Thursday, February 26, 2026

Introduction To This Blog System

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Image used by permission

Postings may be later combined into a compound posting on this blog. Many of the postings concern my observations in various branches of science, but there are also many on technology, religion, economics and, general world issues.

I would really like to thank everyone who reads any of these blogs for your interest.
 
SCIENCE WRITING
 
Most of the postings on this blog are visits to various places around the world, and articles about such topics as history and religion. But much of the writing is about science. I do not write about what is already known but only if I can write something new, or at least a new way of looking at things.
 
If you would like a quick background in the science and mathematics that everyone should really know in the 21st Century, the posting "Scientific Literacy" provides this in about a hundred paragraphs. Similarly, "The Way Things Work" provides a quick background in everyday technology.
 
I am a Christian and I want to show that belief in God is not unscientific at all. I was interested in science long before I was interested in religion, and have never had any trouble believing that God created everything.
 
There are five major scientific theories, each arranged in the form of a textbook. The first four of the following five are on this blog.
 
"The Theory Of Stationary Space" is my cosmological theory of how so much revolves around time being explained by us being in four-dimensional space, with the dimension that we cannot access being perceived as time. This is my version of string theory, with matter actually being strings in four dimensions rather than particles in three dimensions. Everything is ultimately based on negative and positive electric charges, with energy being able to overcome the laws of attraction and repulsion of electric charges. No one has ever explained exactly what time is, and a myriad of explanations of other things fall right into place around it.
 
"The Flow Of Information Through The Universe" is about how so much can be explained by seeing how there is a limited amount of information, and it must be the same information that constructs the highest levels as the lowest levels. A ready example is how the orbits of planets around the sun is based on the orbitals of electrons around the nucleus, in the atoms of which the sun and planets are composed. This concept is extremely useful because, understanding this, we can study things that we cannot directly see by analyzing things that we can see because all must be built on the same information.
 
"The Theory Of Complexity" is about what information actually is, how energy and information is really the same thing, and how we see the universe as we do because of our perspective of being at a higher level of information than our inanimate surroundings.
 
"The Lowest Information Point" is about how, since information and energy is really the same thing and the universe always seeks the lowest energy state, it also always seeks the "Lowest Information Point". So much is explained by how the universe prefers equalities to inequalities and related ratios where the numerator of one ratio is also the denominator of the other. This explains so much from why dust particles are as big as they to why the planets and stars are the scale that they are.
 
"The Story Of Planet Earth", on the geology blog, is about how virtually every major feature of the earth's surface, both on land and seafloor, can be explained by lines of magma emergence from below that were affected by the landing of three Continental Asteroids. Many people believe that land originated from a past "super-continent", but there is no explanation of where it came from.
 
There are a few of what we could call "minor" theories, where there is not as much written as with the major theories. On this blog, there is "How Biology And Human Life Fits Into Cosmology". On the meteorology and biology blog, there is my theory of the nature of water, "Water Made Really Simple".
 
There are compound postings about science which are groupings of writing about a certain topic.
 
Scientific compound postings include, "Computer Science", "Atomic Science", "Measurement", "A Celebration Of The Inverse Square Law", "Our Solar System", "Mind-Bending Cosmology", "The Configuration Of The Solar System Made Really Simple", "In Appreciation Of Electrons", "The Science Of Human Society " and "Orbital And Escape Velocities And Impacts from Space".
 
Compound postings about history and the world include "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", "Niagara Stories", "Economics", "How History Repeats Itself", "The Meaning Of Freedom", "The Western Hemisphere", "Our Language" and, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris".
 
There are two compound postings about prophecies and the Bible. There is "The Aztec Prophecy" than, for prophecies that are directly made in the Bible there is "New Insight Into Bible Prophecy".
 
"Investigations" is the compound posting that is a collection of any posting about an investigation.
 
The rest of the postings are individual postings. For more detailed information about this blog, see the posting "Thanks To Readers". For general topics of conversation, see "Thoughts And Observations", on the world and economics blog.  

Other Blogs And Books

                                                                                                                                   

Lights at night 

Here is a quick look at my other blogs before you start this one.

