In message , Tim
writes
I was just curious....

There is considerable discussion of the magnetic field of the sun, but
little or no discussion of the electric field of the sun. I was just
wondering if there was any knowledge or concensus about the electric
field of the sun among the participants here.

Well, the sun is essentially a conductive plasma, so I doubt there's
much opportunity for the sort of charge separation that produces
electric fields. Typing your question into Google throws up a few
somewhat questionable web sites :-)
But I did find this very odd statement at
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/education/activities/active10a.htm
Every day the sun is radiating visible light at all times that the sun
can be seen. What you do not see is that the sun is also sending off
invisible electrical waves at all times that create an electric field
through the earth. That electric field is like the electrical field
that is created by the electric current flowing from the battery
through the coil of wire. You may know that the center of the earth is
full of molten metal and other material, much of which is iron, just
like the nail in the electro-magnet or the bar magnet. As the earth
orbits through the electric field of the sun, it causes each drop of
iron to line up, like tiny magnets, with one end facing in the
direction we commonly call North and the other end in the direction we
call South.
Surely that isn't right? Isn't the Earth's magnetic field produced in
the same way as the Sun's own field, because it's a conductor rotating
on its own axis?
--
What have they got to hide? Release the Beagle 2 report.
Mail to jsilverlight AT merseia.fsnet.co.uk is welcome.