Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Science

Solar and Terrestrial Conveyor Belts

We previously posted the prediction of the next solar maximum in this article. Now, another article from NASA on essentially the same topic offers a different twist; the notion of similarities between the terrestrial ocean “conveyor belt” and a conveyor belt phenomenon postulated to occur in the solar interior are considered in the article:

NASA – Solar Storm Warning

It’s official: Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.

Like the quiet before a storm.

[more]

In the article, they refer to the “ocean conveyor belt” which is an attribute of ocean circulation patterns. These patterns can alter the climate in certain areas . For example, the Gulf Stream portion of the “conveyor” keeps Northwestern Europe more temperate than normal for a high-latitude area. Likewise, Hawaii is cooler than many 20th latitude tropical areas due to the California Current, another segment of the “belt.” Left: Illustration of ocean circulation “conveyor belt” – NASA

The article describes the solar circulation pattern a bit more:

The sun’s conveyor belt is a current, not of water, but of electrically-conducting gas. It flows in a loop from the sun’s equator to the poles and back again. Just as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt controls weather on Earth, this solar conveyor belt controls weather on the sun. Specifically, it controls the sunspot cycle.

[ . . . ]

The top of the conveyor belt skims the surface of the sun, sweeping up the magnetic fields of old, dead sunspots. The ‘corpses’ are dragged down at the poles to a depth of 200,000 km where the sun’s magnetic dynamo can amplify them. Once the corpses (magnetic knots) are reincarnated (amplified), they become buoyant and float back to the surface. Presto — new sunspots!

I think the comparison between the solar circulation and Earth’s ocean circulation is interesting, but the circulation of solar plasma is probably more analogous to the triple-cell atmospheric circulation model here on Earth, where there is lateral motion due to the rotation of the planet and Coriolis forces. Since the sun is effectively gaseous (albeit dense), the same sorts of forces should be in effect.

Left: Triple circulation cell illustration – WikiPedia

Don’t forget that both conveyor belts on Earth are driven by the energy of the Sun. The added insight into the Sun’s most complex workings will continue to benefit mankind. As solar research continues and we learn even more about the Sun, it will better enable us to prepare for the terrestrial effects of solar activity, whether it be for colder or warmer.

12 Mar 2006 by Astronomy Global Warming Science

Sahara Impact Crater in Three-D

Break out the red-blue 3D glasses and check this stereo picture of the Sahara Impact Crater. What? You don’t have a pair? Well, just send Rainbow Symphony a self-addressed-stamped envelope and they’ll send you a free pair!

From SpaceWeather.com

KEBIRA IMPACT CRATER: Sometimes asteroids miss, and sometimes they don’t. Planetary scientist Farouk El-Baz of Boston University has just announced the discovery of a 19-mile-wide impact crater in the Sahara desert. He named it Kebira, an Arabic word meaning “large.”

Kebira is so large that it is actually difficult to see from ground level. Satellite images show it better. Using Landsat 7 data, Frank Reddy of Astronomy Magazine created this 3D anaglyph:

View with red-blue glasses for 3D effect.

“Desert sands, wind, and ancient rivers have eroded the dark, 100-million-year-old sandstone, but the crater’s rings and central uplift still stand out,” says Reddy. “El-Baz thinks this is the source of a yellow-green desert glass found throughout the region.

SpaceWeather.com offers a larger 3D view of the crater.

08 Mar 2006 by Environment Science

Global Warming – a Hot Topic

Global Warming is always a hot topic since the left often uses the phenomenon to try and leverage their obstructive agenda. They generally attempt to blame the industry of mankind in general, and the United States in particular, for the “horrible” consequences of global warming.

The left embraces the Kyoto Accord, an international treaty whereby countries agree to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases by imposing restrictive laws and higher taxes. The United States is not signatory to the treaty, largely because it is based on the faulty premise that greenhouse gasses emitted by industry is the major contributing factor to global warming; in fact, chaotic solar activity has more to do with the climate on our planet than any other factors. Why should we sign up for a useless effort and penalize our industry and economy?

Volcanoes, range and forest fires and infrequent caldera activity have had temporary effects, but are not comparable to the major contributor, the Sun. And these terrestrial occurrences are much more consequential than anything our emissions can contribute (short of global thermonuclear war).

Thinking that the minor contribution of industrial emissions can compare with the influence of solar magnetic flux, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), x-ray flares, solar wind and other solar phenomena is like thinking that a mouse can single-handedly whip a herd of pachyderms. Complete nonsense.

Now, it seems that Old Sol is busily fusing hydrogen into helium, recharging his batteries, and resting up for yet another period of intense activity that is certain to result in a major assault on our planet’s climate. From Science Blog

Scientists Gaze Inside Sun, Predict the Next Solar Cycle

The next solar activity cycle will be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the previous one, and up to a year late in arriving . . .

