interface of the solar wind and comet's plasma sheath,
which is partially ionized and electrically conducting.
This phenomenon is mostly observed near perihelion when comets,
in general, display high cometary activity.
Equally important to this model, neutral gas molecules in the coma are thought
to sublimate from the nucleus and then undergo photoionization by extreme
ultraviolet (EUV) radiation emanating from the Sun, resulting in charge
separation and the formation of a plasma sheath surrounding the nucleus.
In addition, the solar wind, which is comprised of cations,
such as protons(H(sup)+) and α particles (HE²),
and electrons is thought to play an important role in the ion gas production,
via sputtering of the surface of the nucleus and ensuing charge exchange mechanisms.
Mass loading is thought to occur concurrently with newly formed gas ions
initially traveling at low speeds approximately 1km/sec are picked up,
or accelerated, by the solar wind - associated interplanetary electric field
to it's mean speed of approximately 400 km/sec.
Mass loading becomes significant at distances <1,000 kilometres from the nucleus.
A typical mean solar wind speed ranges from 300 to 600 km/sec.
This kinetic energy can be translated into potential energy by equating both energies
through the following equation: potential energy (PE) equals Kinetic energy (KE),
which is equal to eV = ½(Mass of proton) x (velocity of proton)².
We can use this equality to realize that a solar wind
speed of 300-600 km/sec is equivalent to 470.4 to 1,881.7 eV.
For reference, the ionization potential of a gas hydrogen (H) atom
where the hydrogen disassociates into a proton and electron is 13.6 eV.
The Lorentz force is responsible for accelerating newborn ions
orthogonally to the solar wind direction and the interplanetary magnetic field
and causes the ions to gyrate around and along interplanetary
magnetic field lines forming a ring distribution.
One of the consequences of this mass loading, or pickup action,
is the deceleration of the solar wind through conservation of momentum
in the excitation of cyclotron wave activity.
The gyration of the ions around the solar wind can be characterized
via the Larmor cyclotron parameters, such as:
Radius of gyration (Rg) = mass of the ion x velocity of the ion /
(electric charge x solar wind magnetic field)
The period of gyration t(sub)g = (2π x R(sub)g)
all divided by the velocity of the ion.
The cyclotron or gyrofrequency is going to be then,
equal to one over the period generation.
Angular cyclotron frequency is equal to the electric charge
x the solar wind magnetic field / (all divided) by the mass of the ion.
With these general concept in mind, I would like to take a look at two
important recent reports on the dynamics of the comet's plasma environment.
In the manuscript titled,
"Observations of a New Type of low-frequency waves at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko"
by Richter et al., which measured the plasma environment in the inner coma,
as close as 10 kilometres, the general observations reveal a
significant ion and electron activity within the inner coma of the comet.
The relevant findings are summarized below:
1) the solar wind (SW) carries a detectable magnetic field of ~2nT,
while the magnetic field in the inner coma of 67P showed a value of ~4nT,
indicating that the magnetic field energy density was higher closer to the nucleus.
2) Magnetic field oscillations at ~40 mHz dominate the plasma environment
of the nucleus and showed no preferred propogation direction.
3) An electric current density of 4.8 x 10(sup)-9 nanoamps were determined.
The findings are of particularly interest and intriguing.
First, electrical activity near the nucleus of the comet is discerned.
Second, most of the ions detected in the cometary coma of 67P are thought to be
water cations which display a cyclotron frequency in the range of 0.8 to 3.5 mHz,
much different from the dominant 40 mHz detected.
This result is unexpected, indicating a new mechanism must be in action.
The authors add and I quote, "it should be noted that the suggested
wave source is not co-moving with the solar wind flow ...
(T)he wave source is almost fixed in the nucleus frame of reference".
The authors discard the classical pick up ion instabilities as the source of the
magnetic oscillations and instead proposed that photoionized ions move transverse
to the magnetic field but along the solar wind, which flows in the direction of
the electric field, in what is called, a 'cross-field electrical current density.
In other words, the electric fields control cometary ion motion
but in a different way from the known mass loading action.
In the report by Nilsson et al. titled, "Evolution of the Ion Environment
of Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko" whereby the plasma environment
is measured using the ion composition analyzer mass spectrometer,
capable of measuring positive ions, the following findings are of attention:
1) Cometary ions detected are mostly water cations
with two distinct potential energies.
Cold water ions contain potential energies of ~10 to 50 eV
and traveling from an area between the Sun and the nucleus,
while the accelerated water ions contain potential energies of ~120 to 5,000 eV
and are detected coming from the direction of the Sun.
2) Water ion flux increased by 4-orders of magnitude when the heliocentric d istance
decreased from 3.6 to 2.0 AU units and the solar flux only increased by ~a factor of 2.
3) The solar wind did not slow down noticeably, suggesting mass loading is negligible.
Interestingly, the authors add: "A simply scenario will be that the pick-up ions
initially move along the undisturbed solar wind electric field,
while the newly created electrons ... drift, causing a charge separation.
"The electric field of that charge separation would initially have a component opposite
to the solar wind electric field and a component in the anti-sunward direction".
"This is consistent with both the flow of water ions
and the observed deflection of the solar wind".
The implications are three-fold: a) Charge seperation is due to an electric field,
which is an indication of the presence of voltage differential.
b) If the accelerated water cations are traveling from the Sun,
electrons must be traveling in the direction towards the Sun.
c) The high water cation flux production rate
may be an indication that another process is at work,
besides the traditionally proposed photoionization due to ultraviolet radiation.
To summarize episode 1, taken together the overall findings paint a picture of a
highly dynamical plasma environment in the vicinity of the nucleus
with potential consequences such as charge separation of cations
and anions due to a voltage differential.
To Be Continued...
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