Reversing Magnetic Poles Observed in Another Star

Babu 'God' Hoover tips us to news out of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy that for the first time, a magnetic pole reversal has been observed in a star other than our own. Tau Bootis, while similar to the Sun, also has a planet more than six times larger than Jupiter orbiting at only a twentieth of the distance between Earth and the Sun. Scientists hope to use this discovery to learn more about the magnetic dynamics in the Sun, which can affect our telecommunications, among other things.

Comments

Hooraayyyy

[zappepcs]

Finally, we are seeing the kind of news that has to be in the public's mind to make an INFORMED decision about climate change. Fundamental questions about what the climate of this planet should be cannot yet be answered with full disclosure. Sure, there are those that are reasonably sure, but I challenge you to find one of them, then ask how the polar magnetic system of this planet, or of the Sun affect that climate. Next ask them what is the long count calendar effect on climate? Should we be in a warming trend right now? I believe that it was 26 million years ago (IANAAp - I'm not an astrophysicist) when the planet was in it's current position relative to the rest of the Milky Way. It has likely never been in this position relative to the rest of the known universe. What other factors have an effect?

Now, I'm not just ragging on about how there is no man made global warming, I would like to point out that there are so very many things that we are not sure of or simply don't know. This is just one of them. In fact, the distance between the Earth and Moon is a factor that is unknown in such politically charged questions. We NEED a lot more science, and I for one am glad to welcome our knowledge bearing scientists.

The sub-prime meltdown is an example of what generally happens when you make ill-informed decisions. We need much more information if we want to save the planet. I'm glad to see that some of that information is making news headlines :)