Plasma Rules 

Plasma rules the visible universe since 99% of what can be viewed in outer space is plasma.  Historically not much attention has been paid since most have little interaction.  However, as the human race heads out into space,  we are learning more and more about plasma and plasmoids, and we are discovering that little known phenomenon is worthy  of much respect.

Plasma is generally known as a state of matter.  All substances can be in any of four states: solid, liquid, gas or plasma.  For example, when water is solid it is called ice, but as it warms up it changes phase from solid to liquid whence it is called water.  As water is heated even more it will change to the third state of matter, gas, or in the case of water,  it is called steam or vapor.  Now if you put a lot of heat into that steam there will come a point where the steam will change phase again and it becomes a plasma.  At this point some of the electrons break away from the atoms which are now called ions since missing electrons gives them a positive charge.  So plasma can be thought of as a soup of high energy  electrons, ions and atoms.  Generally the plasma soup is neutral over all; but within the plasma,  point charges are moving all about creating all sorts of electromagnetic phenomena.

Where do we find plasma on the surface of the Earth?  The best example is lightning.  We generally see lightning during thunderstorms.  Thunderclouds can cause atoms to break into positive and negative ions.  The separation of charge causes a voltage to build up.  When the voltage is great enough, the air breaks down into this soup of plasma.  Although air usually does not allow much electricity to flow, when it is converted to plasma, air can conduct massive amounts of electricity. This process produces the lightning we see.  Another example is fluorescent lighting.  This type of lighting uses electricity to excite a mercury vapor in argon or neon gas producing a short wave ultraviolet light.  This short wave is converted to a longer light wave by causing a phosphor to fluoresce.  In addition to these examples of plasma close to the Earth, nuclear scientist deal with plasma in connection with fusion research with hopes that it will produce cheap energy; also space weather scientist study plasma to enhance their ability to predict space weather.  So just as people are interjecting  themselves into plasma’s environment,  plasma is interjecting itself into the human milieu with increasing regularity.

Plasmoids add a level of complication.  A plasmoid is not just a blob of plasma, but it is a coherent structure of plasma and magnetic fields.  Point charges within the plasmoid are controlled by magnetic fields, and currents of electrical charge within the plasmoid create their own magnetic fields. This interplay between electricity and magnetism forms surprisingly few geometrical plasmoid structures.  One such structure is a torus or donut shaped entity; another is a helix; and another is a vortex.  These structures are visible through out the universe with examples as galaxies and pulsars.  These structures are found on the stars like our Sun, and they are even found closer to Earth.

Its common knowledge that the Earth has a magnetic field without which a compass would not be able to tell you which way is north.  This magnetic field of the Earth extends beyond the atmosphere into space.  This earthly magnetic field is called the magnetosphere.  It is not spherical in shape because the solar wind blowing against it causes the nightside to be stretched way out and the dayside to be skewed toward the Earth.  Outside of the atmosphere but within this magnetosphere of the Earth, plasmoids form.  The closeness provides a lab for scientist to explore exactly this phenomenon.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmoid