Dark Energy - Something is counter acting Gravity?

-  1800  -  Dark Energy  -  Something is counter acting Gravity.  For the first7 billion years gravity was king.  Then, something else took over once expansion reached this point. Now the Universe is expanding at an ever accelerating rate over this next 7 billion years.
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-----------------  1800  -  Dark Energy  -  Something is counter acting Gravity
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-  Something is causing the Universe to expand, and, at an ever accelerating rate.  There must always be some force (F) that creates acceleration (a) of a mass (m)
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----------------------------  F  = m*a
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-  The Big Bang birth of the Universe started from “ Nothing” and nothing exists to this day.  Add up all the matter and anti-matter and the sum is zero, nothing again.  It all cancels out.
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-  Add up all the gravity and anti-gravity and it should be zero as well  Same with all the positive energy and negative energy.
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-   Dark Energy , that is the name given for “ whatever” is causing the Universe expansion to accelerate, could be this “ negative energy” ?
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-  Does gravity itself some how reverse itself at Cosmic distances so the sum cancels out?  Does gravity somehow shift from an attractive force to a repulsive force when it get stretch out to Cosmic distances?
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-  Of course, Newton called it a force, but, Einstein said gravity was not a ‘force” at all but simply a warping of space-time.  Falling due to gravity is simply free motion through a curvature of space-time.  Space-time is the fabric that exists throughout the Universe.  And space-time is flexible.
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-  Space divided by time is velocity.  And, velocity is limited to the speed of light.
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-  When anything in the Universe begins to approach the constant speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, space shrinks and time slows down in order to keep the ratio constant.  If the ratio of space / time reaches that Universal constant, space goes to zero and time stops.
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------------------------    v  =  d / t
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------------------------  velocity  =  distance  /  time
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-  Another possible explanation is that there are some unseen particles that create a counteracting force of gravity “  Gravitons and Anti-gravitons” ?
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-  Whatever Dark Energy is this thing is ripping apart the Universe.  We are along for the ride for only a brief period.  Further expansion means the Universe is becoming cooler and more rarefied until even atoms stop vibrating and even come apart.  Today the Universe has cooled to 2.73 Kelvin, that is - 453.756 F.  It can not get much colder.
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-  Ok, for the sake of discussion lets say we have two theories, one the modifies gravity and the other that adds a new Dark Energy.  We say Dark Energy is the repulsive energy of “empty space”.  The empty space, or the vacuum of space, is not really empty.  Instead space is filled with “ virtual particles”.  These are particles and anti-particles that pop into and out of existence so fast they are undetectable.
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-  These virtual particles appear and disappear so fast they defy the laws of physics.  They create and destroy energy so quickly physics has no way to measure them or even validate their true existence.  The theory is just math at this point and the math solution is that the amount of vacuum energy should be 10^120 times larger than the expansion we observe.  That is a big number hard to explain, this big of an error,  1 followed by 120 zeros.
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-  The second theory is that Dark Energy is created by an unseen particle, similar to the Higgs Boson,  particle that causes other particles to have mass.  Maybe there is some other undiscovered particle that causes the force of anti-gravity that is the Dark Energy?
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-  For the first 7 billion years gravity was more powerful than the power of expansion.  Expansion was slowing down and large scale galactic structures were forming.
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-  The second period of 7 billion years, until today, after galaxies were spread lightyears apart gravity began loosing its hold.  Expansion took over and even began accelerating in its rate of expansion.
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-  How do we know this?  When a White Dwarf star ends its life in a supernova explosion it occurs at a particular mass limit making the power of the explosion specifically calculable.  The brightness of the peak luminosity of the explosion is nearly the same every time.  If the brightness is known the distance to the explosion can be accurately calculated from the equation:
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----------------------  Apparent Brightness  =  Luminosity  /  4 * pi  * ( distance )^2
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----------------------      B  =  L  /  4 P * i * d^2
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-  For example.  A Type 1a supernova explosion is 100 times fainter than another Type 1a supernova than it is 10 times farther away  ( 10^2  =  100 ).
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-  The second measurement made is the redshift of the light spectrum.  That tells astronomers how much the wavelength has been stretched while traveling through expanding space.  After measuring thousands of these supernovae explosions astronomers can reconstruct a map of the past 10 billion years of the Universe expansion.  The conclusion is that the Universe is accelerating its rate of expansion.
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-  Since it takes positive energy to separate two adjacent masses the gravity holding them together must be “ negative energy”.
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-  A falling ball has kinetic energy.  That positive kinetic energy is exactly balance (summed to zero ) by the negative gravitational energy as the ball comes close to the center of the Earth.
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-  Dark Energy must also be balanced by something for the Universe to somehow still all add up to nothing, zero.  The most accepted theory is that Dark Energy is an inherent property of space itself.  Somehow we need to get inside of space to figure this out.
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-  One way we are trying is to measure the sound waves in space.  When the Universe first formed there were competing forces, the expansion of light radiation and the compression of gravity.  This sine wave of oscillating forces created “sound waves” with wavelengths 480,000,000 lightyears in length.  Called Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, (BAO ).
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-  By measuring the number of BAO sound waves between galaxies we can measure the distance between them.
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-  Another method uses gravitational lensing.  Galaxy clusters have immense gravity that bends the paths of passing light photons  Measuring multiple clusters in this way maps out the general clumpiness of different clusters.  Enough data can map out the distribution of mass across the Cosmos.
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-  Galaxy Clusters can have mass 10^15 Solar Mass, or 1,000 trillion times the mass of the Sun.  By accurately measuring the gravitational lensing the spatial distribution between galaxies can be image by the BAO sound waves.  The astronomical hope is that more will soon be learned about the expanding Universe and the Dark Energy that is creating it.  Stay tuned there is much more to learn.
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-  Other reviews available upon request:
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-  #1749  -  No matter where you go in the Universe your field of reference has everything expanding away form you, an at ever accelerating rate.
 Cosmic Inflation requires that the Actual Universe to be much larger then the Observable Universe.  the observable is 93 billion lightyears diameter.
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- #1516  -  If the Universe density were greater then 10^-29 grams / cm3 then gravity would win over repulsion expansion.  We need to find 200 times more Dark Matter in order to reach this “ critical density”.
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-  #1499  -  Graph of Universe composition versus Redshift expansion rate.
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-  #1290  -  Calculations of the average density of the Universe. Ours is a dynamic universe unbalanced by the mysterious Dark Energy.
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-  #1147  -  Dark Energy is not predicted by any physics we know of.  Here are 3 theories that are in the works.
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-  #  #1047  -  Is the Universe like Swiss Cheese?
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-  #1083  -  Dark Energy  -  Equation for how fast mass would have to decrease to keep the speed of light at 186,600 miles per second.
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-  #822  -  Things are “Dark” because we can’t see them and we don not know what they are.
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-  #756  -  Dark Energy and Cosmic Inflation
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-  More reviews:  #722, #660,  then there are Dark Matter reviews , and Cosmic Inflation reviews all available upon request.
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A primer on Particle Physics?

