From Science @NASA: Let’s hope it doesn’t taste like chicken or smell like feet.
NASA’s daring plan to visit the sun took a giant leap forward today with the selection of five key science investigations for the Solar Probe+ spacecraft.
Slated to launch no later than 2018, the smart car-sized spacecraft will plunge directly into the atmosphere of the sun, aiming to solve some of the biggest mysteries of solar physics. Today’s announcement means that researchers can begin building sensors for unprecedented in situ measurements of the solar system’s innermost frontier.
“Solar Probe+ is going where no spacecraft has gone before,” says Lika Guhathakurta, Solar Probe+ program scientist at NASA HQ. “For the first time, we’ll be able to ‘touch, taste and smell’ the sun.”
Last year, NASA invited top researchers around the world to submit proposals detailing possible science investigations for the pioneering spacecraft. Thirteen proposals were received and five have been selected:
–SWEAP, the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation: The most abundant particles in the solar wind are electrons, protons and helium ions. SWEAP will count these particles and measure their properties, even “sweeping up” some of them in a special Solar Probe Cup for direct analysis. The principal investigator is Justin C. Kasper of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.
–WISPR, the Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe Plus: WISPR is a telescope that will make 3D images of the sun’s atmosphere similar to medical CAT scans. WISPR can actually see the solar wind, allowing it to image clouds and shock waves as they approach and pass the spacecraft. This telescope is an important complement to the spacecraft’s in situ instruments, which sample the plasmas that WISPR images. The principal investigator is Russell Howard of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.
–FIELDS, The Fields Investigation for Solar Probe Plus: This instrument will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, radio emissions, and shock waves which course through the sun’s atmospheric plasma. FIELDS also turns Solar Probe Plus into a giant dust detector, registering voltage signatures when specks of space dust hit the spacecraft’s antenna. The principal investigator is Stuart Bale of the University of California in Berkeley.
–ISIS, Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun: The ISIS EPI-Hi and EPI-Lo instruments will monitor electrons, protons and ions which are accelerated to high energies by shock waves in the sun’s atmosphere. These are the very same particles that pose a threat to astronauts in space, disable satellites, and ionize Earth’s upper atmosphere.
–Solar Probe+ Observatory Scientist: This was a proposal not for an instrument, but for a person. The principal investigator, Marco Velli, becomes the mission’s Observatory Scientist. In the years ahead, he will become deeply familiar with the spacecraft and its construction, helping to ensure that adjacent in situ instruments do not interfere with one another as they sample the solar environment. He will also guide the mission’s “big picture” science investigations after Solar Probe+ enters the sun’s atmosphere.
“The sensors we’ve selected to ride aboard Solar Probe+ are designed to solve some of the biggest mysteries of solar physics,” says Dick Fisher, head of NASA’s Heliophysics Division in Washington DC.
Why is the sun’s atmosphere is so much hotter than its surface? And what propels the solar wind?
“We’ve been struggling with these questions for decades,” says Fisher. “Solar Probe+ should finally provide some answers.”
Solar Probe+ will likely discover new mysteries, too, in a realm that no other spacecraft has dared enter. At closest approach, Solar Probe+ will be 7 million km or 9 solar radii from the sun. There, the spacecraft’s carbon-composite heat shield must withstand temperatures as high as 2000 degrees C and survive blasts of radiation that would quickly disable other missions. From these near distances inside the sun’s atmosphere, the solar disk will loom 23 times wider than it does in the skies of Earth.
“What will we find there?” wonders Guhathakurta. “This is truly unexplored territory.” By design, Solar Probe’s winning instruments are sufficiently versatile to investigate many different kinds of phenomena. Whatever comes along–be it electric or magnetic, high- or low-energy, wavy or turbulent–they should be able to measure it.
“The possibilities for discovery,” she says, “are off the charts.”
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
Zeke the Sneak says:
September 4, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Solar particles have reached the earth in as little as 30 minutes.
Those are not the ordinary solar wind particles, but are rare explosions that acquire their speed right at the Sun where they originate. They are not accelerated further on their way out. And are not what solar probe is meant for. It is, indeed, highly unlikely that SPP will plunge into the Sun during one of these events. Should that happen, the electronics will be completely fried and we’ll get no data at all.
Charged particles or hot gas makes no difference for this.
