October guide to the bright planets

Mars and Venus meet up for a close conjunction on October 5, 2017. Thereafter, the red planet Mars climbs higher up in the morning sky all month long, whereas Venus plunges downward. Read more.

Three of the five bright planets – Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury – are evening planets, at least nominally, but only Saturn is clearly visible after nightfall in October 2017. Meanwhile, Jupiter and Mercury are – for the most part this month – lost in sun’s glare. Meanwhile, the other two bright planets – Venus and Mars – can be found in the morning sky, before sunup, through this month. Follow the links below to learn more about the planets in October 2017.

Jupiter sits in the glare of sunset

Saturn out from dusk until mid-evening

Venus, brilliant in east at morning dawn

Mars climbs out of the glare of sunrise

Mercury lost in the glare of sunset

Like what EarthSky offers? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Astronomy events, star parties, festivals, workshops

Visit a new EarthSky feature – Best Places to Stargaze – and add your fav.

Jupiter will disappear from the evening sky in October, but will reappear in the morning sky in November. Your first good chance might come with the Venus/Jupiter conjunction on November 13, 2017. < a href="http://ift.tt/2fHnKea" target=_blank>Read more.

Jupiter sits in the glare of sunset. Jupiter beams as the fourth-brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon and Venus. But in early October, Jupiter shines very low in the sky and in the direction of sunset at dusk. Shortly thereafter, Jupiter follows the sun beneath the horizon. Day by day, Jupiter will sink closer and closer to the sun, to disappear from the evening sky later this month. Your best chance of catching Jupiter is at the first of the month.

From mid-northern latitudes, Jupiter sets about one hour after the sun in early October. By late October, Jupiter will set with the sun, to transition out of the evening sky and into the morning sky. However, you probably won’t see Jupiter in the eastern sky before sunrise until sometime in November 2017.

Jupiter stays out longer after sunset at more southerly latitudes. At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Jupiter sets about one and one-half hours after the sun in early October. In other words, the Southern Hemisphere has the better chance of spotting Jupiter early in the month, or before it disappears from the evening sky.

Click here for an almanac telling you Jupiter’s setting time in your sky.

From both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Jupiter will disappear from the evening sky sometime in October 2017. Look for the king planet to reappear in the morning sky in November 2017. Then a wonderful event will occur! Be sure to watch for Jupiter to join up with Venus to stage a close conjunction in the morning sky on November 13. The sky’s brightest and second-brightest planet near each other will be amazing!

Jupiter shines in front of the constellation Virgo, near Virgo’s sole 1st-magnitude star, called Spica. Spica will also disappear from the evening sky in October but you might be able to catch this star near Venus in early November.

Fernando Roquel Torres in Caguas, Puerto Rico captured Jupiter, the Great Red Spot (GRS) and all 4 of its largest moons – the Galilean satellites – on the date of Jupiter’s 2017 opposition (April 7).

If you have binoculars or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light all on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

These moons orbit Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we were able to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons, through high-powered telescopes. Starting in late 2016, Jupiter’s axis began tilting enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, has not been passing in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter, as seen from our vantage point. This will continue for a period of about three years, during which time Callisto is perpetually visible to those with telescopes, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter as seen from Earth.

Click here for a Jupiter’s moons almanac, courtesy of skyandtelescope.com.

James Martin in Albuquerque, New Mexico caught this wonderful photo of Saturn on its June 15, 2017 opposition.

Let the moon help guide your eye to the planet Saturn (and the nearby star Antares) as darkness falls on October 22, 23 and 24. Read more.

Saturn out from dusk until mid-evening. Look for Saturn as soon as darkness falls. It’s in the southwest sky at dusk or nightfall as seen from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, and in the west at early evening as viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. Your best view of Saturn, from either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, is around nightfall because that’s when Saturn is highest up for the night.

From mid-northern latitudes (US and Europe), Saturn sets about two hours after nightfall in early October, and about one hour after nightfall by the month’s end.

From temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (South Africa, southern Australia), Saturn sets around midnight in early October. By the month’s end, Saturn sets some two hours earlier, around 10 p.m. local time.

Although Saturn has dimmed slightly since September, this world will still be shining at first-magnitude brightness all through October.

Be sure to let the moon guide you to Saturn (and the nearby star Antares) for several days, centered on or near October 23.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light.

Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way, although binoculars will enhance Saturn’s color. To see the rings, you need a small telescope. A telescope will also reveal one or more of Saturn’s many moons, most notably Titan.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at 27^o from edge-on, exhibiting their northern face. In October 2017, the rings open most widely for this year, displaying a maximum inclination.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs; they can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky.

