The Birkeland Solar Model: Plasmas Layers Of The Electrically Active Sun

This is an informal manuscript of the solid surface model of the sun that is based on electric universe theory and has been offered for general web peer review. It includes a more formal presentation of this solar model material. A larger file in Microsoft Word is also available to describe this solar model. The electrical aspects of this model of the sun have also been presented in the Journal Of Fusion Energy in a more formal and published presentation.

My Deep Gratitude To Everyone Involved In The HUBBLE, Yohkoh, Hinode, SOHO, Trace, STEREO, RHESSI, Geos, Chandra And Spitzer, and other satellite Programs. I have more recently added content from the Hinode and Stereo satellite programs which tend to fully support the data from previous satellite missions.

The sun is the "Rosetta Stone" of astronomy. Observing, understanding and explaining the inner workings of our own sun is the key to unraveling the mysteries of the physical and quantum universe that surrounds us. The only way to know if we have properly deciphered the stone and to confirm that we have discovered the correct model is to use this model to explain the observed behaviors of the sun, and where possible to "simulate" these properties here on earth.

For four centuries Galileo's gas model of the sun has consistently failed to explain or simulate many of the key observational pieces of evidence from our own sun. For instance, it has failed to explain the million degree heat source of the solar corona, the outer most layer of the sun. I has failed to explain the cause of coronal mass ejections, solar flares and many other observed and well documented solar phenomenon. Even the idea of sustained fusion has eluded us here on earth in the lab.

On the other hand, the solar model that Dr. Kristian Birkeland experimented with in his lab in the early 1900's can easily explain these key observations. Birkeland himself even personally simulated most of the key observation in a lab over 100 years ago. His experiments in electric universe theory can reveal the keys to unraveling the many mysteries of the sun.

The reason for the current confusion in gas model circles is simple. The STEREO, SOHO, TRACE and YOHKOH satellites have all demonstrated that the sun is not simply a giant ball of gas as Galileo first believed based on his limited observations through a primitive telescope. Just as Dr. Birkeland predicted, the sun has a solid, electrically conductive surface that is composed of iron ferrites and Nickel composites, and sits beneath the liquid-like plasma layer of the photosphere which can be observed in solar satellite images from many satellite programs. The sun has a solid and electrically conductive crust that is covered by a series of mass separated plasma layers, starting with calcium, silicon, neon, helium and finally a layer of hydrogen that ultimately ignites in the corona. This solid surface model of the sun that Dr. Birkeland experimented with in his lab, can and does explain many of the observed behaviors of our own sun quite elegantly and Birkeland's solar model offers us the best hope of deciphering the stone (in this case iron ferrite) tablet that will help us unlock the mysteries of our universe.

The following theories are based on concepts that came from downloading, observing and analyzing gigabytes worth of "raw EIT" and other types of SOHO and TRACE videos over many months, and actively viewing TRACE SOHO, and YOHKOH satellite images and other videos and photos of the sun over many years. It is also based in large part on the work of Dr. Kristian Birkeland, Dr. Charles Bruce, and Dr. Oliver Manuel. These scientists have compelling new evidence to support their case in the form of satellite observation. Please keep in mind that I am not affiliated with the SOHO, Trace, Yohkoh, Rhessi, or Geos programs in any way but I am most grateful for the research they have provided to the general public and to amateur astronomers like me.

I have provided quite a bit of video and JPG files on this website from many satellite images to fully support the ideas I am presenting, but by no means have I provided all the video that is available through the Rhessi, Geos, YOHKOH, SOHO's or TRACE websites. These kinds of groundbreaking technologies set the stage for significant scientific breakthroughs. This is the kind of cutting edge scientific research that makes new ideas possible in my opinion. My heartfelt thanks to all the hard work and dedication on the part of the Geos, Rhessi, Yohkoh, SOHO and Trace teams. Most especially, my heartfelt thanks to my good friend, Dr. Oliver Manuel for all his hard work and support.

To fully experience this website, you'll need a high speed internet connection, Windows Media Player and the Apple Quicktime player. This website is optimized for a display resolution of 1024x768 pixels or better. If you click on the colored (underlined) links, they will open up videos or animations related to the idea being discussed. Some links can be up to 20 megabytes in size.

