- Having reviewed all the current comet theories and found
them want wanting, I submit below my theory for them that fits the observations.
It will show that current theory is based on nonsense and violates the
laws of physics, and will also provide a new theory on the actual generation
of light in the tail of a comet.
-
- Oddly enough, current mainstream comet theory is essentially
based on a mechanism that reminds one of perpetual motion.
-
- First, current scientific theories about comets that
when studied closely show their flaws as explained below:
-
- 1. To state that comets all come from the Ort Cloud or
Kuiper Belt is not based on fact, only theory. In reality, there isn't
any truly logical reason to think that, in our part of the galaxy, comets
all originate from just one place - like all Fords are made only in Dearborn,
Michigan...
-
- 2. A comet cannot travel for thousands of years through
the cosmos, leaving a trail measured in thousands to millions of miles.
Its not physically possible for anything to release that much mass without
running out of matter.
-
- 3. One common theory states that comets "collect
interstellar dust in space and then release it when they are near our sun."
The so-called "dirty snowball theory." No real explanation is
ever given as to WHY this is happening. What could change a comet from
a vacuum cleaner to a dirt machine ? What is the trigger mechanism for
a such a radical change in operation ? This has never been clearly defined
by science, except to say the heat of the sun causes it. We will prove
the error in this thinking below.
-
- 4. There isn't any proof that interstellar dust is accumulated,
with billions of tons of ice and dirt as common theory suggests. Then releasing
it like a dirty snowball. The problem here would be that in the near-absolute
zero vacuum of space, why would ice not disassociate itself into water
vapor ? The lower the air pressure, the lower the boiling point of water.
In space near absolute zero with no air, how much ice can be left ? And
since the water would have to be in a fozen state if it is there at all,
how could this "stick" to the surface of a comet to make a dirty
snowball ? This illogical thinking boggles the imagination.
-
- 5. In space, an object in sunlight can exceed 400F, while
in darkness an object can plummet to a few degrees above absolute zero.
How can a comet collect frozen water in this vacuum environment ? Look
at Mars and how water is locked up on that planet at the poles and just
under the surface. And as inhospitable as Mars' temperatures may be, it
never reach the extremes of space because of the thin atmosphere which
works with the planet acting as a rudimentary heat storage medium. Just
like what takes place on earth. A comet by its very nature is in a near-perfect
vacuum (not including space dust.) So how could it retain water ?
-
- 6. Close-up of Giotto satellite photos have shown us
a brilliant plasma light generated from certain surfaces of the comet.
[6]
-
- WHAT CAUSES THE GLOWING TAIL OF A COMET ?
-
- First, below are the requirements that any theory must
meet to explain the comet's tail. After all, it is the tail of the comet
that is the main characteristic that separates it from just any another
asteroid. We will not consider comet orbits in this paper. It is well known
that asteroids have large elliptical orbits just as comets have. In fact,
it further supports the model I'll present below.
-
- A. We must have a theory that can obey the laws of conservation
of energy and observations. A comet cannot be releasing more mass than
it consists of. One must remember how much material it requires to create
a tail that can be see seen from earth, millions of miles away. A comet's
tail is thousands of miles long. I'm not sure astronomers really think
about the loss of mass in these rational terms.
-
- B. There must some source of material that the comet
converts into light in-situ. That is, while its in motion. This means that
interplanetary and interstellar space must have something present.
-
- C. The source of material cannot be a physically dense
one (such as small rocks.) If there was that much matter in space, the
space station and most satellites would have been destroyed long ago by
collisions with such material.
-
- D. Enter dark matter and dust. My theory states that
as the comet moves through space, it is colliding with this dark matter.
It's already well known that space is not a true vacuum. Gases are present
as well. The movement and collisions with dark matter and dust can create
very high static electricity charges and plasma, and it is these that cause
the glow in a comet's tail.[1,6] It could also glow as result of what I've
described below.
-
- E. Many (if not all) comets will be shown to be nothing
more than a fast moving asteroid, with no real significant difference to
any other asteroid. It does not accumulate mass and then release it. The
glow lasts for some period of time, simply because in space high voltage
charge can last a very long time. There are no conductors to discharge
it, because there isn't any mass (like earth) for the charge to transfer
to. In space, the electric charge just dissipates via dust and gas, and
the light would fade out as the electrical charges eventually redistribute
and move toward a zero potential. This would also fit observations from
earth, as the light fades out many thousands of miles away from the comet.
