V: Van Allen belts thru
New words are still being added so please don't tell me I've missed stuff out! I'm a student, I do have work to do beyond this!
The first definition of each term is the accepted, or most acceptable, explanation.
This is followed by the interpretation according to the relatively new and exciting Goblin Theory that purports to explain the entire universe neatly and simply.
- Van Allen belts
- (a) Regions around the Earth where charged particles are trapped in its magnetic field.
The high-energy protons and electrons are thought to be the result of interactions with cosmic rays (inner band) and the solar wind (outer band).
(b) Forwarded as evidence by people who believe the moon landing was staged in a studio.
It is alleged that men cannot survive in the intense radiation.
They are, of course, wrong, and the belts are in fact more hazardous to artificial satelites.
- variable star
- (a) Any star with changing luminosity, regularly or irregularly.
(b) Any star with mood swings.
- Venus
- (a) Second planet from the Sun, Venus has a rocky surface and atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide.
This results in a greenhouse effect heating the surface to 730 K.
(b) Where goblins go to melt metals, the better to forge them into new and interesting shapes.
- Virial theorem
- In a self-gravitating system in equilibrium, the gravitational potential is twice the kinetic energy of the member objects.
This is very important in astronomy and crops up again and again and again.
- Vulcan
- (a) A planet whose existence inside the orbit of Mercury was postulated to explain orbital eccentricities. It does not exist.
(b) A hot, dry, red planet with green-blooded inhabitants whose civilisation has evolved beyond emotion. It does exist.
This page © Sparkli (that's me), 2000
