256 — "CME'arth," Germ of an Idea for a SciFi Novel

BACKGROUND

To orbit Earth, an object must attain "orbital velocity," approximately 17,500 mph. This speed balances the gravitational pull from the Earth with the object's forward motion.

The Sun rotates on its axis once in about 27 days but does more than just spin. Among other things, it burps rudely.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are ejections from our Sun of coronal plasma--electrons and protons--in addition to some heavier elements, all interlaced with a closed magnetic field.

CMEs travel to Earth at speeds of 155 miles per second to 2,000 mps. Thus, ejected CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15 hours. Slower ones take several days.

The average mass ejected is at least 1.8 billion tons--on the low end.

THE STORY

It happened one solar day that several billion tons of solar debris within a CME hit Earth's magnetic field at just the right angle to coalesce into a halo of starstuff 1,200 miles above our planet. There, settling into an orbit, helium, oxygen, iron and other heavier elements fell together and solidified.

Thus was born the Halo, a circular 28,000-mile, five-miles-wide sky ramp. As was typical, humans visited it as soon as they were capable. As was also typical, humans claimed and colonized it as soon as they could declare it.

Today, in 2924, the Halo supports a population of over three million heavily magnetized, luminescent human beings, breathing in air delivered and locked in by a strong gravitational field. This magnetic plasma induced longevity, making the Halo a desirable place to settle.

What no one knew was that going from Earth to its Halo was a one-way trip.

It was a quirk of dipoles and oppositional magnetics that once having adjusted to life on the Halo (many didn't and perished), that attempts to return to Earth were fraught with sudden cellular radioactive decay.

It was not pleasant. It was not pretty.

Perhaps, one day, the Halo people will be able to commingle with their progenitors. Until then, however, the Halons and their magnetically-imposed divergence of evolution will continue separating in divergent speciation.

Also, as is typical, those on the Halo and those on Earth will begin to eye each other with suspicion.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Thursday, September 12, Day 256 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Accompaniment photo was AI drawn, but the polarity was not.

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THIS CHALLENGE MARCHES ON, 366 PARSECS AT A TIME.

There are currently three surviving, dipolar Vocal writers still orbitying in the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer (Orbital Concentric)

• Rachel Deeming (Orbital Symmetric)

• Gerard DiLeo (Orbital Eccentric)