Violent solar outburst in 2021 detected on Earth, Moon, Mars, in scientific first

Michelle Starr
Science Alert
Mon, 07 Aug 2023 12:00 UTC

© NASA/GSFC/SDO

On 28 October 2021, the Sun erupted in a powerful X-class flare accompanied by a CME that buffeted the Solar System.

An outburst that erupted from the Sun in 2021 was so violent that it was simultaneously felt on multiple Solar System bodies as it blasted through.

For the first time, instruments on Earth, the Moon, and Mars all recorded powerful solar activity, even though the planets were on opposite sides of the Sun at the time.

It's a suite of detections that can help us better understand solar activity - and assess the potential impact of that activity on space exploration efforts.

The Sun spewing radiation and particles into space is nothing new. It's kind of the Sun's whole thing. Nor are coronal mass ejections - in which the Sun ejects billions of tons of material and magnetic fields out into the Solar System - rare or particularly worrisome, mostly.

Here on Earth, our atmosphere protects us from the full brunt of the Sun's dangerous radiation.

Comment: This protection, and the effects the Sun has on our planet, is both subject to change, and has yet to be fully understood: Geomagnetic field protects Earth from electron showers, harmful effects of UV radiation, simulation reveals

Outside the atmosphere is another matter. Space is considered a hazardous radiation environment, and astronauts who spend time in it may have a higher risk of radiation-induced illnesses. That's just the ambient environment, too.

A dose of the particle radiation from a particularly powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) could cause radiation sickness - that's a dose of about 700 milligray - and, at a high enough level, around 10 gray, could prove fatal within a fortnight.

CMEs are capable of delivering those levels; we've just been relatively lucky so far.

Comment: Perhaps in living memory, yes; but with a 'grand' solar minimum up ahead, our luck may run out: A warning from history: The Carrington event was not unique

Space agencies are currently planning crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, neither of which have an atmosphere sufficient to protect against solar radiation. So understanding how powerful a CME can be, and how far it can reach, is important information to have.

On 28 October, 2021, a wealth of this information landed in our laps: the Sun belched out a CME so powerful that it was detected on Earth's surface. That's extremely rare. Even rarer was our ability to measure it.

Comment: In recent years, the impact solar storms have on our planet appears to be changing: Powerful Solar storm has unusually strong impact on Earth, delays SpaceX rocket launch, stalls oil rigs in Canada

The European space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, the China National Space Administration's Chang'e-4 Moon lander, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the German Aerospace Center's Eu:CROPIS Earth orbiter, and ground-based neutron monitors on Earth all detected the influx of radiation.

Earth and Mars were on opposite sides of the Sun at the time, separated by a distance of around 250 million kilometers (155 million miles); and Mars, of course, is farther from the Sun than Earth. So the detections allowed the scientists to study the way material from a CME propagates, and the effects at various points in the inner Solar System.

On Earth, the orbital dose of radiation would have been 10 milligray, but the surface amount was negligible. The Moon registered an orbital measurement of 31 milligray, and a surface measurement of 17 milligray. Meanwhile, on Mars, the orbital measurement was 9 milligray, and 0.3 milligray on the surface.

"Our calculations of the past ground level enhancement events show that on average one event every 5.5 years may have exceeded the safe dose level on the Moon if no radiation protection had been provided," says astronomer Jingnan Guo of the University of Science and Technology of China, who led the analysis.

"Understanding these events is crucial for future crewed missions to the surface of the Moon."

The good news is that, when a CME erupts, we usually have a bit of advance warning.

It takes some time after a CME is launched for the particles to arrive at Earth and beyond, between around 15-18 hours to a few days.

Comment: NASA recently announced that it can give just 30 minutes warning if a 'killer' solar storm is on its way.

Knowing how CMEs propagate, and how powerfully, will better equip space explorers for battening down the hatches when a solar storm approaches.

The research has been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Comment: And mainstream science would still have us believe that Co2 has a greater impact on our planet's climate than solar activity?

