Moon Craters

[electric-sun]

This weeks Straight Dope article would be a great description of how moon craters were formed, if the field of plasma physics had never been discovered. Unfortunately for gravity astronomers, plasma physics offers a much more compelling explanation for some of the anomalies associated with moon craters, including the flat bottom of the Tycho crater and the offset rays of "ejecta" that do not emanate from a central focal point. Here are a couple of articles, for plasma astronomy newbies:

Lunar Craters - A Failed Theory

Lunar Craters - A Failed Theory 2

[Gfactor]

Obligatory link to the staff report: Why are craters always round?

[Chronos]

People getting struck by lightning multiple times is an explanation for lunar craters?

[Exapno Mapcase]

From Wiki:

Ralph E. Juergens (6 May 1924 - 2 November 1979)[1] was trained as an engineer and resided in Arizona. He retired in 1960 to pursue the work of Immanuel Velikovsky. He also worked as an editor in the publications division of McGraw-Hill, inc.[2], and later developed a hypothesis in which the Sun (and stars) are electrically powered; it has received unfavourable review.[3]

Didn't we have a visitor who argued the electric sun hypothesis in the past? It ended in tears, IIRC.

[Chronos]

I might also note, incidentally, that the OP's site rejects the notion that the flat floor of Tycho could be due to melted rock, since "not even a nuclear explosion" can do that. I find it incredibly amusing that the OP thinks that a nuclear explosion even remotely compares to a large meteor.

I also note that the OP's username is a reference to one of the more common crackpot ideas, namely the idea that electricity is magic and it's this magic that powers the Sun, rather than a proces consistent with the laws of physics, such as hydrogen fusion.

[Q.E.D.]

This electric discharge theory is complete garbage. Those dendritic patterns which the articles claim exist around large rayed craters simply aren't there--they are an artifact created by the overlaying of impact-produced rays upon extant cratering or other geological features. the Moon's atmosphere, such as it is, is far too tenuous to support any sort of large-scale arcing even at extremely high voltages.

[electric-sun]

That's excellent, Chronos. I hadn't even considered the fortuity of the two articles appearing in the same Straight Dope email. Love it.

[SiXSwordS]

Originally Posted by Chronos

People getting struck by lightning multiple times is an explanation for lunar craters?

...from Link in the OP

[T]hese features display the unique attributes of cosmic thunderbolts.

Apparently.

[Stranger On A Train]

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

Didn't we have a visitor who argued the electric sun hypothesis in the past? It ended in tears, IIRC.

Electric Sun.

As others have already noted, there's no medium for long distance electric arcing to occur, and that a topic as lacking in broad controversy as the formation of craters from meteorite impact would be free from crackpotism, but I guess there's one in every crowd.

Stranger

[GusNSpot]

Well, I think " -38.8 Man " answered the question in the staff report quite well. Heck, I even understood what he said. Great links and easy to read. I like those kinds.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Congrats, Hydrargyrum, on your first Staff Report!... and thank you!

(It will formally appear on the website on Tues Dec 5; those who subscribe get advance notice)

[DocCathode]

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

From Wiki:


Didn't we have a visitor who argued the electric sun hypothesis in the past? It ended in tears, IIRC.

Nice guy, almost certainly schizophrenic, TheFonz. His hypotheses had terrible foundations but their detail and structure were amazing. They were like baroque cathedrals built of ideas.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Originally Posted by DocCathode

Nice guy, almost certainly schizophrenic, TheFonz. His hypotheses had terrible foundations but their detail and structure were amazing. They were like baroque cathedrals built of ideas.

A link to that old, tear-your-hair-out-in-frustration thread.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...d.php?t=378726

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by C K Dexter Haven

Congrats, Hydrargyrum, on your first Staff Report!... and thank you!....

Second that. Well done! I learned a lot. And thanks for including a link to an article and image of the "Happy Face" crater in Argyre Planitia on Mars, immortalized in Watchmen.

[DSYoungEsq]

The Staff Report is superb. Quite helpful, and full of interesing added information. A keeper!

[Alan Smithee]

I don't know, that website looks pretty authoritative.... How could highly trained experts who study this stuff for a living possibly be able to answer all those problems? They're obviously too invested in their "facts" and "research."

I'm convinced. Evolution can't be true--er, I mean, herbs can cure cancer. No, the CIA did kill Kennedy. Wait, what am I supposed to believe? Oh yeah, the Earth is flat--that sounds right. Stupid scientists, think they know everything.