Anchovyforestbane Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 You may or may not have heard about the "Wall of Fire" discovered by V2. The basics are, interstellar winds disrupted by the heliosphere form a thick blanket of plasma between us and the Oort cloud. Here's a short summary, with some additional sources listed therein: https://futurism.com/the-byte/solar-system-blanketed-giant-wall-fire/ Here's something to ponder regarding this subject. How is it that comets from the Oort cloud remain frozen after having passed through this barrier and into the heliosphere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janus Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 While this "Wall of Fire: has a high temp, you have to understand the difference between temperature and heat content. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles. Heat content is the total of the KE of the particles in a given volume. Thus a volume that contains a lot of low temp particles can have a larger heat content than an equal volume with higher temp, but fewer particles. Now while articles have described this wall as being of a "high density", this is meant relative to the normal solar wind density of a few particles per cubic centimeter. This a much better vacuum that can be achieved by man on Earth by several magnitudes. This "thick wall" off plasma is a not that much less of a vacuum. To melt a comet you need to add a fair amount of heat energy to it, and even at such a high temperature, this plasma has nowhere near the total heat content per cubic meter to do this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchovyforestbane Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, Janus said: While this "Wall of Fire: has a high temp, you have to understand the difference between temperature and heat content. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles. Heat content is the total of the KE of the particles in a given volume. Thus a volume that contains a lot of low temp particles can have a larger heat content than an equal volume with higher temp, but fewer particles. Now while articles have described this wall as being of a "high density", this is meant relative to the normal solar wind density of a few particles per cubic centimeter. This a much better vacuum that can be achieved by man on Earth by several magnitudes. This "thick wall" off plasma is a not that much less of a vacuum. To melt a comet you need to add a fair amount of heat energy to it, and even at such a high temperature, this plasma has nowhere near the total heat content per cubic meter to do this. Very good, very good; as you seem to be classified as an expert, I have a question (an actual question this time, rather than a quiz). What is known of the composition of the interstellar winds generating the Wall, and does it experience any magnetochemistry or photochemistry within its interaction with the heliosphere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Not an 'expert' but I'll give it a shot. Any kind f Chemistry ( other than mis-named Nuclear Chemistry ) involves atomic captive electrons. Plasma is, by definition, ionized, or stripped ( of its ) electrons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 The plasma is likely protons and electrons (i.e. recombination would give you hydrogen). There's no chemistry going on, per se, in that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchovyforestbane Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 10 hours ago, MigL said: Not an 'expert' but I'll give it a shot. Any kind f Chemistry ( other than mis-named Nuclear Chemistry ) involves atomic captive electrons. Plasma is, by definition, ionized, or stripped ( of its ) electrons. 1 hour ago, swansont said: The plasma is likely protons and electrons (i.e. recombination would give you hydrogen). There's no chemistry going on, per se, in that situation. My bad, I concede that I use the term "chemistry" a bit too broadly. I'll rephrase: What is known of the composition of the interstellar winds generating the Wall, and how might it be interacting on a subatomic level with the heliosphere and/or the forces therein? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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