Why do we need a new model of the sun? To appreciate what's wrong with the current gas model of the sun, we need to look back at history, and see how the old (gas) model of the sun came to exist, and how these early ideas influenced later research. We also need to take a fresh look at some of the ideas that Dr. Kristian Birkeland discovered at the turn of the 20th century especially now that his theories have been verified by satellite observations and are corroborated by enormous amounts of satellite imagery.

What Galileo OBSERVED with his eyes was not the surface of the sun at all, but only the surface of a dense plasma layer called the photosphere that covers the surface of the sun (2nd image on the right). What Galileo could NOT see with his eyes are sophisticated running difference and Doppler images of the sun from the SOHO satellite such as the 3rd grey image you see on the right, or these running difference images of the solar surface observed by the TRACE satellite at 171 angstroms.

Galileo observed that sunspots in the photosphere changed over time, and the rotation speed of the photosphere at the equator was different than the rotation speed at the poles. From this behavior he surmised that he must be looking at a gas-like substance. He was right about that part although we know today that the photosphere is composed of dense plasma.

Unfortunately Galileo also simply ASSUMED that nothing solid existed or could exist beneath this layer of the photosphere. That assumption was a critical mistake. That's a bit like looking at a world covered by water and not having the ability to look beneath the surface of the water and simply assuming that the whole planet must be made of water, with more "densely packed water" at the core. In order to VERIFY what Galileo simply ASSUMED, we must TEST his theory and look for ways to look beneath the layer of the photosphere. Galileo never had such an ability during his lifetime. Thanks to very sophisticated imaging techniques equipment on board the Yohkoh, SOHO and TRACE satellites, that is no longer the case.

In short, Galileo was limited to what his eyes could observe, whereas today we have the ability to peer beneath the layer that Galileo saw with his eyes, and observe the solid SURFACE of the sun that lies beneath the photosphere. Today we can look at the sun across a large spectrum of various wavelengths that no human eyes could ever hope to see. If you notice from these running difference images from SOHO using a 195 angstrom filter, the actual surface of the sun does not rotate at different speeds near the equator than it does at the poles like the photosphere. It acts FAR more like a solid, than a gas. If Galileo had access to these kinds of satellite images and videos, he probably would have come up with quite a different concept about makeup of the sun, probably one much like Dr. Birkeland presented several hundred years later. The critical thing to notice here between these different videos is that Galileo's entire perspective was limited by what he could could OBSERVE with very limited technology in a very narrow wavelength range. The running difference images from SOHO show a UNIFORMLY rotating and SOLID surface, whereas the images of the photosphere show that the photosphere is moving plasma, and behaves very differently from the surface of the sun itself.

For the next 400 years, gas model theorists have tried to understand the sun and create models of the sun that were based on Galileo's early assumptions and early framework. They diligently measured the plasma layer of the photosphere in a variety of ways and have in fact verified Galileo's prediction about the moving nature of the gas/plasma photosphere. It's a gooey plasma layer to be sure. Gas model theorists have built very sophisticated models based on shear forces caused by the uneven movement of the photosphere. These things have in fact been verified.

There is a problem however with gas model theory, and it begins at .995R, or just under the visible photosphere. At this depth, contemporary gas model theory runs headlong into a stratification layer, a layer of solid material where sound waves begin to travel faster than they travel through plasma. This is a layer that holds the three dimensional shapes like we see in the gold image on the right. These structures are visible over timeframes of many hours. Only through surface erosion do these structures ultimately begin to change. The change recorded in this stratification layer is very unlike the changes seen at the surface of the photosphere where granules are created and destroyed every eight minutes.

Gas model theorists have tried unsuccessfully to understand solar events based on a basic ASSUMPTION that had never been tested and was critically flawed.

In the mean time however newer ideas and newer models have emerged, most importantly the solid surface model of the sun first proposed by Dr. Kristian Birkeland at the beginning of the 20th century.

Only in the last 10 years (a virtual blink of an eye in scientific terms) have we had access to information and technology that could verify or refute various models of the sun. The information that Rhessi, SOHO and Trace and Yohkoh offer us today however sticks out like a gigantic sore thumb in the gas model theory, and provides very compelling evidence to suggest that Galileo was quite wrong in his assumption that no solids existed under the photosphere. Modern satellite images lend strong support to Dr. Birkeland's electrically conductive, solid surface model of the sun. In fact, many of the image that Birkeland produced in his lab in the 20th century have 21st century satellite image counterparts.