Jenney Disimon in Sabah, Borneo captured Venus before dawn.

Let the moon guide your eye to the planets Venus and Mars on the mornings of October 16, 17 and 18. Read more.

Venus, brilliant in east at morning dawn Venus is always brilliant and beautiful, the brightest celestial body to light up our sky besides the sun and moon. If you’re an early bird, you can count on Venus to be your morning companion all month long.

Although Venus will remain in the morning sky for the rest of this year, Venus will sink closer and closer to the glare of sunrise over the next few months. October will present Venus higher up and easier to view in the morning sky than will the months of November and December of 2017.

Watch out for these highlights. Venus and Mars will have a spectacular conjunction in the morning sky on October 5. Then, later in the month, enjoy the picturesque display of the waning crescent moon and Venus plus Mars) for several mornings, centered on October 16.

Venus reached a milestone as the morning “star” when it swung out to its greatest elongation from the sun on June 3, 2017. At this juncture, Venus was farthest from the sun on our sky’s dome, and the telescope showed Venus as half-illuminated in sunshine, like a first quarter moon. For the rest of the year, Venus will wax toward full phase.

Click here to know Venus’s present phase, remembering to select Venus as your object of interest.

From mid-northern latitudes (U.S. and Europe), Venus rises about two hours before the sun in early October, and about one and one-half hours before sunrise by the month’s end.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and South Africa), Venus rises about one hour before sunup in early October. By the month’s end, that’ll taper to about 40 minutes.

Click here for an almanac giving rising times of Venus in your sky.

The chart below helps to illustrate why we sometimes see Venus in the evening, and sometimes before dawn.

The Earth and Venus orbit the sun counterclockwise as seen from earthly north. When Venus is to the east (left) of the Earth-sun line, we see Venus as an evening “star” in the west after sunset. After Venus reaches its inferior conjunction, Venus then moves to the west (right) of the Earth-sun line, appearing as a morning “star” in the east before sunrise.

Mars, Mercury, Earth’s moon and the dwarf planet Ceres. Mars is smaller than Earth, but bigger than our moon. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA.

The moon will pair up with the red planet Mars on the morning of October 17, 2017. Read more.

Mars climbs out of the glare of sunrise. Mars transitioned out of the evening sky and into the morning sky on July 27, 2017, at which juncture Mars was on the far side of the sun at what astronomers call superior conjunction.

Look for Mars to emerge in the east before dawn in late September or early October 2017. The conjunction of Mars and Venus on October 5, 2017, will likely present the first view of Mars in the morning sky for many sky watchers. Be sure to watch the moon pass close to Mars on the morning of October 17.

Exactly one year after Mars’s superior conjunction on July 27, 2017, Mars will swing to opposition on July 27, 2018. This will be Mars’s best opposition since the historically close opposition on August 28, 2003. In fact, Mars will become the fourth-brightest heavenly body to light up the sky in July 2018, after the sun, moon and the planet Venus. It’s not often that Mars outshines Jupiter, normally the fourth-brightest celestial object.

Wow! Wonderful shot of Mercury – over the Chilean Andes – January 2017, from Yuri Beletsky Nightscapes.

You might have seen the moon near Mercury and Mars on September 17, 2017. Since then, Mars has climbed upward, toward Venus, while Mercury has fallen downward, toward the sunrise.

Mercury lost in the glare of sunset. Mercury will transition out of the morning sky and into the evening sky on October 8. But Mercury may not climb high enough above the glare of sunset to become visible in the evening sky until November 2017.

Mercury is tricky, even when it becomes visible. If you look too early, Mercury will still be obscured by evening twilight; if you look too late, it will have followed the sun beneath the horizon.

The Southern Hemisphere has the advantage and could possibly catch Mercury by the end of October. Watch for Mercury low in the sky, and near the sunset point on the horizon, being mindful of Mercury’s setting time.

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

This image is from February 8, 2016. It shows all 5 bright planets at once. Photo by our friend Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Bottom line: In September 2017, two of the five bright planets appear in the evening sky: Jupiter and Saturn. Venus is found exclusively in the morning sky. Let Venus help guide your eye to the two other morning planets, Mercury and Mars.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

Enjoy knowing where to look in the night sky? Please donate to help EarthSky keep going.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/IJfHCr

Mars and Venus meet up for a close conjunction on October 5, 2017. Thereafter, the red planet Mars climbs higher up in the morning sky all month long, whereas Venus plunges downward. Read more.