Zeke the Sneak says:
September 4, 2010 at 1:13 pm
That is an interesting theory which posits an exhaust tube effect.
It is more that that. It is how it actually works.
Leif Svalgaard says:
September 3, 2010 at 11:16 am
What powers the Sun?
Oh, allow me, please.
Compression (inherent by mass), spark (by-product) & fuel (star-stuff plasma).
The opposite of an Internal Combustion engine:
Compression (mechanically forced), spark (supplied) and fuel (from the fossilized Super Solar Bio-Dino Whiz Mass).
Zeke the Sneak wrote: “But these are charged particles, not just hot gas. So if they are accelerating to 40% the speed of light, they are likely experiencing a force in a field.”
Yes.
So, the question becomes the location & structure of the force field — the field where the electrified particles (electrons & ions) are accelerated.
Dr. Svalgaard wrote: “Those [electrified particles accelerated to 40% of the speed of light] are not the ordinary solar wind particles, but are rare explosions that acquire their speed right at the Sun where they originate.”
So, the first question is the specific location “where they originate”?
Then, the second question is the specific structure where the electrified particles where accelcerated?
Scientists would do well to follow Hannes Alfven’s advice: Measure electric fields and currents (flows of charged particles, both segregated and co-mingled) in addition to magnetic fields with a purpose to observing & measuring the structures & patterns these particles & fields generate.
Particular attention needs to be paid to the “X” cross section where electric fields & magnetic fields cross or intertwine as Hannes Alfven observed & measured in his laboratory plasma experiments.
The electromagnetic framework is the key to understanding solar dynamics.
Ref – Leif Svalgaard says:
September 4, 2010 at 1:47 pm
(And ALL previous posts,too.)
A Very Sincere Thank You!
rbateman says:
September 4, 2010 at 2:09 pm
What powers the Sun? Oh, allow me, please.
Compression (inherent by mass), spark (by-product) & fuel (star-stuff plasma).
It is possible to be more precise:
Compression [to make it hot to begin with and to keep it together] thus Gravity. [In the end, Gravity is the cause of everything]. Even in the hot interior [due to Gravity] the Coulomb [electrical] repulsion between nuclei is much too strong to allow them to interact. But in Quantum Mechanics where a particle can be viewed as a wave, there is a finite probability that the particle can be anywhere else, so there is a finite [small] chance that two particles that are really far apart nevertheless can have wave functions that overlap. If so, the strong force takes over and two protons [the most common nucleus] can fuse to become Deuterium [plus some energy and a neutrino]. By the same mechanism Deuterium can fuse with yet another proton [lots of them around] to become Helium3 [plus some energy]. finally by the same process, two He3 nuclei can fuse to become Helium4 [plus a lot of energy] and two protons to be returned to the Sun.
The neutrino has been observed so we know the process works. BTW, there is another process, the so-called CNO process that also produces stellar energy, but it is unimportant [but still occurs on a small scale] in the Sun.
It is not a coincidence that the typical thermal speed in the solar core is equal to the escape velocity at the surface [this holds for all stars fusing Hydrogen] as Gravity is the root cause of stellar fusion.
rbateman says:
September 4, 2010 at 2:09 pm
What powers the Sun?
I forgot to mention that the process is extremely gently [no exploding Hydrogen bomb here]. The energy generation rate is so low that it would take it two weeks to bring a kettle of water to a boil.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 3:11 pm
So, the first question is the specific location “where they originate”?
We know where they originate. We see that directly: in strong solar flares taking place in the corona above sunspots.
Then, the second question is the specific structure where the electrified particles where accelcerated?
Magnetic reconnection provides the structure and energy. No mystery there.
The electromagnetic framework is the key to understanding solar dynamics.
The magnetic framework is the key to understanding the Sun. The twisting and writhing of magnetic fields create strong electric currents and fields, capable of accelerating particles to high energies. SPP is equipped to measure electric fields as high as 10 Volts and might get luckily to observe some of those generated by the plasma moving in the magnetic field.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 3:11 pm
So, the first question is the specific location “where they originate”?
Then, the second question is the specific structure where the electrified particles where accelcerated?
You can learn more here:
http://blog.agu.org/geospace/2010/08/13/prototype-instrument-predicts-solar-flares/
Dr. Svalgaard wrote: “The magnetic framework is the key to understanding the Sun. ”
This is Dr. Svalgaard’s problem: This is a silly statement.