-  1799  -  Primer on Particle Physics.  This review attempts to introduce the vocabulary to understand the quantum world of particle physics.  Breakthroughs are on the horizon.
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-----------------  1799  -  Primer on Particle Physics.
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-  One problem with this review on particle physics is it requires so many definitions of new terms.  We need a whole new vocabulary to understand what goes on in the micro world too small to see, but not too small to imagine.
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-  The irony of this complexity is that it is actually a simplification down to the fundamentals of nature.  We can learn a “ few things” than make up “ everything else”.
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-  So let’s dive in and reduce our complex Universe into a few simple models.  First is “Matter“.  Supposedly matter is made of indivisible particles that can not be broken down any further.  We call these particles , Quarks and Leptons.
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-  Quarks are what makes protons and neutrons which occupy the nucleus of all atoms.
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-  Leptons are electrons and neutrinos.  Electrons occupy the energy levels around the nucleus of all atoms.
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-  If you mix these two up in various combinations you can form all the different atoms.  You can create all the elements in existence.  You can form the Periodic Table of Elements.
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- That takes care of “ matter”.
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-  Now there are 4 forces that hold matter together.  The Strong and the Weak forces hold all the atomic nuclei together.   And, Gravity and the Electromagnetic Forces hold the atoms and molecules together.  These forces work by exchanging “ virtual “ particles called “ Bosons”.  Each Boson has been discovered except for the exchange particle creating the force of Gravity.   This force component is the weakest and its fundamental make up still elude us.   If we find it , it will called the “ Graviton”.
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-  Today the Quarks and Leptons are viewed as indivisible.  But, that may not be the case.  Perhaps these two are made up of even  smaller, more fundamental particles?
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-  Protons and neutrons consist of 2 types of Quarks.  “Up-Quarks” that carry a +2/3 positive electric charge and “Down-Quarks” that carry a -1/3 negative electric charge.
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-  Both of these particles have heavier, or higher energy, particles that exist but only for fractions of a second before decaying back in to the 2 lightest, or lower energy particles , the Up and Down Quarks.
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-----------------  Up Quark ----  Charm Quark ------- Top Quark
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----------------  Down Quark   ------ Strange Quark  -------  Bottom Quark
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-  The electron too has heavier, or higher energy versions of  itself that also carry the negative charge.
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----------------  Electron  -------  Muon  --------   Tau
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- The same for the Neutrino:
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-----------------  Electron Neutrino   -----  Muon Neutrino  ------  Tau Neutrino
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-  Neutrinos are super lightweight and electrically neutral.
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-  The “Higgs Particle”  is a recent addition to this list of “ fundamental particles”.  It is the “Higgs Field” that is the source giving mass to all the other fundamental particles.  Massive particles experience a different level of “drag” as the move through the ubiquitous Higgs Field.  Massless particles like the “Photon”  experience no interaction with the Higgs Field and therefore have zero mass.
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-  We have no mathematical model that can predict the mass of these fundamental particles.  So far, we only have their masses determined my measuring them.
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-  These are very difficult measurements.  Protons and Neutrons have a radius of
10^-15meters.  Quarks must be 0.0002 to 0.0010 times the size of a proton. (10^-18 meters)
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-  Another measurement technique involves the “ spin” of all Fermions.   Fermions are what Quarks and Leptons are called taken together and compared to “Bosons“ which are force particles..   For example, the electron is defined as having a spin of “ ½ “.The combination of spin and electric charge gives the electron a magnetic moment.  If some deviations in magnetic moments can be measured between Electrons and Muons that might lead to discovery of more fundamental particles.
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-  The hope of physics is that new discoveries will emerge as the CERN particle accelerator begins operating this year at 14 Tera Electronvolts.  Also Fermelab accelerators have improved precision in measuring the magnetic moments of Electrons and Muons.  A breakthrough is sure to come from these experiments.  The quantum frontier is on the verge of breakthroughs.  Stay-tuned there is much more to learn.
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Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon?

-  1798  -  Ganymede - The Solar System’s largest Moon. Has lots of water and ice and some oxygen atmosphere.
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-----------------  1798  -  Ganymede - The Solar System’s largest Moon
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-  Ganymede is the largest moon of some 60 others orbiting Jupiter and the largest moon in the entire solar system.  It is 52% larger than our Moon and twice as massive.  Ganymede is 8% larger than the planet Mercury, but, only 45% the mass of Mercury.
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-  Ganymede’s surface is mostly water-ice.  However, some regions are dark and densely cratered.  Other regions are light colored and have very few craters.  These younger areas appear to result from up swelling of the liquid water or icy slush to the surface.
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-  The long groves on the surface appear to be caused by erupting water through cracks in the surface.  The water freezes, expands, creating the groves in the surface.  Ganymede also has polar icecaps.
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-  Ganymede has a magnetic field that varies with Jupiter’s rotation.  It is the only moon known to have a magnetosphere.
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-  There could be a liquid ocean beneath the surface of Ganymede.  Tidal heating from Jupiter’s gravity and radioactive decay together could be enough heat to keep the liquid layer beneath  the icy surface.
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-  Ganymede has an aurora belt in each hemisphere just like Earth, which are created by their magnetic fields entering the poles.
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-  Evidence shows us that Ganymede’s liquid ocean lies about 90 miles under the surface and extends 60 miles thick.  The rotating ions ( electric charges ) in this liquid in motion due to Jupiter’s cycling gravity pull cold create this magnetic field.
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-  It has a thin oxygen atmosphere with some hydrogen.  The atomic oxygen was detected using the far ultraviolet wavelengths of 130.3 and 135.6 nanometers.
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-  It is tidally locked facing Jupiter and is in orbital resonance with two other moons Europa and Io.
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-  Ganymede’s density is 1.94 g/cm^3 which suggests this its composition is about half water ice and half rocky material.  The rocky material is suspected to be and iron core with a silicate mantle.  The Iron’s density is 5.5 g/cm^3 and the silicate’s is3.5 g/cm^3.
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-  Comparing Ganymede with our Moon:




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----------------------  Ganymede  -------  diameter  -----  3,274    miles
---------------------------------------------  orbit ----------    7.155   days
----------------------------------------------  orbit  --------  665,114  miles
---------------------------------------------  mass  ---------  14.82*10^22    kilograms
---------------------------------------------  density  ------  1.94       g/cm^3
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-----------------------  Moon  -----------  diameter  -------  2,160    miles
---------------------------------------------  orbit ----------    27.332   days
----------------------------------------------  orbit  --------  238,855  miles
---------------------------------------------  mass  ---------  7.349*10^22    kilograms
---------------------------------------------  density  ------  3.34       g/cm^3
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-  Ganymede  /  Moon   ratios:
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-  Ganymede is 152% larger than our Moon.
-  Ganymede has 2 times the mass, but,
-  It’s density is only 58% as dense as the Moon.
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-  Stay tuned - there is much more to learn.
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Visiting the Rosetta Comet?

-  1797 -  Visiting the Rosetta Comet.  It does contain water but different isotope than Earth’s.  It did contain 16 different organic compounds.
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-----------------  1797 -  Visiting the Rosetta Comet
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-  What did we learn when our spacecraft visited the Rosetta Comet?
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-  The comet was 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, hereafter referred to as the “ comet”.
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-   The jets and tail emitted form the comet contain water, oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.  The dust contains many different organic molecules.
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-  This all reinforces the theory that it was comets that seeded the ingredients for life on Earth.
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-  The density of the comet was 0.5 g/cm^3 which is half the density of water , 1.0 g/cm^3,  indicating that the comet is 75% empty space.
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-  One mystery is that the water on the comet has more neutrinos than water on Earth.  A different isotope of H2O suggesting our water had different origins.
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-  The spacecraft lander, named Philae, made a soft landing on the surface of the comet on November, 2014.
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-  The comet has no magnetic field.
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-  The temperature dropped to -240F.
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-  The comet has a 6.44 year orbit around the Sun.
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- The comet shaped like a rubber duck with the body the size of 2.5 to 2.1 by 1.1 miles and the head the size of 1.6 to 1.4 by 1.1 miles.
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-  The reflectivity of the comets surface is only 6%, which is about half that of our Moon.
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-  The composition appears to be a mix of dust grains, organic compounds, and water ice cemented together.  Despite the comet’s weak gravity it still has the power to hold all this debris together.
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-  Water ice was discovered in more than 100 patches on the comet’s surface.
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-  The Rosetta mission continues until September 2016.  The comet was closest to the Sun August 13, 2015.  It is now heading back out to beyond the orbit of Jupiter.
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-  The 16 organic compounds discovered on the comet  all represent precursors for biology.   The formaldehyde is key to producing ribose which is key to producing RNA.
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-You may not be able to read this review if it were not for comets smacking the Earth a billion years ago.
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-  How lucky can you get?
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- Other reviews available upon request.  A typical comment is included taken from each review.
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-  #1707  -  December, 2014.  A dirty snowball 4.6 billion years old.   Calculates the density of several moons and planets.
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-  #1696  -  How much ice landed on the surface of Earth over 400,000,000 years ago.  The water on Earth’s oceans totals 1.33 billion kilometers ^3.
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-  #1692  -  Rosetta Mission lands on the Comet.  How mass is calculated to be 2.8 billion tons.
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-  #1688  -  November 12, 2014  Rosetta lands on a comet.
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-  #1623  -  Math calculations for the water loss as the comet loops around the Sun, 76,646,000 tons.
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-  #1612  -  How many comets have made close flybys to Earth?  60 comets were discovered in 2012.  Seven came within 31,000,000 miles of impact.  60 new comets were discovered in 2012.  7 were close encounters.
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-  #1600  -  Comet ISON November 2013.  Nothing in the Universe disappears, it just changes forms.
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-  #1338  -  Did comets bring water to Earth?
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-  #1292  -  Calculus used to measure the mass of the comet.
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-  # There is more ….
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 -----   707-536-3272    ----------------------   Sunday, December 27, 2015  -----
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Mars after 20 successful missions?

