5 ms·
One flaw that bugs me in the article: "the dangerous cosmic radiation spewing from the sun in the form of solar winds." From the Wikipedia: "Cosmic rays are im
by jmount 12y ago
One flaw that bugs me in the article: "the dangerous cosmic radiation spewing from the sun in the form of solar winds." From the Wikipedia: "Cosmic rays are immensely high-energy radiation, mainly originating outside the Solar System." It might not be strictly wrong (as language leaves open that some cosmic rays may come from our sun; and the Wikipedia solar wind article has "The solar wind affects the other incoming cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere of planets."). But cosmic radiation is most famous for being very high energy (cosmic scale) and of exotic origin. A small pedantic point, but lack of distinction makes me think of this http://explosm.net/comics/3557/ http://explosm.net/comics/3557/ .
Edit: I know cosmic rays are not typically em-radiation. The name rays (which usually denotes em-radition) is a historic accident. Hence "cosmic rays" and "cosmic radiation" are fairly close terms. And yes our sun produces tons of rays and radiation- but not typically at the "cosmic" energy scales.
I don't mind getting down-voted for being overly pedantic (and perhaps worse yet trying to be pedantic, while being possibly wrong- this isn't my field). But some of the follow-ups really look like they are missing the same type of distinction in the exact manner I was originally complaining about (which is why there is some small value in trying point this out).
- th0br0 12y agoWhy is this a flaw? Solar flares are a form of cosmic radiation; they're not the only source for it of course, but, as far as I know, one of the (if not the) strongest ones.
- jmount 12y agoI thought solar flares interacted in ways that suppressed cosmic rays (such as http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07oct_afraid/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07... ), not produced them. But it isn't my field, I could easily be the one who is wrong.
- chc 12y agoThe sun definitely produces radiation.
- pmalynin 12y agoLike light.
- jmount 12y agoBut not typically at the so-called "cosmic" energy scale.
- chc 12y ago"Cosmic" is not an energy scale — it's a word meaning "from space." It's not like cosmic dust is very energetic dust or, more relevantly, like the cosmic microwave background radiation is hugely energetic.
- rdmcfee 12y agoSun Burn = Radiation Burn
- privong 12y ago"Cosmic rays" are not the same as "cosmic radiation". Cosmic rays are charged (massive) particles which are moving at relativistic speeds, and are not electromagnetic radiation. In contrast, cosmic radiation consists of photons. I see the wikipedia article for cosmic rays [0] does state they are radiation, which is misleading and should probably be changed. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_rays https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_rays
- yongjik 12y ago"Radiation" doesn't necessarily mean electromagnetic radiation. After all, alpha- and beta-rays are also called radiation all the time.
- jmount 12y agoRays usually means em-radiation. But cosmic rays are misnamed from (as they tend to be radiation, but not rays).
- dragonwriter 12y agoCosmic rays are particle radiation [0], so its not misleading to state that they are radiation. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_radiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_radiation
- pbhjpbhj 12y agoIt can be correct but still misleading. I think, depending on the reader, there's a good chance it's misleading.
- privong 12y agoYes, you're correct. My bad. Though, in my experience, "radiation" without a modifier almost always refers to the electromagnetic variety. But I guess that could vary depending on what circles one hangs out in.
- 12y ago
- throwaway_yy2Di 12y agoI don't think it's pedantic at all. In fact there's another mistake in that same sentence: the "dangerous" solar protons aren't from the solar wind, but irregular events like CMEs and solar flares. The solar wind protons are too low in energy (1-10 keV) to have any penetrating ability, either in the atmosphere or in crewed spaceships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_proton_event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_proton_event Here's a comparison of proton sources in one chart: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-01-introduction-to-ionizing-radiation-fall-2006/lecture-notes/space.pdf#page=23 http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/nuclear-engineering/22-01-introdu... (disclaimer: not my field)
- iwwr 12y agoCosmic rays also don't get deflected by the magnetic field (either photons or very high energy particles). The atmosphere's density shields us from radiation much more than the magnetic field. Also a full half of the sky's radiation is shielded by the ground.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]