The fundamental force is Electromagnetism.
Maxwell’s equations state that electric fields & magnetic fields are reciprical.
And Science knows that stationary plasma has no magnetic field, yet the particles in the plasma exist as electrified particles.
So, to claim the supremacy for magnetic fields doesn’t hold up to observation & measurement.
Why do you insist on your magnetic “only” opinion, when in situ satellite propes are now gathering data that measures the electric field, magnetic field, electrified particle current & structure?
Dr. Svalgaard, you can’t turn a “blind eye” to the observations & measurements and pretent that measurement of magnetic fields tells the whole story of the dynamics of the inner solar system including the Earth out to (Mars doesn’t have a organized magnetic field), Jupiter & Saturn.
To consider only magnetic fields…was 30 years, ago. Today, electric fields, electrified particle flows and magnetic fields, plus, the locations & direction of the electrified particles, need to be observed & measured.
And, I’m extremely pleased the NASA in situ satellite will be able to observe & measure all the above electric, magnetic & particle direction parameters.
Plus: Observation & measurement of velocity of the electrified particles and their points of acceleration in the electromagnetic field.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Maxwell’s equations state that electric fields & magnetic fields are reciprical.
They also state that the electric field depends on the reference frame while the magnetic field does not. This means that you can always find a frame in which the electric field is zero. You cannot find a frame where the magnetic field vanishes.
And Science knows that stationary plasma has no magnetic field, yet the particles in the plasma exist as electrified particles.
Stationary with respect to what? The Earth, the Sun, the Galaxy, my backyard? There is no such things as ‘electrified’ particles. There are charged particles and equal number of negative and positive ones.
So, to claim the supremacy for magnetic fields doesn’t hold up to observation & measurement.
Why do you insist on your magnetic “only” opinion, when in situ satellite propes are now gathering data that measures the electric field, magnetic field, electrified particle current & structure?
Because when a plasma moves in a magnetic field, electric fields and currents are induced, and those cause all the effects that are interesting.
Dr. Svalgaard, you can’t turn a “blind eye” to the observations & measurements and pretent that measurement of magnetic fields tells the whole story of the dynamics of the inner solar system including the Earth out to (Mars doesn’t have a organized magnetic field), Jupiter & Saturn.
The measurements show that from the plasma movements and the magnetic field we can calculate whatever currents are induced. A good example is the HCS. So, the electric currents are consequences of the plasma movements and the magnetic field. We are, of course, interested to know if we can observe the calculated currents and it turns out that we can. So we have a good confirmation of the soundness of the calculations.
And, I’m extremely pleased the NASA in situ satellite will be able to observe & measure all the above electric, magnetic & particle direction parameters.
We are all very pleased that such measurements will be forthcoming to verify [again] the importance of the magnetic field near the Sun as satellites have done near the Earth. To solidify that magnetic reconnection is a Universal Process operating everywhere: in the lab, in fusion machines, in the Earth’s magnetosphere, in the solar wind and corona, at the heliopause, and by extension anywhere else in the Universe.
Leif Svalgaard says:
September 4, 2010 at 9:07 pm
So, to claim the supremacy for magnetic fields doesn’t hold up to observation & measurement.
Should obviously have been a quote.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Plus: Observation & measurement of velocity of the electrified particles and their points of acceleration in the electromagnetic field.
You could benefit from reading: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8454.pdf
Dr. Salgaard wrote: “They [Maxwell’s equations] also state that the electric field depends on the reference frame while the magnetic field does not.”
No. Dr. Svalgaard, how do you explain, “Science knows that stationary plasma has no magnetic field, yet the particles in the plasma exist as electrified particles.”?
If any force has a “reference frame”, it is the magnetic force.
But observation & measurement confirms Maxwell’s equations ciciprical physical relationship of electric & magnetic fields.
Electric & magnetic fields are reciprical, attached at the hip, as if Simese twins.
Dr. Svalgaard, you continued insistence on “magnetic only” hypothesis puts you as an outlier in current astrophysical thinking.
Electromagnetism, one of the four Fundamental Forces of the Universe.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 9:29 pm
No. Dr. Svalgaard, how do you explain, “Science knows that stationary plasma has no magnetic field, yet the particles in the plasma exist as electrified particles.”?