-  1796  -  Mars after 20 successful missions to the 4th planet what have we learned?
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-----------------  1796  -  Mars after 20 successful missions
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-  Our first visit to Mars was in 1965.  I was in the Air Force stationed in France when I saw the first images.  These images coming back from Mars were somewhat disappointing.  It appeared to be a dry, cratered place unlikely to support any form of life.
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-  Since then return visits have found saltwater ice lurking just below the surface, with occasional liquid water flowing to the surface.  Over 40 missions have been launched to study Mars.  Only 20 have been successful.
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-  Beneath a thick layer of dust lies vast glacial deposits.  If this layer were to suddenly melt the amount of water would cover the entire planet 3 feet deep.
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-  The dry surface even shows evidence of once being etched by flowing liquid water.  There are carved out river gullies.  There are shorelines containing minerals the need water to form ( gypsum).
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-  Recent measurements using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spacecraft have confirmed in 4 locations crater walls that have flowing water present.  By measuring the ratio of water H2O to heavier isotope HDO, hydrogen-deuterium-oxygen astronomers conclude that 4.5 billion years ago Mars had an ocean covering 20% of its surface.  6 million cubic miles of water that is a bit larger than the Atlantic Ocean.
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-  Another discovery was the localized abundance of methane..  This would be a gas released in a geological process between water and subsurface rock.  Or, it could be a gas releases from some subsurface biological process?
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-  Still another discovery was lava flows that were only a few million years old.
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-  Another theory being evaluated is that the solar wind slowly eroded ancient Mar’s thicker and warmer atmosphere.  A precursor may have been the planet’s core solidifying and its early magnetic fields disappearing.  Solar ultraviolet radiation broke up the water molecules.  Hydrogen escaped into space.  Oxygen got oxidized in the rocks turning them rusty red.  Thus Mars became the red planet of today.
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-  Scientist discovered an auroral glow of dust in the upper atmosphere.  Is this dust lofted upward by strong atmospheric currents.  Or, is this dust raining down being pulled from the two moons, Phobos and Deimos?  Or, is this dust off streams of comet tails and asteroids?
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-  The comet C/2013 A1 missed impacting the planet by 87,000 miles in October 2014.  The flyby resulted in a strong increase of electrically charged atoms in the upper atmosphere.  Comet C/2013 A1 had charged magnesium and iron atoms ( ions) in its tail.
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-  Mars has a massive volcano rising 70,000 feet above the average surface level.  And, the deepest basin is 27,000 feet below surface level. ( 13 miles above and 5 miles below surface level).
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-  The atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon mostly in the remaining 5%.  Only 0.146% is oxygen.
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-  We need to learn much more before sending the first humans to Mars.  Rocks and soils need detailed chemical and biological analysis.  Are there chemicals in the soil that could degrade a space suit or other life support systems?  Is Martian dust toxic to humans?  Can explorers extract oxygen or water resources from the surface or below the surface?.
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-  Mars was once warmer and wetter.  Asteroids and comet impacts have pelted Mars with a steady supply of organic molecules.  Could life have evolved in this environment?  Is it habitable?  Or, will it ever be inhabited?  We are on our way.  Stay tuned an announcement will be made shortly.
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-  Other reviews available upon request.  Short comments taken from each one:
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-  #1779  -  How to survive a trip to Mars.
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-  #1777  -  Mars and Venus, our Sister Planets.  Mars watery surface must have lasted for 40,000,000 years before disappearing.
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-  #1630  -  Is there still water on Mars?  Calculating the mass of Mars gets 6.39*10^23 kilograms.  Earth is 59.7*10^23 Kilograms.  Mars is 10.6% the mass of the Earth.
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-  #827  -  Mars has an eccentric elliptical orbit that takes 687 days to complete its trip around the Sun.  The closest it gets to Earth is 34,400,000 miles.
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-  #384  -  Mars’ density is 3,900 kg/m^3.  Earth’s density is 5,500 kg/m^3.   Mars’ density is 71% that of Earth’s  Conclusion is that Mars does not have an iron core like Earth.  The math supports this conclusion.
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-  #24 -  (2003)  Using the orbit of the moon Deimos to calculate the mass of Mars
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Light up your Christmas?