• Highest-energy light coming from the sun discovered, surprising scientists
• Why the sun's atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface
  
• The Sun is stranger than astrophysicists imagined

Recent studies are bringing mainstream scientists closer to the true nature of space, stars and planets, and we can find more clues as to what's in the book Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk write:

External power sources of celestial bodies

The reason capacitors can repeatedly discharge and yet maintain an electric potential difference between their anodes and cathodes is because they are plugged into an external source of energy. So where does all the electricity in our solar system come from? University of Michigan astrophysicist Michael J. Longo has thoroughly studied more than 40,000 galaxies.¹ Following numerous steps in data treatment and analysis - I'll spare you the details of his calculations, which you can check in his paper - his conclusion was the following:

The worrisome alignment of the equinoxes and ecliptic with the AE is now seen as an accident due to the ecliptic's definition along RA [right ascensions] =180° and 0°, near the Galactic poles. It is not a sign of a serious foreground bias in the WMAP data. All the alignments can be explained with a cosmic magnetic field that aligns electrons' cyclotron orbit axes and imprints its multipoles on the CMB.²

In simpler terms, what Longo concluded was that the rotation axes of galaxies are aligned along the same curve and that this alignment could not be due to random chance. Along with Longo, Alfven³, Campanelli⁴ and Schwarz⁵ have all strongly suggested that the alignment of galactic rotation axes is due to a giant ring of electric current. Although the ultimate source of this giant electric ring circling the cosmic 'void' is still unknown, the alignment of the galaxies' rotation axes is indirect proof of its existence. The picture below depicts this alignment of galactic rotation axes on a ring-shaped intergalactic current (pink color):

A recent study seems to confirm this, notably the results surprised scientists: Milky Way not unusual

This giant ring of Birkeland current (see next chapter on 'Currents in plasma') may be the external source of energy that powers galaxies. It may also explain the 'handedness' addressed by Longo in his paper, by electrically inducing a specific direction and speed of rotation in the galaxies located along its current⁶. As shown in the picture below, intragalactic space seems to follow the same process as intergalactic space:

[...]

In addition to aligning galaxies along the 'intergalactic ring' and making them spin, as well as grouping the stars within galaxies along galactic arms, Birkeland currents may also be the external electric source that powers the stars themselves⁸ and makes them spin. In their turn, stars may be the external electric source that powers planets and makes them spin.

© Sott.net

A Birkeland current crossing 'empty' interstellar space.

These remain hypotheses only. Today the external electric sources that power celestial bodies is still unknown. Even plasma cosmologists have no definite answer to this question:

Studies of magnetic fields in the spiral arms of galaxies shows that electrical currents flow along the arms in the form of spiraling Birkeland filaments.  Ultimately, we don't know where the power comes from.⁹

[...]

Birkeland noticed that before the discharge circle divided, discharges were mostly localized in the equatorial and polar regions of the electrodes, as indicated in the picture below. This strongly suggests that most of the current injected into the electrode at the level of the polar regions escaped through the equatorial region. This is consistent with observations of the Sun, which shows a predominant glow and faster rate of rotation¹⁹ around the equatorial region.

© Sott.net

Birkeland's terrella experiment.

Reasoning by analogy and applying the principles of the homopolar motor to celestial bodies like stars and planets, we find that the 'internal' magnet of the celestial body plays the role of the cylindrical magnet of the motor. The external power source of the celestial body plays the role of the battery. The partial vacuum generated in the lab plays the role of the partial vacuum that constitutes outer space. And the Birkeland current crossing the plasma that surrounds the celestial body plays the role of the electric wire which closes the circuit by connecting the battery to the magnet.

If a celestial body is a conductor crossed by an electric current and an electromagnetic field, it will also be subjected to the Lorentz force. In this sense, stars and planets are giant homopolar motors, hence their spin. Therefore, when electric current or magnetic field decreases in strength, the rate of rotation decreases as well.

Note that the Moon doesn't spin. As explained above, the Moon hasn't developed a Double Layer (DL) of its own. It has no plasmasphere because its electric potential is equal to that of its surrounding space. Electric potentials being equal, the Moon is not subjected to any electric current, so no Lorentz force can be generated, hence the absence of spinning²⁰.

For plasma cosmologists the driving force of spinning stars is indeed electricity:

 within the visible universe we find magnetic fields linking galaxies, showing that the galaxies are 'threaded like beads on a string', along cosmic power lines. The galaxies and stars within them are driven to rotate like the very simplest of electric motors, known as the 'homopolar' or Faraday motor. The ubiquitous spiral arms of galaxies trace the current paths between the galactic nucleus and the periphery From an electrical standpoint we make the simple observation that increasing electric current input to stars results in increasing maximum rotational speeds.²¹

In Part III, we will see how the Lorentz force (the result of the interaction between electric current and magnetic field) plays a role in numerous natural phenomena on Earth.

