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Oscillations

21 July 2021
Astronomy

At https://phys.org/news/2021-07-long-period-oscillations-sun.html …. long period oscillations of the sun have been discovered. They have been predicted for a long time but modern telescope studies of the sun, such as the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager have brought theory to life. The oscillations are affected by the sun's differential rotation.

At https://phys.org/news/2021-07-tail-comet-dusty-atlas.html … a fly through the tail of a recently disintegrated comet has provided the means to show the comet magneto-tail and its response to magnetic fields. Comet ATLAS broke up last year, in 2020, leaving its former tail still trailing along in space. The relic tail consists of chunks of dust and charged particles. The ESA Solar Orbiter has recently flown close to the tail and scientists have been able to develop a model from the data beamed back. It shows an interplanetary magnetic field carried by the 'solar wind' that drapes around the comet. At the same time, a central tail region appears to have a weaker magnetic field.

Comets have a dust tail – and an ion tail. The latter is thought to originate from interactions between gases on the comet and the solar wind. At the same time, the solar wind itself is a hot gas of charged particles that constantly flows from the Sun. It pervades the whole solar system. When it interacts with a solid object, such as a comet, its magnetic field 'is thought to' bend and drape around it. This, in turn, is thought to generate the ion tail, or coma, which can stretch over long distances. One might wonder if anything else was going on. What about the weaker magnetic field in the centre of the trail of charged debris. Did the comet itself have an electro-magnetic feature?

At https://phys.org/news/2021-07-universe-black-holes.html … one to ponder. In the vicinity of black holes space is so warped even rays of light may curve around them on more than one occasion. That is the theory. A theory that has been around for decades. However, not until now has it been proven mathematically – or explained by mathematic equations. Albert Snepper, a student from the Niels Bohr Institute, has produced the necessary mathematical formula. Clever stuff.

At https://phys.org/news/scientists-bottom-deep-pacific-ventilation.html … at first, I thought, oh goodie, this new study would be about vents on the sea floor, spewing out carbon and other chemicals, but no. It concerns ocean biogeochemistry, a feature of climate science. The oceans have long been a potential reservoir of carbon, all part of the ocean conveyor belt system. The deep northern Pacific is a reservoir, we are told, of remineralised nutrients and respired carbon. These have accumulated over the centuries and the view has been they are redistributed by ocean currents – especially when these overturn in bottom waters. The idea seems to be to get even more co2 dispersed into the atmosphere – from the oceans. Hence, there is a certain amount of scepticism surrounding some of these ideas, especially when they ignore deep sea vents. The deep Pacific is thought to play a crucial role in earth's climate system. It seems to be when it comes to El Nino and LaNina events, which distribute warm or cool water around the ocean conveyor belt system. The southern ocean plays a major role, it is thought, but it seems that half of the distribution ends up in Arctic waters – which helps to explain the high biological reproduction in that region.

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