-  1795  -  Light up your brain with new knowledge. Here are interesting facts about the light of day. Just seeing it uses half your brain.
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-----------------  1795  -  Light up your Christmas
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-  Light did not start to shine until 340,000 years after the Big Bang.  Before then the charged particles were so dense the photons just bounced around between them.  Space had to expand enough for the photons to be free to expand along with space.
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-  This first light can still be seen today as Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.  The light that started out as short wavelength Gamma Ray radiation has stretched to wider wavelengths as it traveled through expanding space.  The light radiation left at 3,000 Kelvin and today it has cooled to just 2.75 Kelvin.
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-  Light travels at 186,282.4 miles per second.  That is in a vacuum.  In other medium it appears to travel slower but actually it is still traveling the same speed but moving through a crystal like diamond it is bouncing, absorption, re-emission, all averages out to a traverse speed of 77,500 miles per second.  However, it is all that bouncing around that gives the diamond that dazzling sparkle.
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-  Eyeglasses correct vision because light slows down in glass or plastic in the same way and its path is bent at the transition surface from air to glass and back to air again.
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-  People glow in light, but, it is mostly infrared light.  The glow is caused by the body’s free radical chemical reactions.
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-  Much greater bioluminescence is common in creatures living in the ocean.  Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell used this phenomenon to locate his darkened aircraft carrier that stirred up the luminescence of this biology in its wake. (1954)
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-  Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient.  They only convert 10% of the energy to light.  Most of the rest is converted into heat.  A 100 watt bulb in a confined space can cook at 325F.  When I was living in Indiana my 55 Ford had to be outside.  I put a light bulb on top of the engine and it started right up every morning at below zero temperatures.  I was never tardy to 8:00 classes with a 20 mile commute in 3 years of college.  Thanks to this technique.
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-  Light has no mass so it must always travel at the same , light speed.  Anything with no mass travels at this speed, like muons.  However, light does have momentum and therefore has energy.  The energy of a photon is:
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---------------------------- E = h*f
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-------------------------  Energy  =  6.625 * 10^-34 kg*m^2/sec  *  frequency
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-  Apollo astronauts left a mirror on the Moon.  Laser beam measurements have determined that the Moon’s orbit is moving outward from Earth at 1.5 inches per year.
-
-  Our eyes see visible light.  Fish can see infrared  light.  Bees, birds, lizards can see ultraviolet light.
-
- Photography got its name from “photo” - light , “graphy” meaning writing.  Writing with light.
-
-  The Auroras light up the night sky because ionized particles from the Sun crash into atmospheric molecules as the charged particles enter the north tic pole.  Oxygen shines green, nitrogen shines blue and red.
-
---------------------  Other reviews available upon request.
-
-  #1389  -  The sunlight hitting you is 45,000 times more powerful than the radiation hitting you from the TV tower.
-
-  #1386  -  If you were on the Moon you could see a lightning strike in1.3 seconds after it happened.  If the sound, thunder, could travel through space you would not hear the thunder for 13 days.  ( sound traveling at 750 miles per hour.)
-
-  # 1288  -  We take light for granted.  Radio and TV and microwave ovens, and cell phones all depend on the same electromagnetic radiation.  The wavelengths of radio extend to miles.  FM radio wavelengths are at 9 to 11 feet.  Microwaves at 12 centimeters (4.7 inches)
-
----------------------  red light  -------------0.7 * 10^-6 meters
---------------------  blue light  ------------0.4 * 10^-6 meters
-
-  Visible light occupies only 1 ten-billionth of the electromagnetic spectrum.
-
-  The photons that carry this wave energy in their momentum are traveling at 670,633,500 miles per hour.
-
-  Stand  in front of a 60 watt light bulb.  This is how fast the photons are hitting you.  That is not the worst part.  There are 1,800,000,000,000,000,000,000  photons hitting your body every second.  (1.8*10^20)
-
-  #1286  -  When you look at the stars some of those photons hitting your eye  took millions of years to get to you  Some left the star before dinosaurs
roamed the Earth.
-
-  #1043  -  Light travels one foot is a nanosecond ( 10^-9 seconds)  Your girl friend standing 20 feet away is 20 billionths of a second older than the image you see of her.
-
-  #940  -  The Sun is radiating 65,000,000 watts per square meter per second.
-
-  #934  -  Each photon is an energy bundle.  The higher the frequency the higher the energy. -------------------------------- E = h*f
-
-  #726  -  The force of an electric charge is 10^39 times greater that the force of gravity.
-
-  #648  -  Light is a physical symmetry for the entire Universe.
-
-  #550  -  Light does not know time.  Time stops at the speed it is moving.  Light is the conversion factor between energy and mass.
-
-  #36  -  What is the oldest thing you have ever seen?  No it is not the pyramids.  Not even the dirt at your feet that can not be older than 4,500,000,000 years.  You need a telescope and your eyes can see photons that are 12,000,000,000 years old.  What you see is a young star but today it is 12 billion years older than that.
-
-  Merry Christmas, even merrier when you see the light.
-
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--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
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Infinity and Blackholes?

-  1794  -  Infinity and Blackholes?  How are these two connected?  Can infinity really exist?
-

-----------------  1794  -  Infinity and Blackholes?
-
-  Previous reviews 1790 to 1793 were also topics of weird physics, space-time, Relativity, Nonlocality, Indeterminism, and here is another one, Infinity.
-
-  We all know that infinity describes something the goes on forever, without end, without limits.
-
-  Does infinity really exist?  Does forever really exist?  Is infinity time without end or space without end?  Does eternity really exist?  Does the Universe have a beginning and an end?
-
-  If space-time is flat than it could stretch out to infinity ( conceptually).  If space-time is curved it may fold back on itself and end in another Big Bang.  There may be a infinite number of universes doing the same thing.  But, if they all stretched to infinity wouldn’t they overlap?
-
-  In math infinity is a term given to any non-finite number, or string of numbers.  It can not be characterized mathematically because there is no end to it.  When it shows up in the denominator of a fraction it is called in determinant.
-
-  When math gets into “ Set Theory” we learn there are multiple types of infinities.  Some bigger than others. (now wrap your mind around that one).
-
-  Some infinities are “ countable” and some are” uncountable”.  Countable is defined as anything that can be lined up and numbered  making one-to-one correspondence with the string of natural numbers.
-
-  Infinity should not even be considered a number.
-
-  The number 2 is considered a “ countable infinity”. It can be constructed with an infinite number of fractions.
-
-  The square root of 2 is an “uncountable infinity”.  These are called “ irrational numbers” like pi, and the natural logarithm.  These irrational numbers are uncountable because they can not be numbered.
-
-  Infinity minus 1 can not be a real number because you can not add infinity to 1 and not get a real number.
-
-  In math the sequence 1.1, 1.01. 1.001, 1.0001, etc converges to the real number 1.
-
-  Blackholes are defined by infinities.  As a  region of space-time takes its gravitational field and temperature to infinity it becomes a blackhole.  The equations of General Relativity fall apart because they can not deal with these infinities.
-
-  Blackholes are predicted to eventually evaporate, as radiation escapes across the Event Horizon and exits into space.  At the horizon an electron and positron can separate shooting one into space and the other into the Blackhole.
-
-  The Universe is defined to have the properties that produce Blackholes.  These properties also produce life.  If the cosmological constant, the speed of light, the strength of the weak and strong nuclear force, etc are changed ever so slightly than the Universe of stars, galaxies, Blackholes and us would be unable to form.
-
-  Is life simply a side show in the grander process of the evolution of the Universe?
-
-  Where does God come into the picture?
-
-  God made it so the laws of nature are geared towards making life happen.  The Universe is fine-tuned to spawn biological organism.  Me being one.
-
-  Whatever Universe we come up with  it must take into account the creation of those observing it.  Therefore, we can only observe a universe that is friendly to live.  God made it so.
-
-  The most incomprehensible thing about this is that we are even here trying to comprehend it.  Thinking about it is like comprehending infinity.  Mind blowing!
-
-  Other reviews:
-
-  #849  Inflation, the Expanding Universe.
-
-  #824  Cosmic Inflation
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-----------------  RSVP, Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----------------
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
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 -----   707-536-3272    ----------------------   Wednesday, December 23, 2015
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The Consequences of Relativity?

-  1791  -  The Consequences of Relativity?  Once length shrinks and time slows a whole lot of other things will happen.
-