On this blog, you can see a list of all postings by clicking on the year or month to the right. But on the topical blogs, that is not the case. If you click on a year or month on those blogs, it will display the postings themselves, but the list on the right will still only show those postings that were added most recently.

To access a list of all postings on those blogs, it is necessary to click on the arrow in front of the year or month in question.

http://www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/ is about economics, history and, general human issues.

http://www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/ concerns progress in technology and ideas.

http://www.markmeekearth.blogspot.com/ is my geology and global natural history blog for topics other than glaciers. My natural history blogs concerning the impact of glaciers is http://www.markmeekworld.blogspot.com/ .

http://www.markmeekniagara.blogspot.com/ is about new discoveries concerning natural history in the general area of Niagara Falls.

http://www.markmeeklife.blogspot.com/ is my observations concerning meteorology and biology.

http://www.markmeekphysics.blogspot.com/ is my blog about physics and astronomy.

http://www.markmeekcosmology.blogspot.com/ is my version of string theory that solves many unsolved mysteries about the underlying structure and beginning of the universe.

http://www.markmeekpatterns.blogspot.com/ details my work with the fundamental patterns and complexity that underlies everything in existence.

 http://www.markmeekreligion.blogspot.com/ is my religion blog.

 http://www.markmeekcreation.blogspot.com/ is proof that there must be a god.

http://www.markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/ is my travel photos of Europe.

On my photo blogs, Blogspot will not hold all of the photos in each blog in a straight line. To see all of the photos, you must click on the bottom posting listed on the right at the top of the blog after seeing all that there are in the initial showing. The last posting in the North America blog should be "Tijuana, Mexico" and the last posting in the Europe blog should be "Notre Dame Cathedral Door And Arc De Triomphe, Paris". Each photo in the photo blogs can be clicked on to enlarge it to full screen.

My autobiography is http://www.mark-meek.blogspot.com/

My books can be seen at http://www.bn.com/ http://www.amazon.com/ or, http://www.iuniverse.com/ just do an author search for "Mark Meek".   

Mongolia

We have seen the Mongols in the posting on this blog, "Why We Should Understand The Mongols". Let's have a look at what Mongolia, the land of the Mongols, looks like today.

Mongolia is a vast country in terms of geography, but a small country in terms of population. The only large city is the capital of Ulan Bator. Life is traditionally semi-nomadic in Mongolia, revolving around the portable tent-like dwelling, known as a "yurt". The country is between Russia and China and has been influenced and affected by both.

Ulan Bator was founded by Buddhists in 1639. There are many Buddhist temples and monasteries in the city today. Mongolia was where the Mongols originated, although their conquests extended far beyond what is now the nation's borders. Mongolia was ruled by the Qing Dynasty of China, the Manchus, but became independent when the Qing were overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

The October Revolution of 1917, which began the Soviet Union, was echoed in the 1921 Revolution in Mongolia. Communism ended there in 1990.

Genghis Khan is considered as the founder of Mongolia. Outside the capital city of Ulan Bator there is a massive statue of him. "Genghis" is sometimes spelled as "Chinggis". The following scenes begin inside the Genghis Khan statue complex. The cylindrical form of the building is the same shape as a traditional Mongolian yurt. The first three images are from Google Street View.




There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.8081027,107.5299207,2a,75y,309.9h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIWjIkqMZOkQAAAQXM0sFxg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIWjIkqMZOkQAAAQXM0sFxg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D321.2289%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Notice how the arch leading to the statue of Genghis (Chinggis) Khan on horseback (top) is very much like the arch of another conqueror. Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (bottom) is so named because it was on the Carrousel, which was a parade ground for horses. This is why a merry-go-round with horses is called a carousel. Both images are from Google Street View.



The focal point of the city of Ulan Bator is Sukhbataar Square. It is named for the hero of Mongolia's 1921 Revolution, Damdin Sukhbataar, who is depicted on horseback in the statue in the center of the square, in a way similar to that of Genghis Khan. The statue is considered as "Point Zero", the center of the city.

