The Source of the Aurora Borealis: Electrons Surfing on Alfvén Waves

Alfvén was another example of a scientist who got no respect during his lifetime, but turned out to be right while his colleagues were wrong, and a better scientist than them.

Plasma fluid dynamics still does not get anywhere near the respect it deserves. And, Enceladus does not have geysers, it has jets.

I say this not as a plasma fluid physicist.

Alfvén was pretty much the father of the electric universe theory.

From Wikipedia:

In 1937, Alfvén argued that if plasma pervaded the universe, it could then carry electric currents capable of generating a galactic magnetic field.[6] After winning the Nobel Prize for his works in magnetohydrodynamics, he emphasized that:

    In order to understand the phenomena in a certain plasma region, it is necessary to map not only the magnetic but also the electric field and the electric currents. Space is filled with a network of currents which transfer energy and momentum over large or very large distances. The currents often pinch to filamentary or surface currents. The latter are likely to give space, as also interstellar and intergalactic space, a cellular structure.[7]

His theoretical work on field-aligned electric currents in the aurora (based on earlier work by Kristian Birkeland) was confirmed in 1967,[8] these currents now being known as Birkeland currents.[citation needed]

Alfvén's work was disputed for many years by the senior scientist in space physics, the British mathematician and geophysicist Sydney Chapman.[9] Alfvén was regarded as a person with unorthodox opinions in the field by many physicists,[10] R. H. Stuewer noting that "... he remained an embittered outsider, winning little respect from other scientists even after he received the Nobel Prize..."[11] and was often forced to publish his papers in obscure journals. Alfvén recalled:

    When I describe [plasma phenomena] according to this formalism most referees do not understand what I say and turn down my papers. With the referee system which rules US science today, this means that my papers are rarely accepted by the leading US journals

----- Plasma does indeed pervade the universe. Electromagnetic forces are 10^^30 times more powerful than gravity and decrease linearly with distance, not with the square. They play a much bigger role in cosmology than gravity. eUniverse theory explains many things, like the rotation of galaxies with no need to invent dark matter. Also, star formation through the pinch effect mentioned above.

I miss living in the Arctic. 24 hour daylight in summer, aurora when it's not, love it.