-----------------  1791  -  The Consequences of Relativity?
-
-  Read Review #1790 first to better understand #1791.
-
-  If gravity and acceleration are the same then equations that describe them both can be set equal to each other.  Einstein did this and came up with equations that describe how a gravitational field acts on matter.  Then an equation describing how matter generates a curvature of space-time.
-
--------------------  R u v  -  ½ g u v R  =  - 8 pi G T u v
-
-  One side of the equation describes how the geometry of space-time is warped and curved by the presence of mass.  The other side of the equation describes the movement of mass in a gravitational field.
-
-  Riding up and down an elevator, or, riding in a spaceship accelerating in space versus standing still on the Earth both demonstrate the equivalence of gravity and acceleration.  The laws of physics must be the same in both situations.  So, set their equations equal to each other.
-
-  There are many consequences that result from applying these laws of Relativity:
-
-  The laws of physics remain the same everywhere in the Universe.  Everyone always sees the speed of light to be constant, the same, regardless of motion.  To make this happen lengths and time must change accordingly because velocity is the ratio of the two.  Lengths shrink and time passes more slowly for objects in motion.
-
-  To make this happen gravity changed form a “ force” in Newton’s time, an attractive force between two masses, to a warp in space-time geometry created by the presence of mass.  Even the photons of light obeyed this geometry.
-
-  When Mercury orbit’s the Sun it follows the warped space-time created by the enormous mass of the Sun.  This path results in a precession, or wobbling of the orbit each time around.  The shift of orbit is exactly 43 arc-seconds per century (100 years).  And, this small angle has been measured confirming agreement with Relativity’s equations.
-
-  Gravitational Waves  -  Oscillating an electric charge generates an electromagnetic wave (electrons oscillating in a radio antenna).  Oscillating mass generates a gravitational wave, which is an oscillating disturbance of space-time. ( two blackholes orbiting each other ).
-
-  Gravitational Lensing  -  Light bends in a gravitational field.  This can produce a magnified image , or multiple images , of a background light source that is behind a large massive body.  This effect allows astronomers to calculate the distribution of mass in the in-between object.  This mass calculated both visible and invisible mass, Dark Matter.
-
-  Gravity and electromagnetism use different math.  Einstein figured out how to equate them.  Relativity and Quantum Mechanics use different math.  However, 100 years of trying and we have not been able to equate the two.
-
-  The math describing Dark Matter and Dark Energy has not been developed yet.  It is just the gravity and the Universes’ expansion tell us they are there.  And, their existence represents 95% of all the mass-energy in the Universe.
-
-  Once the science community realized the Einstein’s equations could not balance a static Universe it had to be expanding or contracting.  The two sides of the equation were like balancing a pencil on its point.  It had to fall one way or another.  Then if  the Universe is expanding running time backwards resulted in the concept of the Big Bang, the birth of the Universe.  Continued expansion, even accelerating expansion results in the death of the Universe.  The Universe has been accelerating for the past 7 billion years.
-
-  Compress any mass to a sufficiently small size and the curvature of space-time will fold back on itself.  A Blackhole will form even light photons cannot escape.
-
-  At the edge of a Blackhole lies the processes of Quantum Mechanics.  When we understand how these two processes come together we will have the math that works for both.  Run the Universe backwards and it must have been born out of a Blackhole.
-
-  At the edge of a Blackhole does a 3-D reality emerge from a 2-D reality?
-
-  Is there a granularity of space, and time?  Due both come in the smallest of packages like energy and matter?  Are there particles inside the vacuum of space that are fueling the expansion of the Universe?
-
-  The  equation at the beginning is over my head, but, I can relate to some simpler equations:
-
-  Start with the speed of light being a constant regardless of where you are or how fast you are moving.  Velocity  =  c
-
-  Two events separated in space can not occur simultaneously.  They must be separated in time as well.
-
-  Time must slow down if it is motion.
-
-------------------- ( Time in motion)^2   =   (Time at rest)^2  / (1 - v^2 / c^2)
-
----------------------  v  =  the velocity of motion
-
---------------------   c  =  the speed of light
-
-  Length must contract if it is in motion:
-
--------------------- ( Length in motion)^2   =   (Length at rest)^2  * (1 - v^2 / c^2)
-
-----------------  Momentum  =  mass * velocity  =  m*v
-
--------------------- p  =  momentum
-
--------------  (Momentum)^2  =  ( mv)^2  /  (1 - v^2 / c^2)
-
--------------(Energy)^2  =  ( mc)^2  /  (1 - v^2 / c^2)
-
---------------  E^2  =  p^2 c^2  +  m^2 c^4
-
--------------  Energy of a massless particle like a photon:  m = 0
-
----------------  E = p*c

---------------  Energy of a massive particle like an electron:
-
----------------  E  =  mc^2
-
-----------------The energy of light:
-
----------------  E  =  h*f
-
----------------  h   =   constant  =  6.625*10^-34 kilogram * meter^2 / second
-
----------------  f  =  frequency of oscillation
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  Other Reviews available upon request:
-
-  #1663  -  Getting to General Relativity using simple math.
-
-  #1662  -  Relativity for speed readers
-
-  #874  -    Energy of an object is equal to mc^2 plus its kinetic energy.  But, KE is so small compared to mc^2 that is usually ignored.
-
-  #768 -   Testing Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
-
-  #766 -   The most incomprehensible thing about our Universe is that we are here trying to comprehend it.
-
-  #648  -  Light is a physical symmetry of the entire Universe.
-
-  #550  -  Light does not know time.  At light speed time does not move.  Light is the conversion factor between energy and mass.
-
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---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 -----   707-536-3272    ----------------------   Wednesday, December 23, 2015  -----
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The Quantum Physics of Determinism?

-  1793  -  Quantum Physics of Determinism.  Our natural world is deterministic yet the building blocks that make it up are indeterministic, totally acting at random?
-

-
-
-----------------  1793  -  Quantum Physics of Determinism.
-
-  Some things just happen at random.  With no rhyme nor reason.  Randomness seems to be a built in feature of our natural world at its foundation.
-
-  Radioactive decay of atoms is totally random.
-
-  Photons striking a mirror reflect or pass through randomly.
-
-  The theory being that quantum mechanics is “ indeterministic”, it all depends on the statistics of randomness.
-
-  Einstein came up with the theory in 1905 that light could be both a particle and a wave.  The wave function that determines this is in a perfectly deterministic equation, called the Schrodinger Equation.  His equation is the “determinism” of a wave function.
-
-  Heisenberg viewed the wave function as a probabilistic “haze” of potential existences.  He concluded that only when you observe a particle does it materialize somewhere.  Before observation the wave function was spread over a huge region of space.  At observation it collapses into a narrow spike at a single position and becomes a “ particle”.  However, we have no laws in physics that govern this collapse.  It just happens at random?
-
-  For Einstein wave collapse into a particle required instantaneous action at a distance.  He reasoned that no communications could travel faster than the speed of light.  Light speed was a Universal Constant at 186,000 miles per second.
-
-  He had trouble with “ measurement” being the “ creation” of reality out of the act of observing it.
-
-  Or, was the wave function collapse not a physical process at all but more simply the acquisition of knowledge inside our brains?
-
-  What physics was trying to demonstrate was that a probabilistic event through the underlying reality was deterministic.  ( mind blowing!).
-
-  The logic of physics says that indeterministic microphysics can lead to deterministic macrophysics.  Quantum randomness indeterminism averages out to reality.
-
-  A baseball can have atoms behaving randomly yet its flight can be totally deterministic.  Gas molecules have random motion that together determine an exact temperature.  A “temperature” being the average of a large number of individual vibrating molecules.
-
-  It appears that the real world is a layer cake of indeterminism and determinism.
-
-  The Earth’s climate is dictated by laws of motion, daily, seasonally probabilistic events however, long term trends are still predictable.  Biology follows the same logic.
-
-  Human self-determination follows this layer cake logic as well.  To truly have “free will” we need indeterminism.
-
-  Macrodeterminism is your decision.  Microdeterminism is not.
-
-  One gram of Uranium 238 contains 2.5*10^21 atoms.  Each atom is identical and indistinguishable.  Yet, 12,600 times per second one of these atoms will decay throwing off an alpha particle.  No theory in physics can pre-determine which atom will decay when.  It is a totally random process yet it is predictable in the macro sense.  Probability calculations  can determine accurately how long it takes for half of the atoms to decay (the half-life)
-
-  Casualty means that events can be completely determined by prior states.  Is the entire Universe a single determinant system?  Is there an unbroken chain of prior occurrences stretching back to the origin of the Universe?  Is the future determined completely by preceding events?
-
-  Mathematical models involving differential equations ( equations measuring the rate of change over time)  are not deterministic because they involve randomness.  Their results have sensitive dependence on initial conditions.  Theory implies that even as small as a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a chain reaction that could lead to a hurricane years later.
-
-  Chaos Theory tells us that it is impossible to predict real life events.  The Schrodinger Equation uniquely predicts the development of the wave function with time.  If the wave function is deterministic then Quantum Mechanics is deterministic and that could imply that there is one single wave function for the entire Universe starting at the origin.
-
-  Our individual atoms are random in motion, yet the enormous mass of atoms that make up our bodies allow us to live and breath.  Human decision themselves reduce to the mechanics of atoms in our brains.  I have to stop thinking about this.  It makes me dizzy.
-
-  Other reviews available on this weird physics:
-
-  #1762  -  Delving into extreme physics.  How do we know that the reality we perceive is true?  There is no way to remove the observer from his perception.
-
-  #1605  -  Physics wants a Theory of Everything combining Quantum Mechanics and Relativity.
-
-  #1546  -  Paul Dirac’s physics.  Quantum Theory does not work when we push the laws to extremes, high energies , or small distances.
-
-  #1183  -  Mysteries for science students to discover the answers to.
-
-  #1074  -  Physics the way I learned it.
-
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 -----   707-536-3272    ----------------------   Monday, December 28, 2015  -----
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Nonlocality, how to be two places at once?

