Ishmael
In: Toronto
|
|
 |
|
In defense of my position that the thickness of the atmosphere appears to be the deciding factor in determining the planetary temperature differential, I appeal not just to Venus (thank you Tilo) but also to the planet Uranus.
Uranus is the one planet in the Solar System with an axis that fails to align itself, more or less, parallel to the solar axis. In fact, its axis is more or less perpendicular. This means that winter and summer on Uranus as as extreme as can be conceived. It would be impossible for the twin hemispheres of any conceivable world to have a greater differential between its summers and winters.
As conventional theory has it, Earth's two hemispheres grow warmer when each in turn tips toward the sun to receive its light ever-so-slightly more directly; each grows colder in turn when it tips away from the sun, recieving its light ever-so-slightly less directly. Of course, Earth doesn't really "tip" at all---it is already tipped--but this tip alters its orientation ever-so-slightly as it orbits around the sun.
But Uranus is tipped all the way over. This means that, for half its orbit of 84 years, each hemisphere and each pole is directly bathed in sunlight then plunges into total darkness for 42 years at a time. The equator, by contrast, is directly exposed to the sun only for the briefest period and even then, only for eight and a half hours out of its 17 hour rotation.
And yet, would you believe it but, the weather on Uranus is pretty well just like the Earth, and even more like the other Gas Giants.
The off-kilter tilt should mean that temperatures at one pole would be higher than at the equator, and significantly higher than at the dark pole. The higher temperatures should drive the planet's weather, as the rising warm air travels to the other pole and falls.
But weather on Uranus functions much as it does on other gas giants. Like Jupiter and Saturn, the planet has bands of zones and belts that orbit parallel to the equator, which is warmer than the poles.
-- What is the Temperature of Uranus
Uranus is still warmest at its equator, where centrifugal forces cause the planet's atmosphere to bulge and thicken. Why is this so? The above source offers this guess:
The warm temperatures that drive the planet's weather come from the interior of the planet, rather than from the sun. The significant distance to Uranus from the sun may play a role in why the planet's interior heat overpowers the faint light from the star.
However, other authorities disagree.
What is very interesting about Uranus is that the planet has an enormous 98 degree tilt on its axis. Basically, it is laying on its side with the poles receiving the direct sunlight. This makes for extreme seasons and when the Sun rises at one of the poles, that pole will receive direct sunlight for 42 years. Therefore seasonal variations are immense, in that as the dark side of the planet comes out of its 40 plus year slumber, the frozen atmosphere heats up dramatically causing violent storms. Curiously though, Uranus is still warmer at its equator than the poles, even though the poles receive the direct sunlight with a very low sun angle over the equatorial region. It is not well understood why.
-- Uranus, National Weather Service
Of course, the reason it's not well understood is because the standard model of temperature variation is blinding observers to the rather obvious truth; Uranus is confusing only because scientists are convinced that temperature varies due to the angular change in sunlight incidence. Eliminate this presumption and the phenomenon speaks for itself.
Atmospheric temperature on Uranus is a function of atmospheric depth.
We need only reapply this paradigm to earth and we discover universal consistency.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
The Library Index 
FAQ 
Search
Register
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
