Expert: James Gort - 3/3/2007

Question


Hi professor Gort

Recently you considered a question i had (http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/earth-flares.htm).

However, i still have another one.........

In 1054 it's believed that a supernova was recorded by Chinese astronomers.
This "guest star," as the Chinese called it, was so bright that people saw it in the sky during the day for almost a month. The star remained visible in the evening sky for more than a year. In two separate accounts, Chinese astronomers described the star as having pointed rays in all four directions and a reddish-white color.


Below is a "ball of light" report.


LAMPETER LIGHTS RETURN
Those mysterious lights made a surprise reappearance in the town of Lampeter, Dryfed, Wales on Wednesday, March 27, 1996. The weather was cloudy with no wind. The lights performed their weird sky show once again, between 10 p.m. and midnight, about 45 degrees above the western horizon. As with the earlier light show, the Lampeter lights appeared to "burst," showing four bright and distinct spikes.


The phenomena has reports which include beams, rays or spikes. These events may well date back to include the vision of Constantine in 312 A.D to more modern times like the report below.

Number Date Time 70-10. 20 Sep 1830 EDT.
City/Town State Location  Beverly Mass. Country Golf course.
Type Shape Effect  IVA Oval. None.
(Number of Witnesses) Description  (4) A bright red-orange ball with the apparent size of the full moon descended slowly behind trees near a golf course. It appeared to have spikes or rays sticking out at all angles which also glowed a red-orange color.


I've looked for examples where nature produces beams, spikes or rays that stop in mid air like these reports and i have not been able to find anything except for broken field lines on the sun and relativistic jets.

My question is.

I can't see any difference between a broken field line around a sun spot and a relativistic jet like the Vela Pulsar has. They appear to be the same thing but only different in scale....?  

Answer
Hi David,

You are correct - particles accelerated along field lines near a sunspot is essentially the same type of physical phenomenon as relativistic jets - they are both comprised of charged particles being accelerated in a magnetic field, although the relativistic jets are in a much stronger field and so the particles attain much higher velocities.

But I don't think this is the same thing as the spikes you mention people seeing around supernovae or around balls of light.  The eye could never make out jets from a supernova - it would appear as just a very bright object.  But imperfections in the eye could (and usually does!) cause bright objects - such as street lights and certainly supernovae - to appear they have beams or spikes.  I'm certain about the supernovae, but a little less certain about the "ball of light" phenomenon.  In the latter case, it's possible (although I think unlikely) that the plasma magnetic field could actually expel beams of charged particles, which would then radiate energy in the form of light.  If photographs were taken of such objects, that could settle the question.
 

Prof. James Gort