-  1792  -  Local  and Non-local Space?  How to be in two places at once. Paired atomic particles remain connected regardless of the space between them.  How do they communicate?
-

-----------------  1792  -  Local  and Non-local Space?
-
-  Non-locality is how to be in two places at once.  Nonlocality in  physics is where particles somehow communicate connected states ( properties ) when they are no longer “local” ( close enough for the speed of light to reach between them.).
-
-  For an atom , 2 electrons in orbit,  are not allowed to be in the same “ state”.   ( see footnote about Pauli Exclusion Principle ).  If one has “ spin up” and the other has “ spin down” they are connected.  If one switches states from up to down or vice versa the other switches states instantaneously.  They somehow act as a connected pair.
-
-  Now the weird part.  If we remove these 2 connected electrons from the atom they remain connected no matter how much they are separated in space.  Somehow they communicate so when one changes states the other changes instantaneously.  The separation means that the state change happens faster than the speed of light.  Somehow they violate “ locality”.  Somehow they transcend space and place and distance no longer have meaning?
-
-  If the one of the electrons is sent to the Moon with an atomic clock.  The other with an atomic clock remains on Earth.  We use a magnetic field to reverse the spin of the one on Earth.  The one on the Moon reverses at the same time.  We would expect a 1.3 second delay for a signal to reach the Moon telling that electron to switch.  That is not the case.  The switch is instantaneous with no time delay.
-
-  Everything has a “ place”.  In other words everything has “ locality”.  Atomic particles that violate locality transcend space.  The term is “quantum entanglement“.  When particles become
“ paired” somehow they remain paired regardless of separation.  Nonlocality synchronizes the two particles regardless of distance or space between them.
-
-  Gravity appears to be a force that acts invisibly over distance.  However, Einstein has shown that “force” to be the “curvature of space-time through space.  The speed of gravity is also limited by the speed of light.  186,000 miles per second is always a constant.  If the Sun disappeared the Earth would not feel the release of gravity for 8 minutes.  If the Earth disappeared the Moon would not feel it for 1.3 seconds.
-
-  How would Einstein explain Entanglement and Nonlocality?
-
-  Space and time are no more stable than the ground beneath our feet.  Tectonic plates marginally are changing our position.  Likewise, everything in the Universe is in motion and changing positions.  Gravity still propagates at the speed of light so the ripples of space-time must also propagate at the speed of  light.
-
-  Objects moving freely through space are following the curvature of space-time.  Always following the path of least resistance and the shortest time.  Even light beams of photons trace out the shape of space as the travel at 186,000 miles per second.
-
-  We tend to think that the Sun’s gravity has bent the light rays of a distant star passing by.  But, more accurately light photons are following warped space that is created by the mass of  the Sun.
-
- Earth’s mass does the same thing.  All falling objects follow warped space. “Down” is always the direction in which time passes more slowly.  Time at sea level passes more slowly than time at the mountain tops.  Put your watch on your ankle and time will pass slower than if you wear it on your wrist.
-
-  When you observe a falling object you see it rolling across the contours of time.
-
-  With warped space-time we loose all ability to define a specific location.  All locations are relative.  We never observe “places” to have absolute locations.  Only their relative locations are objective as a consequence of the Theory of Relativity.
-
-  Another consequence is that quantities such as Energy can not be situated in any specific place either.  Points in space are indistinguishable and interchangeable.  Space will not support any “ particular” location.  Space becomes defined by different configurations of the gravitational field were it resides.
-
-  Any field of gravity is not a “local’ phenomenon.  Points in space-time are not independent.  Our normal day to day lives can ignore this Nonlocality.  Physics to us appears to be local., only limited to the constant speed of light.
-
-  Only under extreme circumstances does Nonlocality become noticeable.  Blackholes would be one example of extreme circumstances.  For Isaac Newton gravity acted at a distance but space was absolute.  For Albert Einstein gravity ripples through space-time with no positions being local.
-
-  Quantum Nonlocality must be something like this.  But, we have to explain how it can react faster than the speed of light.
-
-  Nonlocality is sometimes called “ Spooky action at a distance”.
-
-  The “ Pauli Exclusion Principle says that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of values for the four quantum numbers.  Spin being one of these numbers.  This principle explains the periodic table of elements each having a different configuration of electrons in different shells.
-
-  www.georgemusser.com is a good site to learn more about Nonlocality.
-
-  Velocity :182,282 miles per second.  Moon distance 238,855 miles.  Time:  1.3 seconds. 2.6 seconds for the round trip.  Sun distance 93 million miles.  Time: 510 seconds, 8.5 minutes.
-
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-----------------  RSVP, Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----------------
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com -----
--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
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Space bends, and Time slows?

-  1790  -  Space bends, and Time slows?  This review explains why space and time must change in order to adhere to the Theory of Relativity.
-