The uniform movement of this iron layer of the sun suggests that we must boldly rethink our views about the sun, and the universe we live in and come up with new models that explain the observations that new technology from the SOHO, Rhessi, Geos, Yohkoh and TRACE satellites lay before us.

The erosion caused by this constant electrical arcing between points along the surface is at least one of the catalysts for the sun's ever changing sunspots. The electrical discharge process also releases massive amounts of heat into the liquid-like plasma of the photosphere that covers the surface, creating the granular patterns that we see on the surface of the photosphere. Other plasmas builds up over time in the "taffy-like atmosphere" of the photosphere and collects near the sun's surface, much like a heavier liquid sits at the bottom of a lava lamp until heated. Eventually it collects together and is ejected in a surface eruption toward the edge of the sun's liquid-like chromosphere where it ultimately explodes in massive coronal ejections.

One of the most basic processes of the sun is the electrical arc. The sun's inner fission reactions act as a battery, releasing free protons and electrons, while the surface acts as a giant conductor. As these streams of electrons reach the surface, they ionize ferrite at the surface, pushing it into the silicon layer of the photosphere, which in turn insulates the electrical flow to create giant electrical arcs between surface features. The neon layer acts as a giant discharge lamp, emitting and adsorbing electrons. As the flow of energy (-) from the outside space passes through the atmosphere of the sun, it also seeks orientation along LOCAL magnetic alignments that run through the surface crust. The LOCAL magnetic orientation at the very top of the surface crust is based upon the electrical flow, and magnetic orientation of the energy flow that occurred as that part of the sun's surface cooled. As upper surface crust is eroded, lower areas of the crust are revealed and exposed to the surface. If enough arcing occurs in one area, cracks can form at the surface, with resulting solar quakes and/or solar flares. The surface "crust" is aligned and oriented along the electrical flow lines and take on a magnetic orientation and a set of alignment properties that existed as that part of the crust cooled. That specific surface orientation, and the magnetic orientation of the suns core causes electrons to flow through surface structures. The actual surface and deeper crust alignments will determine the flow of electrons passing through it, and/or the potential for electrons to pass through it. When the magnetic poles of the core point toward the equator, these are times of intense magnetic storms and massive sunspot activity. As the magnetic alignment of the core aligns with the spin axis of the sun, we get "quiet" periods, where sunspot activity decreases. The sun takes 22 years to complete one turn in it's magnetic rotation, resulting in increased sunspot activity every eleven years.

This constant arcing and constantly changing magnetic orientation of the core creates a very dynamic erosion process, and creates very uneven surfaces over time. These uneven surface structures lead to an uneven distribution of energy at various surface points. The sun's inner fission reactions act as a huge, seemingly infinite, fission battery while the surface acts as a giant discharge lamp, with the core constantly releasing protons and protons and the surface is constantly emitting and adsorbing electrons. The surface points become positively and negatively charged based on the flow of these free protons and electrons and the magnetic alignment of the core and the magnetic alignment and structure of the crust. As free flowing electrons pass through the photosphere from various surface points and also from space itself, they are attracted to, and "arc" toward, any surface structure that is positively charged. These energy flows create the spectacular electrical arcs through the photosphere right up through the chromosphere and well into the corona such as we see in the images to the right.

An electrical arc forms between two oppositely aligned (charged) magnetic surface points. The intensity of the arc will depend upon the quantity of energy flowing through them at the time. Electrons and protons are constantly being released by sun's inner fission reactions. These free flowing particles are attracted to magnetically aligned "highways" that run through the surface of the sun from the ever rotating magnetic core. Electrons from space, and from the surface of the sun itself, are immediately attracted toward oppositely aligned (positively charged) structures on the surface and an electrical "arc" is formed.

The photosphere is certainly one of it's most enigmatic and misunderstood layers of the sun. It is commonly, and quite mistakenly, referred to as the "surface" of the sun. It is not the surface of the sun at all. It is a liquid-like neon plasma layer more commonly referred to as penumbral filaments. This neon filament layer conducts heat to the surface. Neon not only produces the light we see, it also is used as a cryogenic refrigerant which is the primary reason a solid surface can form beneath it. Underneath this neon layer is a gooey layer of silicon which insulates the arcs, and crusty plasma layer of calcium underneath, right along the ferrite surface. The silicon layer in the photograph on the right does not shine like the neon, but the neon layer above them does shine, producing the light we see. Far below both the neon plasma and the silicon plasma sits the dark black calcium ferrite layer of the sun, with a visible crack in the surface. The heat from that surface crack pushed the silicon layer up through the neon layer till it hits the helium layer of the chromosphere and gravity takes over and pulls the silicon layer back down. Once the surface cools off, the silicon in that area will stop rising and the neon layer will rush in to cover up the hole