The name of the city of Ulan Bator means something like "The Red Hero". The following scenes of the central part of the city begin in Sukhbataar Square. The building with the pillars, in the first of the following images, is the Mongolian Parliament. The statue is in the foreground. The first five images are from Google Street View.






https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9190048,106.9176053,2a,75y,320.17h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_15f0WNxlE9m-bEkQFIOvQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D_15f0WNxlE9m-bEkQFIOvQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D330.79755%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Near the center of the city is a link to the west, a monument of the Beatles. The apple represents Apple Records, which was their label. The following scenes begin at the Beatles Monument. The first two images are from Google Street View.



https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9156828,106.9065078,3a,75y,316.15h,91.88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMA783FExTUcAtXnlrtAwjwBYuIHO5DXR2zp3-k!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMA783FExTUcAtXnlrtAwjwBYuIHO5DXR2zp3-k%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya195.4038-ro0-fo100!7i3840!8i1919

This is what was the winter palace of the Emperor of Mongolia, in the southern part of the city. Ulan Bator has a very continental climate, high in elevation in central Asia, and is known for how cold it gets during the winter. The first five images are from Google Street View.






https://www.google.com/maps/@47.8976797,106.9070154,2a,75y,129.03h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svdjzXPps6oz5-85Jz3PknA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DvdjzXPps6oz5-85Jz3PknA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140.40285%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Also in the southern part of Ulan Bator is the Zaisan Monument. It is a ring-shaped mural tribute to the alliance and cooperation between Mongolia and Russia, and below the ring is a panoramic view of the city. The first three images are from Google Street View.











The Mongols

Mongolia is named for the Mongols that were based there. They founded what might have been the greatest series of empires that the world has ever seen. Here is a link to "Why We Should Understand The Mongols".

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/05/why-we-should-understand-mongols.html?m=0

Apocalyptic Developments

This is in regard to the scenario described in the parallel postings "The End Of The World As We Know It" and "Inducing The Apocalypse".

The existing world order is definitely changing. The war in Ukraine ended the peace which followed the end of the Cold War. Donald Trump's Greenland issue is undermining NATO and his Board of Peace is undermining the United Nations. The raids by ICE are undermining America as an example of democracy. We are moving more into an era where powerful leaders, like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and, Xi Jinping effectively control the world. But the old world order will have to be replaced by something else and we know that the world order of the Antichrist is in the future and he will be the most powerful leader of all.

We know that Iran will be allied with the powerful enemy to the uttermost north which will invade Israel to set off the final series of wars of the world. This can only be Russia and Moscow is due north of Israel. The Antichrist, in whom the world will have put it's faith, will be unable to prevent it. Russia is selling Iran thousands of shoulder-mounted missile launchers. These can shoot down helicopters, low-flying aircraft and, cruise missiles. This will make a repeat of the air attack on Iran last June, where the fixed air defenses had been neutralized beforehand, considerably more difficult.

We know that the Antichrist will be from a unified Europe and there is more and more discussion about Europe banding together and being a great power without America. There has been discussion of Germany, Poland and, Sweden developing nuclear weapons. Since we are moving back toward an era of powerful leaders doing what they want to, instead of the rules-based order, what Europe really needs is a great leader of it's own. The world certainly needs a leader who can get control of the recklessness of leaders like Donald Trump. While the Munich Security Conference was recently going on, Donald Trump was moving a battle fleet into position to strike Iran if it wouldn't accept a nuclear agreement.

The cutting off of Starlink to Russia, so that it cannot be used to communicate with drones, may accelerate the development of AI drones. The great weakness of drones is that communication between the drone and the base is necessary, to guide the drone. Detection of this communication gives away that drones are on the way. The electromagnetic communication between a drone and it's base can be jammed, or even hacked, and using Starlink was a way around this. But the ultimate in drone warfare is AI. The drone will "think for itself", and select it's own target, and no communication with the base will be necessary.

Planet Week

With the planetary alignment this week, let's have a look at some insights about the planets. Remember that there are two compound postings about the Solar System "Our Solar System", October 2022 and "The Configuration Of The Solar System Made Really Simple", March 2017.