-----------------  1790  -  Space bends, and Time slows?
-
-  What follows are five reviews that are about Determinism, Non-Locality, Infinity, Space-Time, and Relativity.  Let’s start with Space-time.  It all changed in 1905.  Space and time were constants, unchanging.  Then Einstein  proclaimed that space bends and time slows.  That changes everything:
-
-  Once the equations were written Einstein needed a demonstration, an experiment, that validated the calculations.  Mercury’s orbit around the Sun is not exactly the same every year.  It is awfully close.  Within one part in a million. But, it is consistently off by that same amount each year.  As the planet orbits it “precesses“, its orbit offsets, it wobbles due to space-time warping created by the huge mass of  the Sun.  
-
-  No big deal but Einstein’s equations calculated the amount exactly and Newton’s equations calculated exactly the amount of error predicted.  The proof that space-time really does warp.
-
-  He proved that time slows with this thought experiment.  Design a clock using a flashbulb, a mirror, and a photocell.  The flash goes off.  Light travels up to the mirror and back to the photocell that triggers another flash.  Now the repetitive flashes act as a tick-tock of a clock.
-
-  If the clock is stationary each tick-tock is the exact same amount of time.
-
-  Now, set the whole thing in motion.  The light beam that goes up to the mirror and bounces back to the photocell does not go straight up and straight down.  The beam going up and coming down traces a longer triangular path as the clock’s moves horizontally.  The light beam has to travel further when in motion.  The tick-tock slows down.
-
-  The stationary observer sees a saw-tooth pattern to the light beams as the clock passes by.  An observer moving with the clock still sees a straight up and down beam.  The moving observer sees a faster clock than the stationary observer.  The stationary observer sees a slower clock.  It all depends on their Relative motion. Moving clocks tick slower.
-
-  The same phenomena occurs simply throwing a ball in the air.  Newton’s laws are the same in motion or stationary, but, two observers see different paths for the ball.  The stationary observers see a longer path for the ball when the thrower is moving.
-
-  These ideas are behind what is now the Theory of Relativity:
-
-  Moving clocks slow down.
-
-  Moving objects shrink in their direction of motion.
-
-  Moving objects get more massive.
-
-  It has been proven clocks tick slower in orbit than when on Earth.  Less gravity has slower clocks because Earth’s gravity is warping space-time less at higher elevations.
-
-  Electromagnetic waves toss electric fields and magnetic fields back and forth with various frequencies.  The speed of these waves is always 186,000 miles per second in the direction of travel.  The tossing back and forth varies with each different frequency (color).
-
-  Electromagnetic waves range in size from radio waves with 1,000’s of miles in wavelength to Gamma Rays with wavelengths smaller than the nucleus of atoms.  Regardless , all these waves move at the same speed, the speed of light.  And this speed is always a constant to all observers regardless of their relative motion.
-
-  Speed is a ratio.  The only way for speed  to remain constant regardless of motion is for distance to shrink and time to slow.
-
-----------------------  speed  =  distance / time
-
-  To carry this Theory of Relativity into space.  A space traveler is weightless.  She releases a ball and it is suspended in the same spot as long as the velocity of the ship is constant.  If the spaceship is accelerating the floor of the ship rises up and meets the ball.  The traveler feels the force of acceleration.  The traveler thinks the ball is falling to the floor.  The traveler can tell no difference between gravity and acceleration.
-
-  Defying common sense all bodies fall in a gravitational field the same regardless of their mass. You would think that the heavier ball would fall faster than the lighter ball.  Not so!  The gravitational acceleration is the same independent of mass.
-
-  If the space ship is traveling in one direction and accelerating at exactly 32 feet per second per second,  then the falling ball would fall exactly the same as if the space-ship were standing still on the surface of the Earth.  The space traveler could not tell the difference between acceleration and gravity.
-
-  The simple principle always applies:  The presence of matter distorts the fabric of  space-time and objects all travel the shortest time path through this warped space.  Space-time distortions are basically unnoticeable , and immeasurable, until motion nears the speed of light, or, objects are near a very large mass.
-
-  In fact, the first demonstration, or experiment, to verify this principle occurred in 1919 when astronomers detected light being deflected as photons passed by the mass of an eclipsed Sun.  The same warp of space-time also explained the precessions of Mercury’s orbit introduced in the first paragraph.
-
-  A more modern proof of Relativity occurred when the 24 orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning System ( GPS ) began measuring distances to calculate positions on  Earth’s surface using their high precision atomic clocks.  These distance measurements only worked when calculations compensated for the differences between slower time in orbit and faster time on the surface of Earth.
-
-  The Theory is 100 years old and only one prediction remains unverified.  That is the existence of Gravitational Waves.  Several experiments are in the works.  Stay tuned, an announcement will be made shortly ,and, Einstein will be proven right once again!
-
-  The next Review #1791 addresses the Consequences of the Theory of Relativity.
-
-  Previous reviews available upon request:
-
-  #  1773  -  The size of space depends on how fast you are.  Space is not empty.  It is full of fields and particles, and what else?
-
-  #1407  Space is in constant motion.  Electric charges ( ions) in motion create electric and magnetic fields.
-
-  #1670  -  Space dust.
-
-  # 1242  -  At the smallest levels things remain connected even though they are separated in space.
-
-  # 1241  -  How can space and time be related?
-
-  #1258  -  How much space is in out Solar System?
-
-  #781  -  Space-  much todo about nothing?
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--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
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Pluto 9th Planet to 1st Dwarf Planet?

-  1789  -  Pluto 9th Planet to 1st Dwarf Planet?  Spacecraft visit in 2015 uncovered many new mysteries.  There is much more complexity their than expected.
-

-----------------  1789  -  Pluto 9th Planet to 1st Dwarf Planet?
-
-  Pluto rose from the smallest planet to the largest and brightest Kuiper Belt object.  Its demotion from “ Planet” acquired the new name , “ Dwarf Planet”.
-
-  The New Horizons Spacecraft arrived to visit Pluto in July 2015.
-
-  Pluto has an atmosphere 52 miles thick with multiple “haze” layers extending as high as 100 miles above the surface.  This enormous atmosphere is composed of nitrogen, methane, and other gases that evaporate off the surface when Pluto’s orbit is closest to the Sun.  It takes Pluto 240 years to complete a single orbit.
-
-  Pluto’s orbit has 120 degree tilt on top of being highly elliptical which causes intense variations in those four long seasons.
-
-  Pluto’s density means that about 70% of its mass is rock.  In contrast Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is 40% rock with its primary composition water-ice.
-
-  Pluto’s diameter is 1,473 miles.  It has 5 moons ranging from:
-
----------------------------Charon  -----------  750 miles
----------------------------Hydra  ------------  38 to 104 miles  ( not perfectly spherical)
----------------------------Nix  ---------------  29 to 85 miles
----------------------------Kerberos  ---------  8 to 21 miles
----------------------------Styx  ---------------  6 to 16 miles
-
-  The smooth, dark regions on Pluto appear to be wind blown dunes.  But, that is strange because Pluto’s atmosphere is so thin.  It could be that its atmosphere was much thicker in the past.
-
-  Before the New Horizon’s flyby astronomers expected to find a frozen, cratered, long-dead world.  Instead, they find that Pluto’s surface is young with frozen plains, icy mountains as high as the Rockies, dunes , glacial lakes, and flowing nitrogen ice.  The surface ranges in age form 100 million years to several billions of years old.  The lack of meteor impacts prove the recent geological activity.  To have geological activity there must be some form of internal heating?
-
-  The dark regions of the surface may be coloration of frozen methane irradiated by the Sun and converted into tar-like compounds.
-
-  Mountains extend to 11,000 feet.  Their peaks composed of water ice.  The water ice is as hard as granite when its temperature is -390F.
-
-  The material flowing down the mountains appears to be nitrogen ice.  Polygon depressions on the surface of the plains are likely formed by relatively warm material seeping for below the surface.
-
-  The mystery encountered is to discover, “ what is the energy source driving all this activity?”
-
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-
-  Other reviews available include -  #1781 with reference to four others
-
----------------  Pluto Diameter  -----------  1,473 miles  ( 18% Earth’s)
-------------------------  Mass  --------------   1.31*10^22 kg  ( 0.22% Earth’s)
-------------------------  Density  -----------   2.05  g/cm^3
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-----------------  Charon Diameter  --------  737 miles
-------------------------  Mass  --------------   0.156*10^22 kg
-------------------------  Density  -----------   1.60  g/cm^3
-
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Europa the liquid moon of Jupiter?

-  1788  -  Europa - moon of Jupiter is 80% larger than our Moon.  It harbors an enormous under ice ocean and has a good chance of support primitive life forms.
-
-

-
-----------------  1788  -  Europa - moon of Jupiter.
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-  Jupiter’s moon Europa harbors an ocean of liquid water beneath its fragile shell of ice.  Active geology has covered up all the older craters on the surface.  Today its icy surface is striated by cracks and faults, jumbled icebergs suspended in regions where liquid water exited or slushy water has frozen.
-
-  Tidal flexing from Jupiter’s enormous gravity allows water to well up and build up ridges.
-
-  Europa has a metallic core and a rocky mantle.  Above the rocky mantle is a layer of water ice 60 miles thick.  If this were liquid it would be twice as much as all the Earth’s oceans combined.
-
-  Europa is one of the few moons in the Solar System that has a magnetic field.  It appears to interact with the rotation of Jupiter’s strong magnetic field.  A magnetic field requires the flow of a liquid layer of electrically conducting material.
-
-  A salty ocean would be just the ticket to do this.  Lava eruptions from vents in Europa’s seafloor could jumble the icy crust above.  Primitive life thrives near seafloor vents at the bottom of Earth’s oceans.  Simple organisms feed off toxic gases from these volcanic vents.
-
-  Also, phyllosilicate clay minerals on Europa’s surface are close associates to Earth’s minerals harboring organic molecules.
-
-  Calculations put Europa’s ice shell at 12 miles thick then the liquid water ocean below that is 60 miles thick.
-
-  Europa takes 3.55 days to orbit around Jupiter.  Tidal forces raise and lower the ice shell as much as 100 feet.  Europa’s orbit is elliptically shaped by the other tug of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede.  This ellipse causes the tidal bulge to lag behind the orbital velocity.  The combination causes the ice shell to float freely on the subsurface ocean.  A long float to circle the moon taking 12,000 years to complete.
-
-  In addition to this rotation thicker ice at the poles is wandering down to the equator.  All in all Europa is offering a dynamic environment for further exploration.  Stay tuned there is much more to learn.
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-
-  Other reviews available:
-
-  # 1725  -  Explains how friction creates the  heat energy for Europa’s oceans.
-
-  # The above review lists 4 other reviews #1702, #1361, #1152, #812 for even more for you to learn.
-
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--  email comments, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
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Titan the strange moon of Saturn?

