Month: September 2022

THE MAGNETOSPHERE OF VENUS. “The the solar wind magnetic field lines are "folded" around Venus, so the plasma flow is directed around the planet. Depending on the balance between internal pressure (exerted by ionospheric plasma) and external pressure (exerted by solar wind plasma), the positions of ionopause and magnetopause vary in altitude.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

Curious corner in old town Girona that leads to a dark narrow doorway with a tiny atrium reaching to open sky. View in LinkedIn

EXOTIC MATTER. “Beside the commonly known states of matter - the solid, liquid and gaseous phase - there exist more exotic states. One is the plasma state. This is a gas that does not consist only out of neutral particles, but also to a large fraction out of ions and electrons. On earth plasmas can be found in lightning discharges as well as in the ionosphere. They have technological applications in plasma displays and experimental fusion reactors. Since stars also consist of plasma, most of the visible universe is in this state of matter.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

“PLASMA is also quite common in our solar system and present in the interplanetary space or even trapped within the self-generated magnetic fields of several planets. Plasma in the interplanetary space originates primarily from the Sun from where it escapes due to its high pressure, forming the solar wind. The solar wind can interact with the magnetic fields of many planets.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

PLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS. “Their undisturbed fields can be described in first order as dipolar fields. The region which is dominated by the planetary magnetic field is called the magnetosphere. Its dominating pressure is exerted by the magnetic field and the trapped charged particles within the magnetosphere while in the surrounding interplanetary space the dominant pressure is created by the solar wind. This external pressure compresses the planetary dipolar field at the dayside and forms a long magnetotail on the nightside.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

CHARGED PARTICLES. “The magnetosphere traps many particles near the planet and, more importantly, shields most of the planet from the solar wind flux. Charged particles in the planetary magnetospheres can originate from different sources and are generated by a large variety of mechanisms. For instance, neutral particles can escape the atmosphere of a planet or can be knocked off its atmosphere or surface of a moon. These particles can be ionized due to UV radiation from the sun or collisions with other particles and also contribute to planetary plasmas.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

PLASMA LAB. “The magnetospheres of planets in our solar system can therefore be considered as big plasma laboratories with conditions which are not attainable at Earth.” https://lnkd.in/dVhpP9H View in LinkedIn

MAGNETIC FIELDS. Planet Magnetic Field Strength Relative to Earth: Earth =1; Saturn = 600; Uranus = 50; Neptune = 25. https://lnkd.in/dEgBkgy View in LinkedIn

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE COULD HAVE INFLUENCE EARLY EART EVOLUTION. “Traditionally, the Sun was thought to be the only astronomical source of light that affected life on Earth. But it is also possible that the black hole, SgrA played an important role in shaping the history of terrestrial life. A surprising realization of this sort is similar to figuring out that a stranger might have impacted your family history before you were born. If a link between SgrA* and terrestrial life can be established, then this supermassive black hole might trigger a second Nobel Prize.” (By Harvard Astronomy Chair, Abraham Loeb). https://lnkd.in/d3h297W View in LinkedIn