-
- It's important to note here that comet plasma is very
thin since some of the source material is a gas. In space, this gas would
be a composite of many different types of gases.
-
- F. This theory also agrees with well known observations
as to why the solar wind will cause a comet's tail to always point AWAY
from the sun. (Contrary to common belief, a comet's tail is only behind
it when the comet is heading directly toward the sun.) The observation
alone shows how the solar wind can deflect the tail of the comet, and hence
the low mass involved.
-
- G. To conclude, the transition of an asteroid into a
comet requires two things:
-
- 1. A minimum velocity to achieve plasma generation. This
is considerably faster than the speed of ordinary asteroid movement.
-
- 2. Interaction with dark matter and dust, which generates
light from the electrical discharge in the plasma. It would also make sense
to note the solar wind is involved, since a comet tail's intensity increases
as the comet moves closer to the sun. [2]
-
- Much can be learned from the study of the spectrum of
light in a comet's tail. This has already been done by many scientists.
[3]
-
- A spacecraft [4] was sent on a round trip to collect
data from a comet's tail. It will show evidence supporting this theory
upon its return, when examination of the aerogel sample plate is done.
The plasma may have damaged or destroyed the plate, as it is quite hot.
Results will be quite different than what astrophysicists expected. The
biggest problem is that the spacecraft cannot capture the plasma and return
a sample to earth, as this would provide concrete proof. However, spectral
analysis of the tail from earth is the next best thing.
-
- The author of this paper takes responsibility for theory
presented here. After writing this paper, additional research was done
to see if anyone else thinks this way. To my surprise, at least one other
scientist does not subscribe to the dirty snowball theory. His theory is
very close to the one presented here. See [5]
-
- If you would like to email me regarding this article
or have comments, please read the references below before doing so.
-
- Ted Twietmeyer
-
-
- REFERENCES
-
- [1] Current thunderstorm weather science on earth states
that millions of volts of electrical charge are created in the cloud, as
very large baseball sized hailstones circulate vertically in the cloud
on the air currents. While doing so, these hailstones generate an electrical
charge as the result of bumping into one another. In essence, the entire
cloud functions like a giant VanDegraff generator, using the hailstones
as charge conveyors. The reason for mentioning this here, is to show one
mechanism in nature for the generation of static electricity. This is not
the same as the mechanism taking place on a comet's surface.
-
- Remember that although hailstones are made of water,
frozen water is an insulator. The molecules have locked the orbits of the
electrons in such a way that electrons cannot move from one orbit to another,
which is required for any electrical conductor. This is what takes place
in liquid water and in metals.
-
- The only requirements to create high voltage static electricity
(the triboelectric effect as its known as) are:
- 1. A moving non-conducting dielectric (hailstones, rocks,
etc...)
- 2. Insulation and very low or no humidity
- 3. No path for the charges to drain off. This is important
for
- the voltage potential to continue to increase, and to
last for
- a period of time.
-
- [2] Leonids are a great example of collisions with the
dust from a comet. It may be that visible Leonid trails occur because the
comet's tail has already been in an excited plasma state, and the passage
of the Leonid meteor group through it causes re-excitation and the emmission
of visible light. A description of the Leonids themselves is at this URL:
- http://www.yenra.com/leonid-meteor-shower/
-
- [3] Research into comet tail light spectrum has been
done as the following paper shows. (Note that carbon has also been recently
discovered in free space, and is one of the more abundant building blocks
of life.)
- http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/astroinfo/hale-bopp/spectrum.html\
-
- [4] Description of Stardust spacecraft by NASA to capture
comet dust:
- http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/02/stardust.comet/
-
- [5] Here is one short paper that surprisingly parallels
my own theory from scientist Jim McCanney:
- http://www.jmccanneyscience.com/p0000007.htm
-
- [6] Photo closeup of Halley's comet. You can see the
plasma generation in this great photo at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/comets/Halleys_comet.html
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