-----------------  1787  -  Titan, strange moon of Saturn.
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-   The planet Saturn has 62 moons.  Can you name the largest?  Is this the largest moon in our Solar System?
-

-
-  The largest moon orbiting Saturn is Titan.  It is the only planet - moon discovered so far with a liquid on its surface and the only moon with a dense atmosphere.  Titan is larger than the planet Mercury.
-
-  But, the temperature averages -295 F and the liquid is not water it is more like liquid natural gas.  The dense atmosphere is mostly methane and is so thick it hides the surface.  The atmosphere is still 90% nitrogen. ( Earth’s atmosphere is 77% nitrogen ).  Titans’ remaining 10% atmosphere contains argon, methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), ammonia (NH3) and other hydrogen compounds.
-
-  There are fields of sand dunes but they are not silicate sand they are beads of organic material more like plastics.  The rivers are flowing hydrocarbons, methane and ethane.
-
-  Our Sun’s ultraviolet radiation breaks down the hydrogen compounds releasing the hydrogen to escape into space leaving behind carbon and nitrogen.  The methane and ethane in the atmosphere act as Greenhouse Gases.  Still its surface temperature is not warmer than -180C with an atmospheric pressure 1.5 times that on Earth.
-
-  Methane in the atmosphere condenses and rains down on to the surface forming liquid rivers and lakes.  If all the methane condensed at once it would become a global layer 23 feet deep.  Do the same thing with the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere and the global surface would add only 1 inch.
-
-  Sunlight is splitting the methane molecules into hydrogen and ethane and propane.  The hydrogen gas escapes into space.  These hydrocarbons that rain down on the Titan’s surface over time become solid particles that make up the “sand dunes”.  They are called tholins.
-
-  The surface pressure on Titan is 150% that of Earth’s  The average temperature is
 -295F.  The Saturn System tilts 27 degrees from the plane of its orbit .  This tilt creates the 4 seasons.  But, each season lasts 7.5 years as it takes Saturn 30 years  to circle the Sun.
-
-  The methane lakes and seas cover 1% of Titan’s surface lying mostly in the northern hemisphere.  Radar measurement have found lake depths down to 525 feet.  Calculations for the total volume of surface liquid methane is 15 times larger than the volume of Lake Michigan.
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-  Titan obviously has a complex chemistry.  This makes it possible to produce organic compounds.  When the Cassini Spacecraft sent the Huygens Probe to parachute through the atmosphere to the surface January 14, 2005 it found river valleys and shorelines created by lakes of methane.  Instead of rock Titan has ice.  Instead of molten lava Titan has water ice mixed with ammonia.  Titan’s internal heat might still harbor liquid water along with plenty of organic chemistry.  Titan’s origin and evolution are chronicled within the nature of its lakes and seas giving us an amazing glimpse of this strange new world.
-
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-  Other Reviews available upon request:
-
-  #1363  -  Titan is 3,200 miles in diameter orbiting Saturn in 16 days
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-  #1144  -  Titan’s average density is 1.88 grams/ cm^3
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-  #  818  -  Written in 2007.  Titan’s atmosphere is similar to that on Earth some 4 billion years ago.
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-  #555 -  Written in 2005.  Christiaan Huygens was the astronomer that discovered Titan in 1655.  He was 26 years old and used a home made telescope.
-
-  #1786  See this review to learn about Enceladus one of Saturn’s smaller moons.  The largest moon in the Solar System is Jupiter’s Ganymede.
-
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Enceladus - A moon of Saturn.

-  1786  -  Enceladus -  Saturn’s moon.  This review describes what we have learned from recent space probes.  It’s a whole new world to spur the imagination.
-

-----------------  1786  -  Enceladus -  Saturn’s moon.
-
-  I am working on a series of moon reviews.  Saturn’s Titan and Enceladus, Jupiter’s Europa.  This one is about Enceladus.  But, here is a quick summary to get you familiar of some of the more than 100 moons orbiting Jovian planets:
-
----------------  Jupiter moons  -  Io  -  Europa  -  Ganymede  -  Callisto
-
----------------  Saturn moons  -  Mimas  -  Enceladus  -  Tethys  -  Dione  -  Rhea  -  Titan  -  Iapetus
-
---------------  Uranus moons  -  Miranda  -  Ariel  -  Umbriel  -  Titania  -  Oberon
-
----------------  Neptune moons  -  Triton   -  Nereid
-
----------------  Mercury  moons  -  none
-
---------------  Earth Moon  -  one Moon.
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-  Enceladus has groves in its surface that are measurably warmer than the surrounding terrain.  These groves are venting huge clouds of water vapor and ice crystals.
-
-  Enceladus is barely 500 kilometers across ( 311 miles ).  It would fit inside the borders of Colorado.
-
-  How to explain this geological activity in such a small body?  Radioactivity?  Tidal friction heating?
-
-  It could be that the icy composition makes these properties fundamentally different that terrestrial worlds.
-
-  Enceladus is the best bet astronomers have for finding life elsewhere in our Solar System.  Enceladus has a subsurface global liquid ocean.  Near the south pole subsurface sea spews into space out of fissures in the surface.
-
-  A liquid water ocean lies between the moon’s icy surface layer and the rocky interior.  It is the push and pull of Saturn’s gravity that is keeping this water in its liquid state.
-
-  Material from the over 100 geysers is pulled towards Saturn and orbit’s the planet as the E-ring.  Silicate particles have been found in this ring.  The 194F temperature and PH of 8.5 to 10.5 needed to form these particles imply Enceladus harbors hot-spring heated water.  By example, the hydrothermal vents found on Earth sea floors host extreme organisms.  Maybe Enceladus does as well?
-
-  The chemistry that produces these silicates also releases molecular hydrogen gas.
-
-  We still have much more to learn from exploration of the moons.  Here are some previous reviews about Enceladus available upon request:
-
-  #1714  -  Tidal forces create a liquid ocean under the surface ice on Enceladus.  This ocean ia about the size of Lake Superior that lies under 25 miles of thick ice.
-
-  # 1362  -  In 2008 a flyby found geyser contain water, nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia, solid particles, propane, ethane, and acetylene.  ammonia is a potent antifreeze and could keep liquid water down to - 136F.
-
-  #1166  -  Cyrovolcanoes on the surface are spewing jets of water vapor and ice into outer space.
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-  #  957  -  Enceladus is 14% the size of the Moon with density of 1.85 grams/ cm^3.  The Moon’s density is 3.34 g/cm^3 and the density of water is 1.00 g/cm^3 ( because that is how the gram is defined.)
-
-  Data for these review calculations:
-
---------------------  Enceladus  ---------  Diameter  ------------  311 miles
---------------------------------------------  Mass  -----------------  1.2*10^20  kilograms
---------------------------------------------  Volume  -------------  6.4*10^22 cm^3
---------------------------------------------  Density  --------------  1.85 g/cm^3
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---------------------  Earth  ---------  Diameter  ------------  7,926 miles
----------------------------------------  Mass  -----------------  5.97*10^24  kilograms
----------------------------------------  Density  --------------  5.52 g/cm^3

---------------------  Moon  ---------  Diameter  ------------  2,160 miles
-----------------------------------------  Mass  -----------------  7.349*10^22  kilograms
-----------------------------------------  Density  --------------  3.34 g/cm^3

---------------------  Enceladus /  Moon Ratios  ---------  Diameter  ------------  14%
----------------------------------------------------------------  Mass  -----------------   0.16%
----------------------------------------------------------------  Density  --------------  55%
-
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