Opposition Of The Moon And Venus

It was recently the beginning of Ramadan, as by the sighting of the new crescent moon. The moon and Venus are actually moving in opposite directions, when the moon is between the earth and the sun.

The rotation of the earth, which is eastward, the revolution of the moon around the earth, the orbit of the earth around the sun, and the orbit of Venus around the sun, are all in the same direction. This direction is counter-clockwise, if seen from above the earth's north pole.

In the following diagram, the arrows show the movements. The rotation of the earth and the revolution of the moon around the earth. The green circle is the earth, as seen from above the north pole. The small black circle is the moon. The red circle at the top, S, is the sun. The blue circle, V, is Venus, which revolves around the sun in the same direction as the earth.

But what this means is that the moon and Venus are moving in opposite directions when the moon is between the earth and the sun. On earth, the green circle in the diagram, D is the day side and N is the night side. The eastward rotation is shown by the arrows. Point 1 is the point of sunrise and Point 2 is the point of sunset. 

The phase of the moon that we see depends on the angle between the earth, the moon and, the sun. The new moon is when the moon is directly between the earth and the sun, represented by the circle N. The full moon is when the moon is directly on the opposite side of the earth from the sun, represented by the circle F.

Venus is closer to the sun than the earth so that it is moving faster than the earth in their orbits and Venus passes the earth. This changes when we can see Venus. Since Venus is closer to the sun than the earth, it is never seen in the middle of the night. It is seen either after sunset or before sunrise. This is how to tell Venus apart from Jupiter.

The diagram shows how the moon and Venus are moving in opposite directions as the moon passes between the earth and the sun. The result is that we see a crescent moon in the east, before sunrise, and then, after it has passed in front of the sun, we see a crescent moon again. But this time it is in the west, after sunset.

Venus is the opposite. We see it in the west, after sunset, and then, after it has passed earth in their orbits around the sun, we see it again, now in the east before sunrise.

This isn't anything breakthrough but I haven't seen it pointed out before.

The Second Focal Point

The orbits of the planets around the sun are not perfectly circular. The orbits actually form ellipses. An ellipse is a flattened circle with two focal points, whereas a circle only has one focal point. The center of the circle is it's only focal point. The orbit of a planet has the sun at one of the focal points of it's elliptical orbit. The following diagram shows an ellipse with it's two focal points.

LAGRANGIAN POINTS

Before going on, let's briefly review Lagrangian Points.

When there is a gravitational relationship between two astronomical objects a phenomenon called Lagrangian Points is created. These are the points where the gravity of the two objects balances out. The Lagrangian Points act as gravitational objects themselves. 

The orbit of the earth around the sun, for example, creates five Lagrangian Points. L1 is between the earth and the sun, where their gravity balances. L2 is the point beyond the orbit of the earth around the sun where the gravity of the two balances. L3 is on the diametrically opposite side of the sun from the earth. L4 and L5 are the points, at any given time in the earth's orbit around the sun, that form the vertices of an equilateral triangle with the earth and the sun. L4 is ahead of the earth in it's orbit and L5 is behind.

L1 and L2 are useful because a spacecraft placed there will orbit the sun at the same rate as the earth, even though it is closer to or further from the sun than the earth. The James Webb Space Telescope is at the Earth-Sun L2. Jupiter has large collections of asteroids in orbit around the sun at it's L4 and L5. An object at any of the Earth-Sun Lagrangian Points will orbit the sun at the same rate as the earth.

In this diagram the sun is the red circle and the earth is the green dot at right. The five Lagrangian Points are shown. The James Webb Space Telescope is at L2. L4 is ahead of the earth in it's orbit around the sun and L5 follows it. Remember that every pair of astronomical objects creates a completely different set of Lagrangian Points.

THE SECOND FOCAL POINT

The Second Focal Point, that I am writing about here, is not a Lagrangian Point but it is a related concept. Considering how Lagrangian Points operate, what about the other focal point in the elliptical orbit of a planet around the sun? Shouldn't it count for something? I believe that it does.