The penumbral filaments are responsible for the granular convection patterns of the photosphere and produce the light we see with our eyes. That is because this layer is composed of neon, like the neon in an office light bulb, and the neon used in cryogenic refrigeration. The liquid-like silicon plasma OCEAN of the lower photosphere covers the entire ferrite surface of the sun much like the earth's oceans cover most of the earth. The energy released in the ever present electrical arcs passing through the insulating layer of the photosphere (often through the chromosphere as well), heat up the the dense plasmas of the photosphere and the lighter helium plasma layer of the chromosphere above it. In the presence of large electromagnetic flows and large amounts of heat, or eruptions from the surface, the clear silicon plasma in the lower regions of the photosphere rise to the surface and push through the neon layer of penumbral filaments, forming visible "holes" or sunspots in the photosphere. Once the surface crust of the sun "cools off", the hot silicon plasma below the neon layer stops rising as fast, the gooey neon layer of the photosphere reforms and closes back up, and the sunspot disappears.

The electrical discharge of the sun may be responsible for at least some if not all of the sun's overall electrical output. Without a doubt, this electrical arcing releases huge amounts of energy. The starting and ending points of the arc are not random in any way, but are directly related to the magnetic orientation of the surface points themselves and therefore the electrical charge and the electrical flow of energy from the core itself.

As these arcs heat up the liquid-like silicon plasma of the photosphere, that heat is "boiled" to the surface of the photosphere, the neon plasma layer. Normally this neon plasma layer simply cools the silicon layer through penumbral filaments in the familiar granular patterns we see. When the silicon layer gets very hot, it pushes through this layer and into the helium layer, where gravity quickly takes over. The surface below is cooled by the cooler surrounding silicon plasmas that rushes into the rising plasma column.

Another kind of plasma (perhaps extra calcium or nickel) eventually builds up and collects along the surface of the sun. It collects between the surface and the silicon layer of the photosphere. It can sometimes rise up through the photosphere when heated much like a heavier liquid in a lava lamp rises when it's heated. It seems to collect more often near the poles than the equator. Often this plasma is "pushed" by a surface eruption of some kind. This build up of mystery plasma is eventually ejected into space, often triggered by a surface fracture (notice the top right hand corner of the video). When this liquid-like "blob" reaches the boundary of the chromosphere and the corona it picks up huge amounts of heat and causing quite spectacular coronal discharges. Nickel and sulfur are typically found in the sun's output during quiet phases, so perhaps this mystery layer is nickel since it appears to come from beneath the silicon layer, suggesting it's heavier than silicon, and heavy enough to "pool" on the surface.

The sun's magnetic poles rotate one full cycle over a 22 year time frame. It's possible that the sun itself simply rotates around a fixed universal magnetic field every 22 years, or is influenced by an external electromagnetic field that rotates every 22 years. Such a universal magnetic field may be responsible for the acceleration of the universe itself and perhaps even "gravity" as we understand it.

Every 11 years, the magnetic poles of the sun point toward the equator. When this happens, the electromagnetic flow at the equator becomes much stronger, more violent, and more energetic patterns emerge as the surface and heat up the silicon which rises in a column. This rising silicon leaves gaping holes in the neon layer of the photosphere. This increased electrical activity is particularly strong when the magnetic poles points SLIGHTLY north and south of the equator. This creates highly polarized, oppositely charged surface structures just north and south of the equator. From these magnetically polarized surfaces pour HUGE rivers of energy flows which jump from one range of surfaces on one side of the equator, toward an oppositely aligned structure on the other side of the equator. When the magnetic poles are more or less parallel to the equator many more sunspots appear in the photosphere and a greater number of corresponding sunspots appear in the photosphere as the liquid like silicon plasma of the photosphere rises quickly to the surface of the neon layer, where the photosphere meets the hydrogen chromosphere. The rising silicon in the photosphere pushes through the neon penumbral filament layer at the top of the photosphere, opening up gaping holes in the penumbral filament layer. The neon layer of the part o the sun that actually "shines" in visible wavelengths and cools the surface below.

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The Birkeland Solar Model: EU Theory And The Plasma Layers Of The Sun