Reality Check
Penultimate Amazing
I will start collecting the evidence against the electric comet idea in one post. This will be updated as we discuss the many problems with the EC idea.
EC universe: Ignore the physical evidence such as the measured density of comets.
Real universe: Use the physical evidence such as the measured density of comets to construct theories.
EC universe: Comets are rocks.
Real universe:
Real universe:
Start with Tim Thompson's posts about this
(Sol88: I may be wrong - if so please provide the citations to these marvelous events.)
However this assertion has the fatal flaw of EC predictions - no mathematics or numbers.
But we can do their work for them can't we Sol88?
There are 4 observed main-belt comets with a minimum eccentricity of 0.1644 (133P/Elst-Pizarro). So the EC minimim must be this (or lower!).
Real universe: There are at least 173,583 asteroids (rocky bodies) that have an orbit with an eccentricity above a minimum value that are not comets. This includes asteroids that have been observed for decades.
Why EC comets are not asteriods
EC universe: Only give qualitative predictions.
Sol88 posted a list of EC "predictions" for Tempel 1 and Deep Impact. The closes it gets to an actual quantitative predictions is "The most obvious would be a flash (lightning-like discharge) shortly before impact." (emphasis added).
What actually happened was a flash on or after impact followed by a bigger one from deeper in the nucleus.
Real universe: Scientific theories model the data mathematically and produce both qualitative and quantitative predictions.
Someone could start with the papers of Whipple
EC universe: Turn yourself into a crackpot idea by not publishing papers in peer reviewed journals.
Real universe: Take the risk being wrong and become part of the scientific process by publishing papers in peer reviewed journals, e.g. Fred L. Whipple.
EC universe: Ignore the physical evidence such as the measured density of comets.
Real universe: Use the physical evidence such as the measured density of comets to construct theories.
EC universe: Comets are rocks.
Real universe:
- Comets have meaured densities that are much less than that of rocks (asteroids).
- Comets may not have the composition of asteriods
- Deep Impact confirmed that comet nuclei are made of dust and ice not rock. There were a couple of surprises in that the dust was talcum powder rather than sand and the amount of ice was smaller than expected.
"Analysis of data from the Swift X-ray telescope showed that the comet continued outgassing from the impact for 13 days, with a peak five days after impact. A total of 5 million kilograms (11 million pounds) of water[35] and between 10 and 25 million kilograms (22 and 55 million pounds) of dust were lost from the impact."WP
Real universe:
Start with Tim Thompson's posts about this
- Electric Comets I
- Electric Comets II: References
- Electric Comets III: No EU X-rays (actually no EU X-ray bursts).
(Sol88: I may be wrong - if so please provide the citations to these marvelous events.)
However this assertion has the fatal flaw of EC predictions - no mathematics or numbers.
But we can do their work for them can't we Sol88?
There are 4 observed main-belt comets with a minimum eccentricity of 0.1644 (133P/Elst-Pizarro). So the EC minimim must be this (or lower!).
Real universe: There are at least 173,583 asteroids (rocky bodies) that have an orbit with an eccentricity above a minimum value that are not comets. This includes asteroids that have been observed for decades.
EC universe: Only give qualitative predictions.
Sol88 posted a list of EC "predictions" for Tempel 1 and Deep Impact. The closes it gets to an actual quantitative predictions is "The most obvious would be a flash (lightning-like discharge) shortly before impact." (emphasis added).
What actually happened was a flash on or after impact followed by a bigger one from deeper in the nucleus.
Real universe: Scientific theories model the data mathematically and produce both qualitative and quantitative predictions.
Someone could start with the papers of Whipple
- Whipple, Fred L. (1950). "A Comet Model. I. The acceleration of Comet Encke". Astrophys. J. 111: 375–394. doi:10.1086/145272. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/ApJ../0111//0000375.000.html.
- Whipple, Fred L. (1951). "A Comet Model. II. Physical Relations for Comets and Meteors". Astrophys. J. 113: 464. doi:10.1086/145416. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/ApJ../0113//0000464.000.html.
- Whipple, Fred L. (1955). "A Comet Model. III. The Zodiacal Light". Astrophys. J. 121: 750. doi:10.1086/146040. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/ApJ../0121//0000750.000.html.
EC universe: Turn yourself into a crackpot idea by not publishing papers in peer reviewed journals.
Real universe: Take the risk being wrong and become part of the scientific process by publishing papers in peer reviewed journals, e.g. Fred L. Whipple.


!
(scuse the pun 