The planets are usually divided into two groups, the Inner Planets and the Outer Planets, with four planets each. The Outer Planets are far more massive than the Inner Planets, although of lower average density. Jupiter, the first of the Outer Planets going away from the sun, is about 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets combined. Jupiter is believed to be the oldest planet, and this indicates that the Outer Planets formed first.

The following diagram, from the Wikipedia article "Solar System" shows that the Inner Planets are much closer together than the Outer Planets. Since all of the planets are in elliptical orbits around the sun, this would mean that the distances between the First and Second Focal Points of the orbits of the Outer Planets are much further apart than those of the Inner Planets.

The planets all formed gradually by the gravitational agglomeration of fragments left over from a large star that exploded in a supernova. Only the largest stars will explode in a supernova. Some of the debris of the exploded star fell back together to form the present sun and planets. We know that the sun is such a second-generation star because it contains heavy elements that are beyond it's current stage in the nuclear fusion process.

What I find interesting is that, if we take the average distances of the Inner Planets from the sun, they fairly closely correspond to the distances between the First and Second Focal Points of the Outer Planets, although the distances to the Inner Planets are somewhat less.

(I know that most people use Metric but neighboring Canada converted to the Metric System when I was 15. At that point I learned the Metric System. But everything that I learned before that, like the distances of the planets from the sun, I remember in miles. But this is about relative distances and the unit that we use here is unimportant).

Mercury 36 million miles.

Venus 67 million miles.

Earth 93 million miles.

Mars 141 million miles

Now here is the distances between the First and Second Focal Points of the elliptical orbits of the Outer Planets.

Jupiter 47.5 million miles.

Saturn 101 million miles.

Uranus 170 million miles.

Neptune 50 million miles.

Given how the Lagrangian Points operate, we should expect that the Second Focal Points of the elliptical orbits of the planets should be a factor in the Solar System. We know that the planets formed from gradual agglomeration of fragments from the supernova by gravity, and that the Outer Planets likely formed first. The powerful gravity of Jupiter prevented the Asteroids from condensing into a planet.

So here is my hypothesis. The sun is at the First Focal Point of the elliptical orbits of all the planets. I found it interesting that the Inner and Outer Planets are completely different in nature but there are the same number, four, of both of them. The Inner Planets are close enough together, relatively speaking, to have formed one big planet. What I decided happened is that the Second Focal Points of the Outer Planets formed the boundaries of where a fragment of the supernova nearer the sun would go to form one of the Inner Planets or another.

It forms four concentric circles, with the sun at the center, and with each circle the distance from the sun of the distance between the two orbital Focal Points of one of the Outer Planets, so that the Second Focal Point of the Outer Planet was on the circle. The circles form the boundaries of where fragments from the supernova would go to form one of the Inner Planets or the next planet. This is why the distances from the sun of the circle are in the neighborhood of, but somewhat further than, the distances from the sun to the Inner Planets.

This analogy is not quite perfect because Neptune, the furthest planet from the sun, has an orbit that is close to being circular. But it seems clear that the Second Focal Points of the four Outer Planets formed the boundaries for fragments from the supernova to collect by gravity into the four Inner Planets.

THE MIRROR IMAGE SOLAR SYSTEM

What I find really interesting is how the two halves of the Solar System, the Inner and the Outer Planets, form a virtual mirror image of each other. This shows that there is coordination between the two. This coordination can only come by gravity, the same as with Lagrangian Points, and must be the Outer Planets influencing the Inner Planets, since the Outer Planets are far more massive.

There are four planets in each set. There is a pair of "sibling" planets in each set, fairly close to each other in nature and mass. The siblings of the Inner Planets are Earth and Venus and the siblings of the Outer Planets are Uranus and Neptune. In both cases, the orbits of the planets are next to each other and the more massive of the two is further from the sun.

But what is a mirror image about the two sets is that, in the Inner Planets, the remaining two planets, Mercury and Mars, are very much less massive than the two sibling planets. While in the Outer Planets the two remaining planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are very much more massive than the two sibling planets.

