Electric Discharges to Dust Covered Surface Show Similarity to Features on Planetary Bodies
Z. Dahlen Parker
Electrostatic discharge patterns in a thin layer of dust on a CRT are similar in many ways to some enigmatic features seen on certain moons and planets. This simple experiment may help explain those planetary surface features. Without a testable explanation, our understanding of solar system history is questionable. Spidery markings, seen for example on Mercury and the Moon, are among the most puzzling of planetary features. These spidery channels are rounded depressions radiating from a central depression or crater. However, a closer look reveals a resemblance to laboratory electric discharge patterns. Electrical discharge patterns take many forms, which have been shown to be scalable from the laboratory to the cosmic scale. The radials have been seen in experiments to be the result of surficial leader-strokes of an electric discharge, which may with higher currents form other features such as crater chains. We propose that there is an electrical cause for many surface features seen throughout the solar system. The approach taken here is an empirical investigation of plasma discharge effects on various surfaces that provide a parallel to planetary surfaces . Experiments with electrostatic discharge to a dust covered CRT produced the following features which match similar planetary markings in great detail.