[ . . . ]

The sun goes through a roughly 11-year cycle of activity, from stormy to quiet and back again. Predicting the sun’s cycles accurately years in advance will help societies plan for active bouts of solar storms, which can disrupt satellite orbits and electronics, interfere with radio communication, and damage power systems. The forecast is important for NASA’s long-term Vision for Space Exploration plans, since solar storms can be hazardous to unprotected astronauts as well.

[ . . . ]

We are currently back in the quiet period for the current cycle (cycle 23). The next cycle will begin with a rise in solar activity in late 2007 or early 2008, according to the team, and there will be 30 to 50 percent more sunspots, flares, and CMEs in cycle 24. This is about one year later than the prediction using previous methods, which rely on statistics, like the strength of the large-scale solar magnetic field and the number of sunspots, to make estimates for the next cycle.

[Read the whole story]

Images credit SOHO

Uh oh! The gulf coast and other hurricane-prone areas had better start building the Mother of All Levees.

For additional reading, see our entire collection of global warming articles.

07 Mar 2006 by Global Warming Science Whacko Politics

Space Scientist Reviews King Kong

Imagine my surprise when I found an article on Space.com that was, in effect, a movie review. The article was entertaining, humorous and was written from a scientific perspective:

SPACE.com — Big Apes and Bad Biology

[ . . . ]

Skull Island’s a happening place. Sauropods stampede to a booming death, insect carnivores the size of phone booths writhe out of the swamps, and Kong – stricken by the sight of blonde hair – develops an inappropriate interest in the one woman who’s aboard ship. Eventually, the entrepreneurs who have initiated this less-than-idyllic odyssey capture Kong and take him back to Manhattan as an E-coupon sideshow attraction.

Let me give that a bit of emphasis: these guys find an island filled with living, prehistoric dinosaurs. And they bring back the mammal.

Now some will see this classic cinema tale as a touching love story between two primates who share their affections but only 98% of their genes. A recent opinion piece in the New York Times suggested that this film was motivated by Soviet experiments in the 1920s designed to produce a human-chimpanzee hybrid (in an attempt to discredit religion, while simultaneously offending chimp family values). Then there’s the now-forgotten prewar habit of bringing back wild beasts and natives from distant lands to exhibit as living exotica. As recently as 1931, you could observe caged humans (Africans and Inuit were favorites) on display in Europe.

[more]

Yep, long after slavery was abolished in this country, enlightened Europeans kept people of color in cages – and these days they preach to America about our so-called injustices – but I digress – that’s not the point of the article. I just thought it was yet another good example of Euro-hypocrisy.

02 Mar 2006 by Culture Entertainment Science

Stars – Celestial vs. Celebrity

Caving into the almighty quest for capital, a famous London company will shut down a popular planetarium & science exhibit in favor of shows featuring celebrities. In essence, celestial stars are out, superficial stars are in.

From Sky and Telescope: London Planetarium to Close

February 22, 2006 The stars at one of central London’s well-known tourist attractions will go dark for good this July. Madame Tussauds waxworks, the owner of the London Planetarium, has decided to close the facility as the company shifts its focus from science education to entertainment. The planetarium (renamed the Auditorium) will soon replace its shows with programs about celebrities.

Built in the 1950s, the London Planetarium seats around 330 under its green 18-meter (60-foot) dome. Although Madame Tussauds had cut the screenings of its shows to just one 10-minute program called “Journey to Infinity,” the planetarium has remained very popular with local schoolchildren and their teachers.

“The London Planetarium has inspired generations of schoolchildren,” notes Robin Scagell, vice president of Britain’s Society for Popular Astronomy. “Many parents can still remember their first visit to it when they were young. To lose the planetarium now would be a tragedy.”

The Royal Observatory’s new, state-of-the-art 120-seat planetarium in Greenwich Park, about 30 minutes from downtown London by boat or rail, is currently under construction and won’t be completed until early 2007. “The only other planetarium of any size within striking distance of London,” says Scagell, “is the South Downs Planetarium near Chichester on the South Coast, about 60 miles from the capital, which is certainly not readily accessible unless you happen to be in the area.”

“I don’t think the Madame Tussauds management wants to sell or lease out the London Planetarium,” he adds. “It’s a valuable bit of real estate in a very expensive part of the world, and I’m sure they want to hang on to it. The dome itself is not a listed building, that is, not protected as being of historic or architectural value, but I doubt that they would want to pull it down just yet.”

It’s a shame to trade science for sensationalism. Most celestial stars are in their main sequence and will glow for billions of years to come. Terrestrial stars might be compared to final sequence giant stars, which have only a short time left before they collapse into the dwarfs they are all destined to become.

23 Feb 2006 by Astronomy Science

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