arXiv subjects

Hilton Ratcliffe

Publications and source records attributed to Hilton Ratcliffe.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2009

Fingerprints of a Local Supernova

The results of precise analysis of elements and isotopes in meteorites, comets, the Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, the solar wind, solar flares, and the solar photosphere since 1960 reveal fingerprints of a local supernova (SN), undiluted by interstellar material. Heterogeneous SN debris formed the planets. The Sun formed on the neutron (n) rich SN core. The ground-state masses of nuclei reveal repulsive n-n interactions that trigger n-emission and a series of nuclear reactions that generate solar luminosity, the solar wind, and the measured flux of solar neutrinos. The location of the Sun's high-density core shifts relative to the solar surface as gravitational forces exerted by the major planets cause the Sun to experience abrupt acceleration and deceleration, like a yoyo on a string, in its orbit about the ever-changing centre-of-mass of the solar system. Solar cycles (surface magnetic activity, solar eruptions, and sunspots) and major climate changes arise from changes in the depth of the energetic SN core remnant in the interior of the Sun.

physics.gen-ph↗

arXiv2007

Observational confirmation of the Sun's CNO cycle

Gamma rays from a solar flare in Active Region 10039 on 23 July 2002 with the RHESSI spacecraft spectrometer indicate that the CNO cycle occurs at the solar surface, in electrical discharges along closed magnetic loops. At the two feet of the loop, H ions are accelerated to energy levels that surpass Coulomb barriers for the C-12[H-1, gamma]N-13 and N-14[H-1, gamma]O-15 reactions. First x-rays appear along the discharge path. Next annihilation of positrons from N-13 and O-15 [half-life = 10 m and 2 m] produce bright spots of 0.511 MeV gammas at the loop feet. As C-13 increases from positron decay of N-13, the C-13[He-4, n]O-16 reaction produces neutrons and then the 2.2 MeV emission line appears from n-capture on H-1. These results suggest that the CNO cycle changed the N-15/N-14 ratio in the solar wind and at the solar surface over geologic time, and this ratio may contain an important historical record of climate changes related to sunspot activity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

On the Cosmic Nuclear Cycle and the Similarity of Nuclei and Stars

Repulsive interactions between neutrons in compact stellar cores cause luminosity and a steady outflow of hydrogen from stellar surfaces. Neutron repulsion in more massive compact objects made by gravitational collapse produces violent, energetic, cosmological events (quasars, gamma ray bursts, and active galactic centers) that had been attributed to black holes before neutron repulsion was recognized. Rather than evolving in one direction by fusion, nuclear matter on the cosmological scale cycles between fusion, gravitational collapse, and dissociation (including neutron-emission). This cycle involves neither the production of matter in an initial Big Bang nor the disappearance of matter into black holes. The similarity Bohr noted between atomic and planetary structures extends to a similarity between nuclear and stellar structures.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2005

The Nuclear Cycle that Powers the Stars: Fusion, Gravitational Collapse and Dissociation

The finding of an unexpectedly large source of energy from repulsive interactions between neutrons in the 2,850 known nuclides has challenged the assumption that H-fusion is the main source of energy that powers the Sun and other stars. Neutron repulsion in compact objects produced by the collapse of stars and collisions between galaxies may power more energetic cosmological events (quasars, gamma ray bursts, and active galactic centers) that had been attributed to black holes before neutron repulsion was recognized. On a cosmological scale, nuclear matter cycles between fusion, gravitational collapse, and dissociation (including neutron emission) rather than evolve in one direction by fusion. The similarity Bohr noted between atomic and planetary structures may extend to a similarity nuclear and stellar structures.

astro-ph↗