No explanation needed as the statement is false. What is a ‘stationary plasma’? In rest relative to what?
But observation & measurement confirms Maxwell’s equations ciciprical physical relationship of electric & magnetic fields.
The equations are not reciprocal because electric charges exist, but magnetic charges [monopoles] have not been found.
Do yourself [and the readers] a favor and read the reference I gave you, rather than sticking your head in the sand.
Dr. Svalgaard, again, you invoke so-called “magnetic reconnection”. But the observations & measurements are consistent, and, those observations & measurements are consistent with Electric Double Layers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_layer_(plasma)
“A double layer is a structure in a plasma and consists of two parallel layers with opposite electrical charge. The sheets of charge cause a strong electric field and a correspondingly sharp change in voltage (electrical potential) across the double layer.”
The term & concept “magnetic reconnection” is an antiquated, pre-space age (1946) analytical tool, which did not consider electric fields or electric currents or the motions and configurations of charged particles.
Again, this must be emphasized: “magnetic reconnection” was developed without regard to electric fields or electric currents, or the motions & configurations of charged particles.
The scientific papers presented below, all considered, stand for the proposition that so-called “magnetic reconnection” is in actuality Electric Double Layers, as confirmed in laboratory plasma experiments.
The concept of so-called “magnetic reconnection” was developed in response to observations of coronal mass ejections (CME). This failed analytical tool has been superceded by the full spectrum electromagnetic concept, Electric Double Layer.
NASA’s project detailed in the present post makes a start at gathering the necessary observations & measurements of magnetic fields, electric fields, and electron & ion configurations (structures) & motions to shed light on this question.
The following scientific papers report observations & measurements of Electric Double Layers and so-called “magnetic reconnection”.
Close examination of the data shows that the electric fields, magnetic fields, electrified particle’ motion & structure is the same, and, velocity & acceleration are the same for each Electric Double Layers and “magnetic reconnection, respectively.
The following scientific papers stand for the proposition that so-called “magnetic reconnection” is actually the Electric Double Layer process.
Scientific papers presented:
Filamentary Structures in U-Shaped Double Layers, 2005
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2005AGUFMSM41C1202D&db_key=AST&data_type=HTML&format=&high=42ca922c9c05019
Quote from the above paper:
“Observations from the Polar and FAST satellites have revealed a host of intriguing features of the auroral accelerations processes in the upward current region (UCR). These features include: (i) large-amplitude parallel and perpendicular fluctuating as well as quasi-static electric fields in density cavities, (ii) fairly large-amplitude unipolar parallel electric fields like in a strong double layer (DL), (iii) variety of wave modes, (iv) counter-streaming of upward going ion beams and downward accelerated electrons, (v) horizontally corrugated bottom region of the potential structures (PS), in which electron and ion accelerations occur, (vi) filamentary ion beams in the corrugated PS, and (vii) both upward and downward moving narrow regions of parallel electric fields, inferred from the frequency drifts of the auroral kilometric radiations.”
Parallel electric fields in the upward current region of the aurora: Indirect and direct observations, published 2002 Physics of Plasma
http://www.space.irfu.se/exjobb/2003_erik_bergman/articles/PHP03685_ergun.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
“In this article we present electric field, magnetic field, and charged particle observations from the upward current region of the aurora focusing on the structure of electric fields at the boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere…These observations suggest that the parallel electric fields at the
boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere are self-consistently supported as oblique double layers.”
Let’s now compare the above Electric Double Layers papers with the following so-called “magnetic reconnection” scientific papers:
Magnetopause reconnection impact parameters from multiple spacecraft magnetic field measurements published 30 October 2009
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2009GL040228.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
“Discrepancies between the measured components of E [electric field] and the corresponding components of v B [magnetic field] after a careful error analysis signify a nonideal electric field. We intend to show in a subsequent paper that the Cluster electric field and particle flow data for this event satisfy the criteria for a parallel electric field…
With the instantaneous coordinate system and the parallel electric field established, one can place particle moments, such as velocities, pressures, and temperatures, as well as magnetic and electric field measurements…
Sufficiently accurate ion and electron moments and electric field measurements within this coordinate system delineate ion and electron diffusion regions.”
