CompuServe Messages

Just curious speculation: the atmospheres of earth and other objects devoid of a magnetic field differ. Earth's atmosphere below the ionised layers is a relatively good insulator because it is not ionised. It may be arguable that other objects are surrounded by either ionised inter-stellar gas or an ionised atmosphere. I must admit, I don't see exactly how this helps the hypothesis but it does suggest that there may be more to the problem. Perhaps lightning plays a part in equalising cosmic potentials in addition to the known local potentials caused by thunderstorms. Another aspect is the magnetic properties of the objects themselves. Rotating electric effects only provide a magneto-motive-force, the resulting field-strength depends on the magnetic properties of earth, Venus or whatever. How about the known repeated reversals of earth's field. Any idea as to current thinking about these and why magnetic north moves around true north ? Peter.