The Gaps In Saturn's Rings

We saw recently in "The Infinity Deception" how, from any finite distance, there is a difference between a planet's center of mass and it's center of gravity. I find that an ideal example of this is the gaps between the rings of Saturn.

Saturn is the planet that is known for it's spectacular ring system. All of the outer planets actually have rings around them, but those of Jupiter, Uranus and, Neptune are faint. Saturn's rings are not visible from earth with the unaided eye, but are easily visible in a small telescope.

The current Wikipedia article on "Rings of Saturn" give the reason for the gaps in Saturn's rings, other than "gravitational resonance" with Saturn's moon's, as "unexplained". Image from that Wikipedia article.

The gaps in Saturn's rings are actually simple to explain if we use the difference between the center of mass and the center of gravity, from a finite distance.

Without thinking further we might presume that the "center of mass" and the "center of gravity" of a planet are the same. But they aren't.

The "center of mass" of a planet is constant. It is the point from where the planet's concentration of mass is equal in all directions. We should expect that the center of mass of the planet will be just about exactly the same as it's geometric center.

But the "center of gravity" of the planet is relative, and not constant. According to the Inverse Square Law, the force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. In other words, an object at three times the distance will exert 1 / 9 of the gravitational force.

The reason that the center of gravity is relative is that, if we are at a finite distance from a planet, the close half of the planet will have a greater gravitational effect on us than the far half of the planet. This means that the center of gravity would be closer to us than the center of mass. It is only if the planet were infinitesimal in scale, or if we were an infinite distance from the planet, that the center of gravity would be the same as the center of mass.

If we were in a spacecraft, orbiting a planet at a finite distance from the planet, the planet's center of mass would remain constant but the center of gravity would be continuously changing. The center of gravity of the planet would follow our orbit, within the planet, and always closer to us than the center of mass.

It is very unlikely that a planet will be of uniform density throughout. Almost certainly the innermost parts of the planet will be the most dense. The earth, for example, consists of a heavy iron core, above which is the mantle which consists of dense rock but not as dense as the core. Above the mantle is the less-dense crust.

The closer the spacecraft, or observation point, is to the planet, the closer the effective center of gravity is to the surface of the planet, meaning the furthest from the center of the planet. This is simply because the closer we are to the planet the greater the gravitational effect of the close half of the planet, relative to the far half.

Now, back to Saturn's rings. The rings are made mostly of particles of ice. The particles of ice closest to the planet have their real center of gravity in the least-dense outermost part of the planet. But those particles of ice in orbit at a somewhat higher altitude have their real center of gravity in a denser layer beneath that.

The effect of this is as if the particle at the higher altitude is in orbit around a more dense planet. An orbit around a more dense planet would mean that an object in orbit, at the same altitude around the heavier planet, would have a higher orbital energy. 

In orbit around the same planet, a higher altitude means a higher orbital energy. The orbital energy is governed by the same Inverse Square Law that governs gravity. If there is an object in orbit, and we give it 3x the orbital energy, it would then orbit at 9x the altitude, but would move at only 1 / 3 the speed.

So if one of the particles of ice composing Saturn's rings is in orbit, with it's effective center of gravity in a less-dense outer part of the planet, and a particle in a little bit higher orbit has it's effective center of gravity lower than that, in a more-dense inner part of the planet, the higher particle will have to have more orbital energy, than that which would be proportional to altitude, if the planet were of uniform density.

Since orbital energy is proportional to altitude, with a higher orbit having a higher orbital energy, this means that the particle in higher orbit, with it's real center of gravity in the lower and denser part of the planet, will have to gain more altitude to reflect it's higher orbital energy because it is, in effect, in orbit around a more-dense planet.

This is why there are gaps in Saturn's rings. The gaps are a reflection of the layers of material composing the planet, with the denser layers deeper inside the planet making necessary a higher orbital energy for the particles of ice with their effective centers of gravity within those denser layers. Since a higher orbital energy means a higher orbital altitude, this creates the gaps in the rings that reflect the layers of different density within the planet.