Recent in-situ observations of magnetic reconnection in near-Earth space, published 11 October 2008
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2008GL035297.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
Figure 1. “(bottom [schematic, page 2 of 7] ) : “Zoom-in on the region around the X-line, with the ion and electron diffusion regions indicated by the shading and the rectangular box, respectively. The quadrupolar Hall magnetic field is pointing in and out of the plane of the figure. The Hall electric field [perpendicular electric field] is shown by the red arrows, while the blue arrows mark the oppositely directed jets in the outflow regions. Note that entry and acceleration occur all the way along the current sheet. Figure courtesy of Marit Oieroset.”
The “X” cross section discussed in these “magnetic reconnection” papers are where electric and magnetic fields cross, just as Hannes Alfven described in his empirical laboratory work on Electric Double Layers and, is central to the acceleration of the particles in both sets of papers, Electric Double Layers and “magnetic reconnection”, respectively.
Collisionless Magnetic Field Reconnection From First Principles: What It Can and Cannot Do
http://solarmuri.ssl.berkeley.edu/~welsch/brian/FSL/2006/mozer_reconn_v4.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
“The physics of reconnection [Electric Double Layer] depends on the electric field component out of the plane of Fig. 1 at the center of the figure, which is sometimes called the tangential electric field.
If it is zero [the Electric field], the two plasmas flow around each other into or out of the plane of the figure because there is no ExB/B2 flow in the plane of the figure in this central region.
On the other hand, if the tangential electric field is non-zero, the plasmas continue flowing towards each other into the central region of the figure and magnetic field reconnection occurs as discussed below.”
In review, to understand the plasma dynamics of the solar environment, one must observe & measure electric fields, magnetics fields & electrified particles’ motion & direction (current) and velocity & locations of acceleration.
I’m extremely pleased the NASA in situ satellite will be able to observe & measure all the above electric, magnetic & particle direction parameters.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Dr. Svalgaard, again, you invoke so-called “magnetic reconnection”.
“A double layer is a structure in a plasma and consists of two parallel layers with opposite electrical charge. The sheets of charge cause a strong electric field and a correspondingly sharp change in voltage (electrical potential) across the double layer.”
Double layers have nothing to do with reconnection. Reconnection even occurs in a vacuum if you rotate one magnetic with respect to another. None of the links you give say that double layers are the same as reconnection. Double layers may form elsewhere as a result of reconnection, but are occasional incidental effects.
The topic of this post is the Solar Prope Plus. Nowhere in the press releases or papers about SPP are there references to double layers, and for good reason. Do the readers a favor and study carefully the link I gave you: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8454.pdf
I’ll quiz you on it later to check that you have read and understood it or at least understood the conclusions of the paper [leaving the math aside].
Dr. Svalgaard wrote: “electric charges exist, but magnetic charges [monopoles] have not been found.”
Exactly!
The magnetic field is dependent on the existence of electric charges and, it must be added, the motion of those “electric charges”.
Please, Dr. Savlgaard, your repeated attempts to invoke a “magnetic only” viewpoint fails miserably when held up to the in situ satellite observations & measurements of the electric fields & magnetic fields, particle direction & velocity & accceleration presented in the above scientific papers.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Dr. Svalgaard, again, you invoke so-called “magnetic reconnection”.
Your basic problem is that you reverse cause and effect. Even Alfven in his book Cosmic Plasma [page 38] states that for solar prominences “the electromotive force is due to motions in the photosphere in combination with the photospheric magnetic field”.
Thus: electric currents arise from moving plasma across a magnetic field as I have said dozens of times [what Parker calls the v, B paradigm]. This is the fundamental issue: electric fields and currents are temporary creations caused by cosmic plasmas moving in the ever-present existing magnetic field. Once that is clear [as it was to Alfven] many of your misconceptions evaporate as morning dew.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 10:41 pm
The magnetic field is dependent on the existence of electric charges and, it must be added, the motion of those “electric charges”.
No, permanent magnets are not maintained by electric currents, but by quantum mechanical effects. And you confuse electric charge with electric field and current. You cannot create a current in a cosmic plasma without separating opposite charges and for that you need a magnetic field to begin with. So moving a neutral plasma across a pre-existing field is how you create currents.
