explaining top 10 mysteries of the universe

[pantheory]

Here's another group of 8 questions thought to be presently unanswered in astronomy and cosmology. Here's my answers.

 

1) What is dark energy?

In the 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is not static, but rather is expanding. In 1998, the Hubble Space Telescope, named for the astronomer, studied distant supernovas and found that the universe was expanding more slowly a long time ago compared with the pace of its expansion today. This groundbreaking discovery puzzled scientists, who long thought that the gravity of matter would gradually slow the universe's expansion, or even cause it to contract. Explanations of the universe's accelerated expansion led to the bizarre and hotly debated concept of dark energy, which is thought to be the enigmatic force that is pulling the cosmos apart at ever-increasing speeds.

 

While dark energy is thought to make up approximately 73 percent of the universe, the force remains elusive and has yet to be directly detected.

 

Answer: dark energy does not exist. Instead the idea is based upon miscalculations of distances to galaxies/ supernova which could be corrected by modifications of the Hubble formula.

 

2) How hot is dark matter?

In the 1960s and 1970s, astronomers hypothesized that there might be more mass in the universe than what is visible. Vera Rubin, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, studied the speeds of stars at various locations in galaxies.

 

Rubin, a now famous astronomer, observed that there was virtually no difference in the velocities of stars at the center of a galaxy compared to those farther out which contradicted present models of gravity and resulted in the dark matter hypothesis. There is a present debate as to the possible temperature of dark matter.

 

Answer: dark matter does not exist whether hot or cold.

 

The problem instead is our model of gravity. Upon changing both the formulation of gravity and explanations of its mechanics, then gravity could be correctly understood -- no pulling force and no warping of space.

 

3) Where are the missing baryons?

If dark energy and dark matter combine to make up roughly 95 percent of the universe, regular matter makes up about 5 percent of the cosmos. Yet, more than half of this regular matter is missing.

 

Answer: Since both dark matter and dark energy do not exist, there is no missing matter/ baryons.

 

4) How do stars explode?

When a massive star runs out of fuel and dies, it triggers a spectacular explosion called a supernova that can briefly shine more brightly than an entire galaxy.

 

Over the years, scientists have studied supernovas and re-created them using sophisticated computer models, but how these gigantic explosions occur is an enduring astronomical puzzle.

Answer: The missing peace of the puzzle is that substantial heat is created by the compression of stars so that only about 1/3 the nuclear fusion is required. Adding this additional heat into the equations points toward a chain reaction explosion once critical temperatures and pressures are reached.

 

5) What re-ionized the universe?

The broadly accepted theory for the origin and evolution of the universe is the Big Bang model, which states that the cosmos began as an incredibly hot, dense point roughly 13.7 billion years ago. A dynamic phase in the history of the early universe, about 13 billion years ago, is known as the age of re-ionization. During this period, the fog of hydrogen gas in the early universe was clearing and becoming transparent to ultraviolet light for the first time.

 

Answer: The Big Bang model is the wrong model of the universe so there was no re-ionization process or era to explain since the universe is far older than what the BB model proposes.

 

6) What's the source of the most energetic cosmic rays?

 

The source of cosmic rays has long perplexed astronomers, who have spent a century investigating the origins of these energetic particles. Cosmic rays are charged subatomic particles — predominantly protons, electrons and charged nuclei of basic elements — that flow into our solar system from deep in outer space. As cosmic rays flow into the solar system from elsewhere in the galaxy, their paths are bent by the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth

 

Answer: Although type II supernova are not the cause of cosmic rays, the accelerations of galactic black holes are, which is a type of cyclotron radiation. This is also the second choice of the mainstream model.

 

7) Why is the solar system so bizarre?

As astronomers and space observatories discover alien planets around other stars, researchers have been keen to understand the unique characteristics of our solar system. For instance, while extremely varied, the four innermost planets have rocky outer shells and metallic cores. The four outermost planets are vastly different and each possess their own identifiable features. Scientists have studied the process of planetary formation in hopes of grasping how our solar system came to be, but the answers have not been simple.

 

Answer: Since we cannot know what the insides of all the planets are comprised of, I expect the larger planets also have a large rocky and metallic interior but atmospheres of hydrogen and helium readily are blown off the inner planets, or never condensed in the first place because of higher temperatures and a stronger solar wind. The numbers, positions and sizes of the resulting planets is simply the result of random encounters in the proto-stellar system.

 

8) Why is the sun's corona so hot?

The sun's ultrahot outer atmosphere is called the corona, and it is typically heated to temperatures ranging from 900,000 degrees Fahrenheit (500,000 degrees Celsius) to 10.8 million degrees F (6 million degrees C). For the better part of a century, solar physicists have been mystified by the sun's ability to reheat its corona,

Answer: Very large magnetically induces plasma currents are driven in flares at the sun's surface. The great speeds and energy of this magnetically induced plasma acceleration produces great energy in the form of heat and light. Such subsurface currents are limited to the resistance of motions within the stellar plasma, but can blow free at the sun's surface. These magnetically induced flairs cannot conduct back to the star since they are insulated by space so the corona becomes progressively hotter when moving away from the sun's surface.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn...e/#.T8fflVIpOnA

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Edited June 2, 2012 by pantheory