So far, in Part I we have introduced some basic concepts of the Electric Universe theory and plasma cosmology: the primary role of electrically charged plasma, the way in which different electrical potentials form around celestial bodies and set up an electrical gradient through which current can flow, the relative charges of the bodies in our solar system, and the role of electricity (specifically the Lorentz force) in structuring galaxies and solar systems, making them spin. Now, in Part II, we'll take a closer look at the Nemesis theory, and how it might fit into the framework created by the above concepts.

1. 1 Longo, M., 'Does the Universe Have a Handedness?', arXiv:0812.3437 [astro-ph], 2008
2. 2 ccapp.osu.edu/workshops/GLCW8/glcw8/talks/mLongo.pdf
3. 3 Alfvén, Hannes et al. (1978). 'Interstellar clouds and the formation of stars'. Astrophysics and Space Science 55 (2): 487-509.
4. 4.Campanelli L. et al, 'Ellipsoidal universe can solve the cosmic microwave background quadrupole problem'. Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Sep 29;97(13):131302.
5. 5 Schwarz Domink, 'Is the low-l microwave background cosmic?', Astrophysics Journal, November 24^th, 2004
6. 6 See Chapter 12: 'Homopolar motors'
7. 7 Byrd, D., 'Which spiral arm of the Milky Way contains our Sun?', Earthsky
8. See: earthsky.org/space/does-our-sun-reside-in-a-spiral-arm-of-the-milky-way-galaxy
9. 8 Scott, Donald E., The Electric Sky, p. 85
10. 9 Thornhill, W. & Talbott, D., The Electric Universe, p.61
11. 10 Tsytovich, V.N., Elementary Physics of Complex Plasmas, p. 7
12. 11 Luis Alvarez (1911-1988), University of Berkeley researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1968.
13. 12 Trower, W.P., 'Luis Walter Alvarez - A biographical memoir', p. 7
14. 13 Ex-CNRS researcher and ex-secretary of the French section of IAGA (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy)
15. 14 Nodon, A., 'Prévisions météo d'après les taches solaires'. See : albert-nodon.e-monsite.com/pages/recherche-au-20-siecle/previsions-meteo-d-apres-les-taches-solaires/
16. 15 Pinches are created in the laboratory in equipment related to nuclear fusion. Pinches may also become unstable and generate radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including radio waves, x-rays and gamma rays, and also neutrons and synchrotron radiation. There are different kinds of pinches including theta pinch, the screw pinch and the Z-pinch. The name refers to the direction of the current in the devices, i.e., the Z-axis on a mathematical diagram. Any machine that causes a pinch effect due to current running in that direction is correctly referred to as a Z-pinch system, and this encompasses a wide variety of devices used for an equally wide variety of purposes including fusion power research. Pinches are used to generate X-rays, and they have applications to particle beams including particle beam weapons, and astrophysics.
17. 16 Christian Birkeland had written in 1913 that what is now called the 'solar wind' generates currents in space that cause the auroras. Birkeland's theory was disputed at the time by the British geophysicist and mathematician Sydney Chapman, a senior figure in space physics, who argued the mainstream view that currents could not cross the vacuum of space and therefore the currents had to be generated by the Earth. However, in 1967 Birkeland's theory, referred to previously as 'fringe', was proved correct thanks to the data collected by U.S. Navy satellite 1963-38C. These magnetic field-aligned currents are now named Birkeland currents in his honor.
18. 17 Anthony L. Peratt is a leading plasma physicist. He's the author of a foundational book titled Physics of the Plasma Universe. Peratt is currently investigating archaeological evidence for major space plasma events in prehistory.
19. 18 Jago, L., The Northern Lights, Alfred a Knopf, NY, 2001.
20. 19 According to the movements of the sunspots, the Sun rotates once every 27 days at the equator, but only once in 31 days at the poles.
21. 20 However the moon has not always been devoid of a magnetosphere. The Moon's surface does bear remnant magnetism. The rocks returned to Earth by Apollo missions show evidence of this magnetism.
22. Scott, D.E., The Electric sky, p. 214
23. 21 Ibid, p.130

Also check out SOTT radio's:

• Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?
• MindMatters: The Holy Grail, Comets, Earth Changes and Randall Carlson
• Behind the Headlines: The Electric Universe - An interview with Wallace Thornhill