James F. Evans says:
September 4, 2010 at 10:41 pm
The magnetic field is dependent on the existence of electric charges and, it must be added, the motion of those “electric charges”.
Now for the 1st question of the quiz: What do the last four lines on page 1 say?
Leif Svalgaard says:
September 4, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I forgot to mention that the process is extremely gently [no exploding Hydrogen bomb here]. The energy generation rate is so low that it would take it two weeks to bring a kettle of water to a boil.
The back of that envelope (energy generation rate) sounds dangerously low. Makes me wonder how Earth even managed to get out of the last Ice Age. Brings up a scenario where, over billions of years, each planet froze out as the Sun weakened. It must have had a much higher output long ago, the Earth will freeze well before the Solar Atmosphere expands to fry it, and in end, the final snowball Earth crackles in the breathless silence of a dead star. So, in that scenario, only an atmospheric blanket plus tidal interaction with the Moon keeps Earth alive. The fly in the ointment, then, would be Venus. How many w/m^2 does it receive?
Now I know why Einstein had a blackboard behind his desk.
Dr. Svalgaard wrote: “The topic of this post is the Solar Probe Plus.”
And, the Solar Probe + spacecraft will observe & measure electric fields & magnetic fields, plus charged particle (electron & ion) motion, direction, velocity & points of charged particle acceleration.
From NASA’s news release:
“–SWEAP, the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation: The most abundant particles in the solar wind are electrons, protons and helium ions. SWEAP will count these particles and measure their properties, even “sweeping up” some of them in a special Solar Probe Cup for direct analysis.”
“–FIELDS, The Fields Investigation for Solar Probe Plus: This instrument will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, radio emissions, and shock waves which course through the sun’s atmospheric plasma.”
“–ISIS, Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun: The ISIS EPI-Hi and EPI-Lo instruments will monitor electrons, protons and ions which are accelerated to high energies by shock waves in the sun’s atmosphere.”
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/02sep_spp/
In the course of the Solar Probe Plus in situ investigation the physical components of Electric Double Layers such as electric field, magnetic field, and charged particle observations and structures, such as parallel and perpendicular electric fields will be observed & measured.
How do I know these will be measured?
Because of the three scientific investigations the Solar Probe Plus will carry out per the above quotes from the NASA news release.
As pointed out in a previous comment on this thread, so-called “magnetic reconnection”, while originally developed in 1946 in response to CME observations without regard to electric fields, electric currents, and charged particle direction, velocity & points of acceleration (because in that pre-space age time frame there was no opportunity to carry out investigation of electric fields and electric currents, which require in situ observation & measurement).
But, today, these in situ observations & measurements can be carried out by satellite probe.
And, when one reviews the following “magnetic reconnection” paper, lo and behold, the paper discusses electric fields, magnetic fields, and the direction, velocity & acceleration points of the charged particles via identification of “parallel electric field” formations just as the Electric Double Layer papers do.
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2009GL040228.pdf
From the “magnetic reconnection” paper:
“Discrepancies between the measured components of E [electric field] and the corresponding components of v B [magnetic field] after a careful error analysis signify a nonideal electric field. We intend to show in a subsequent paper that the Cluster electric field and particle flow data for this event satisfy the criteria for a parallel electric field…
With the instantaneous coordinate system and the parallel electric field established, one can place particle moments, such as velocities, pressures, and temperatures, as well as magnetic and electric field measurements…
Sufficiently accurate ion and electron moments and electric field measurements within this coordinate system delineate ion and electron diffusion regions.”
The component physical dynamics are the same as the Electric Double Layer papers.
See this passage from an Electric Double Layer scientfic paper:
“In this article we present electric field, magnetic field, and charged particle observations from the upward current region of the aurora focusing on the structure of electric fields at the boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere…These observations suggest that the parallel electric fields at the boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere are self-consistently supported as oblique double layers.”
http://www.space.irfu.se/exjobb/2003_erik_bergman/articles/PHP03685_ergun.pdf
Review of the two above linked papers will make evident the commonality of the physical components under discussion in the two papers, respectively.
Dr. Svalgaard, your opinion is irrelevant.
What is relevant are the observations & measurements carried out by the investigations of NASA’s Solar Probe Plus.
Those observations & measurements will speak eloquently for themselves.
I look forward to the results from NASA’s scientific investigation.