The following diagram shows an approximation of the internal density layers of Saturn, getting more dense toward the center. The black dot, Point 1, is it's center of mass. The diagram actually looks like the rings of Saturn, and that is no coincidence. An object in orbit close to Saturn might have it's center of gravity at the red dot, Point 2. An object in orbit still further away might have it's center of gravity at Point 3, the blue dot, and one still further away at Point 4, the green dot. 

Only if an object were an infinite distance from Saturn would it's center of gravity be the same as the planet's center of mass. But having the center of gravity in a high density region means the object will have more orbital energy and thus must be in a higher orbit. If the density layers within the planet change suddenly then the higher orbital energies would also have to change suddenly. This is why there are gaps in Saturn's rings, it is a reflection of the internal structure of the planet.


The Wind Zones

This isn't anything breakthrough but I haven't seen it explained before. The earth has five zones of prevailing winds. In the following diagram, the black arrow shows the earth's eastward rotation. Winds are defined by the direction from which they come and the green arrow shows the easterly winds in the tropics, opposing the earth's rotation, that are known as the Trade Winds. 

The red arrows show the Westerlies, at higher latitudes, that are in the same direction as the earth's rotation. The blue arrows show the Polar Easterlies.

The wind is somewhat more complex than this. Air tends to rise at warmer, lower, latitudes and then sink at cooler, higher, latitudes. This forms what are known as Hadley Cells. The prevailing winds, as described above, usually form a vector with the movement of air due to the Hadley Cells.

These wind zones on the earth are not visible from outer space. But the larger planets of the Solar System rotate much faster than the earth does. A point on the earth's equator is actually moving at about 1,000 miles per hour, or about 1,500 kph, due to the earth's rotation. This causes an outward centrifugal force, known as the Coriolis Force.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has a circumference eleven times that of earth and it rotates in less than half the time the earth does. The result is that a point on Jupiter's equator is moving at about 26 times the velocity of a corresponding point on earth's equator, due to the rotation. Since the value of the Coriolis Force is proportional to the angular velocity squared, that means the force is exponentially greater on Jupiter than on earth, although this is reduced somewhat by the fact that Jupiter's gravity is much greater than on earth.

The result is that the wind zones on Jupiter are visible from outside. In the following image, from the Wikipedia article "Jupiter", I see ten wind zones. The "Great Red Spot" is a storm that has been going on for centuries.

Jupiter is by far the most massive of the planets. It has about 2.5 times the mass of all of the other planets combined. The next most massive planet is Saturn. In the following image, from the Wikipedia article "Saturn", you can see that the wind zones, which always parallel the direction of rotation, are less pronounced. The halo is Saturn's rings.

On Neptune, as shown in the following image from the Wikipedia article "Neptune", the wind zones are faintly visible. The dark area in the center is the "Great Dark Spot", a storm just as is the "Great Red Spot" on Jupiter.

I believe that the great storms seen on Jupiter and Neptune were formed by comet impacts.

The way I see it, the reason for such powerful winds on the coldest planets is due to simple arithmetic. Wind is actually caused by uneven heating. So the closer the temperature is to Absolute Zero, which is the coldest possible temperature, the more proportional difference there is between any two temperatures, and this produces stronger winds.

But this banding that is seen on the outer planets is related to the wind zones on earth. 

It is in the news about how many of the planets are roughly lined up, as seen from earth, making it easier for observers to find them among the stars. For information about looking at the sky, here is a link to the posting "Stargazing".

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/02/stargazing.html?m=0 


Thursday, February 19, 2026

Manchuria

The far northeastern part of China is commonly referred to as Manchuria. This is from where the last imperial dynasty of China originated, the Qing Dynasty that ruled the country from 1644 to The Xinhai Revolution of 1911. The Qing Dynasty was also known as the Manchus, from the name of Manchuria.

Just as Florida is the place where America meets the Caribbean, Manchuria has traditionally been the place where China has met Korea, Russia and, Japan. But the climate of Manchuria is somewhat colder than that of Florida and the population centers have largely grown in modern times due to railroads.

The city of Changchun is not extremely old. Today it is very important in China's auto industry. The first seven images of Changchun are from Google Street View.








