Found this site, thanks to the Google ads that pop up regularly:

http://www.thesurfaceofthesun.com

It claims that SOHO has found that the Sun's surface is solid and conducts electricity.

Now my Skepty-senses are tingling, and they're telling me this is a load of hooey. Is my intuition right?

- Maha "sun spotted" Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

The Sun´s mean density is roughly 1.5 times that of the water. So you should expect the outer layers to display the density of a gas.

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"Shut up and calculate" R. Feynman

ooookay.....

given the suns temperatures I'm pretty certain there is absolutely zero way that anything could remain solid. Remember we are talking fusion temperatures here, the whole problem with fusion as an energy source is that you can't use a "solid" container because there isn't anything that stays solid at those temperatures, so you need a magnetic bottle, which a) leaks and b) requires more energy put in than you actually get out of the reaction.

So no I don't reckon that's possible.

Of couse the surface of the Sun is solid!

Didn't you learn in school that the Sun is actually a giant ball of flaming dung being rolled across the crystaline spheres by a scarab beetle?

Geez. Some people.

And just think, if the surface of the Sun is solid, we could land a space probe there. To be on the safe side, we'll land there at night!

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

The photosphere does appear somewhat solid, when viewed through a white light solar filter (in order to see sunspots).

Of course in other wavelengths (HA filter) you can see varying elevations of the atmosphere and the sun is revealed to be a very complex and beautiful to look at object.

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest.html

"The Government put a chip in my brain."
"The President can hear my thoughts!"
"We never landed on the sun!"
"They put flouride in the drinking water!"
"Actually, that one's true."
"No wonder I've been listening to so much pop music."

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"The plan does not involve mayonaise."
"... I knew there was a catch."

You can't take the sky from me.

Sounds like these folks might be working with the guy I met some years ago on the light rail train ... he was explaining to everyone who would listen (meaning everyone near enough that they had to endure it) that the Sun was hollow, mechanized and there were people inside that kept it running. He went into some detail about solar operations. He also explained these were the same guys who fired the nuclear missile at Tunguska . . .

Lucky for me, I reached my stop before he had gone into much detail about Tunguska.

Short answer: Yes, it is nonsense at about the level of Geocentrism. There is just too much evidence about the structure and physics of the sun that says otherwise.

His images and links are cool.

I beleive that summarizes the website.

He offers no explanation, however, for all those millions of rocks or planets that his video images show the Sun rotating upon.

Odd that no one at SOHO knows much of what they are seeing. #-o

I wonder if he emailed them? [At least I did regarding the Suns color. ]

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do..." Author: Galileo supposedly.

Don't you get it? This is the proof of Intelligent Design that folks have been looking for! The sun is nothing more than a giant cannon ball, fired from some divine weapon as part of a salvo in a cosmic war against the powers of darkness! How can you not realize that now?







(Just kidding here, folks, don't get your undies in a bunch.)

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04
Tuckers! Science! Automotive Oddities! Boycott Trek XI! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs

Wouldn't it be possible that an incredibly dense amount of matter could clump up and form a solid? Maybe under extreme pressures or/and high temperatures which I presume the sun yields. It probably wouldn't have the same composition as an actual solid though, but it would form be a solid object.

This is just an idea though, don't take my word for it :wink:

Extreme pressures help with the formation of solids. High temperatures don't.


[edit/word]

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You can actually do the exercise yourself of measuring the differential rotation of the sun. The equator rotates faster than higher latitudes.

Tough to do if the sun is a solid....

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"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams

But weren't they saying (or at least implying) that the Sun's atmosphere was capable of rotating in a differential manner, and that the atmosphere hides the view of the surface? Or did I miss something?

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"I am Meteora, supreme goddess of weather" - Meteora, in The Unchained Goddess

One nice thing about being a meteorologist who also likes astronomy is that the sky is always interesting!

If the atmosphere hides the view of the surface, how can they claim SOHO images as supporting evidence?

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"The plan does not involve mayonaise."
"... I knew there was a catch."

You can't take the sky from me.

I've got it! The Sun is made of Silly Putty.

And one of these days it'll stretch too much, and... SNAP!

:P :wink:

I don't know. Actually, I'm not that familiar with what it is that SOHO images show (and what the article was trying to say wasn't all that clear, either). I was just trying to make sure we hadn't overlooked anything.

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"I am Meteora, supreme goddess of weather" - Meteora, in The Unchained Goddess

One nice thing about being a meteorologist who also likes astronomy is that the sky is always interesting!

Not sure what the last two photos are supposed to represent nor why they would lead him to believe the surface of the sun is solid. The first appears to be sunspot (I would guess), and does to have a crater appearance similar to other solid objects (as the moon) that might mislead him.

I’m sure the crater appearance come more from the photo being looked at in black and white combined temperature gradients causing upheavals and isolated hot and cold spots within the sun spot.

Does anyone know what SOHO uses for imagery - infrared, visible or other?

**Edited to add quote and comment.

Of course they add the computer enhancements to help them interpret what we see, else you could make the same mistake this guy seems to have made.

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Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.

You are right - my apologies. I read the article late last night and missed that at first glance. #-o

(It's still nuts though...helioseismology has provided a pretty good model of the solar interior. I imagine there would be serious issues with heat transfer, magnetic field generation & spectral analysis with this hypothesis.)

Edited to note: One would have to be concerned that such a radical shift in our understanding based on analysis of 14 Gigabytes of data is presented to the public via a website rather than as what would surely become a seminal paper in a peer reviewed journal...

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"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams

Phil Hendries did a good Dames rip off as the voice of "General John Jameson" in his "Manned mission to the sun" skit. I heard him call Hoagland during his birthday appearance on Coast. Hendrie was doing Cronkites voice and told Dick Hoagland to get some help.

What was that short story where people had the ability of instant transmission and could go anywhere--but it was all they could do to keep from thinking the word "Sun.?"