There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.8750191,125.3004226,3a,75y,118.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNNAAtKrJnnyB-Te1jrBHoncNcrvqb1aW_rK0pw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNNAAtKrJnnyB-Te1jrBHoncNcrvqb1aW_rK0pw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya343.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

This is around the center of Changchun. The first four images are of Changchun at night.





https://www.google.com/maps/@43.8570697,125.2479828,3a,75y,79.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPfw0fsaC-zyotWLG6XBU5M0Jom8Bguij7Rvy0h!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPfw0fsaC-zyotWLG6XBU5M0Jom8Bguij7Rvy0h%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya278.5-ro0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254

Unlike Changchun, Shenyang is an ancient city. Today, it's basis is industrial but it was once the capital city of the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule China. This is the area around the Catholic church. The first image is from Google Street View.










https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7580566,123.430275,3a,75y,136.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMzSLSkAEnVgAi-lOh1bBzGu-mIMCpNroH3LAmY!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMzSLSkAEnVgAi-lOh1bBzGu-mIMCpNroH3LAmY%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya136.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5472!8i2736

Shenyang is a very old city and there is plenty of traditional Chinese architecture. Skyscrapers look pretty much like skyscrapers anywhere else in the world but here is some traditional architecture so we know for sure that we are in China. You may have noticed that such old places in China are often surrounded by willow trees. But this isn't Canton or Hong Kong, this is the far north of China and it snows here.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8397408,123.4284744,3a,75y,7.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMEvAhLfq6A2pV08T8UG_za97SAkFkWfkRe4CNP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMEvAhLfq6A2pV08T8UG_za97SAkFkWfkRe4CNP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya4.358164-ro-0-fo100!7i11984!8i5992

Like Changchun, but unlike Shenyang, the city of Harbin is not extremely old but grew into a major city due to railroad connections. Harbin can be described as the place where Russia meets China. It is a Chinese city but there have been a lot of Russian immigrants. After the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War the losing sides in both, Romanov supporters and the Whites, withdrew to Harbin and it became somewhat of a preserve of Romanov times in Russia. Anyone accustomed to the frigid winter temperatures in much of Russia would feel right at home in Harbin.

The first of the following scenes is of St. Sophia Cathedral. This is an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral that appears to be right out of Russia. The first three images of the cathedral are from Google Street View.








https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7550011,126.6361084,3a,75y,316.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOrx2zHSdf1TryWMexE88xlVNyesn-tMG2qJ7l4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOrx2zHSdf1TryWMexE88xlVNyesn-tMG2qJ7l4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi1.4574571-ya357.27863-ro-3.2336066-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Finally, let's remember that Harbin is still in China with some traditional Chinese architecture surrounded by willow trees.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.777499,126.660597,3a,75y,214.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNnE0Kixgq-MD6thNRW8UihNVVuV5RFdkjeAHAp!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNnE0Kixgq-MD6thNRW8UihNVVuV5RFdkjeAHAp%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya255.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

The Great Wall is a system of walls, rather than a single wall. The idea of a defensive wall across the north of China goes far back into ancient times. Most of the Great Wall today is from the Ming Dynasty of the Late Middle Ages. The Ming Dynasty also built the city walls of Xian that we see today, although Xian is a very old city that was the first capital of a united China.

There have been a lot more walls across the world, down through history, than we see today. What tends to happen is that a wall is built as a defensive measure but, after times change so that the wall is no longer necessary, it becomes a ready source of stone for further building.

The Great Wall likely had an effect on China that went far beyond it's defensive purpose. It's construction, along with other national projects like the Grand Canal, tied China together as a nation in the same way that the pyramids did for Egypt. Great stone monuments and structures are what make the difference between an ancient nation disappearing into the sands of time or still being around today.

The Great Wall may have had a limiting effect on China also. The thought once occurred to me that, if not for the Great Wall, China would likely own Siberia today.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4309295,116.5644804,3a,75y,90.86h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOrHhI2M0P2y11K_43LZfcfCPvQRWp0TwqwfUkg!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOrHhI2M0P2y11K_43LZfcfCPvQRWp0TwqwfUkg%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya26.125317-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352