Three of the five bright planets – Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury – are evening planets, at least nominally, but only Saturn is clearly visible after nightfall in October 2017. Meanwhile, Jupiter and Mercury are – for the most part this month – lost in sun’s glare. Meanwhile, the other two bright planets – Venus and Mars – can be found in the morning sky, before sunup, through this month. Follow the links below to learn more about the planets in October 2017.

Jupiter sits in the glare of sunset

Saturn out from dusk until mid-evening

Venus, brilliant in east at morning dawn

Mars climbs out of the glare of sunrise

Mercury lost in the glare of sunset

Like what EarthSky offers? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Astronomy events, star parties, festivals, workshops

Visit a new EarthSky feature – Best Places to Stargaze – and add your fav.

Jupiter will disappear from the evening sky in October, but will reappear in the morning sky in November. Your first good chance might come with the Venus/Jupiter conjunction on November 13, 2017. < a href="http://ift.tt/2fHnKea" target=_blank>Read more.

Jupiter sits in the glare of sunset. Jupiter beams as the fourth-brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon and Venus. But in early October, Jupiter shines very low in the sky and in the direction of sunset at dusk. Shortly thereafter, Jupiter follows the sun beneath the horizon. Day by day, Jupiter will sink closer and closer to the sun, to disappear from the evening sky later this month. Your best chance of catching Jupiter is at the first of the month.

From mid-northern latitudes, Jupiter sets about one hour after the sun in early October. By late October, Jupiter will set with the sun, to transition out of the evening sky and into the morning sky. However, you probably won’t see Jupiter in the eastern sky before sunrise until sometime in November 2017.

Jupiter stays out longer after sunset at more southerly latitudes. At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Jupiter sets about one and one-half hours after the sun in early October. In other words, the Southern Hemisphere has the better chance of spotting Jupiter early in the month, or before it disappears from the evening sky.

Click here for an almanac telling you Jupiter’s setting time in your sky.

From both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Jupiter will disappear from the evening sky sometime in October 2017. Look for the king planet to reappear in the morning sky in November 2017. Then a wonderful event will occur! Be sure to watch for Jupiter to join up with Venus to stage a close conjunction in the morning sky on November 13. The sky’s brightest and second-brightest planet near each other will be amazing!

Jupiter shines in front of the constellation Virgo, near Virgo’s sole 1st-magnitude star, called Spica. Spica will also disappear from the evening sky in October but you might be able to catch this star near Venus in early November.

Fernando Roquel Torres in Caguas, Puerto Rico captured Jupiter, the Great Red Spot (GRS) and all 4 of its largest moons – the Galilean satellites – on the date of Jupiter’s 2017 opposition (April 7).

If you have binoculars or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light all on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

These moons orbit Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we were able to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons, through high-powered telescopes. Starting in late 2016, Jupiter’s axis began tilting enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, has not been passing in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter, as seen from our vantage point. This will continue for a period of about three years, during which time Callisto is perpetually visible to those with telescopes, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter as seen from Earth.

Click here for a Jupiter’s moons almanac, courtesy of skyandtelescope.com.

James Martin in Albuquerque, New Mexico caught this wonderful photo of Saturn on its June 15, 2017 opposition.

Let the moon help guide your eye to the planet Saturn (and the nearby star Antares) as darkness falls on October 22, 23 and 24. Read more.

Saturn out from dusk until mid-evening. Look for Saturn as soon as darkness falls. It’s in the southwest sky at dusk or nightfall as seen from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, and in the west at early evening as viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. Your best view of Saturn, from either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, is around nightfall because that’s when Saturn is highest up for the night.

From mid-northern latitudes (US and Europe), Saturn sets about two hours after nightfall in early October, and about one hour after nightfall by the month’s end.

From temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (South Africa, southern Australia), Saturn sets around midnight in early October. By the month’s end, Saturn sets some two hours earlier, around 10 p.m. local time.

Although Saturn has dimmed slightly since September, this world will still be shining at first-magnitude brightness all through October.

Be sure to let the moon guide you to Saturn (and the nearby star Antares) for several days, centered on or near October 23.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light.

Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way, although binoculars will enhance Saturn’s color. To see the rings, you need a small telescope. A telescope will also reveal one or more of Saturn’s many moons, most notably Titan.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at 27^o from edge-on, exhibiting their northern face. In October 2017, the rings open most widely for this year, displaying a maximum inclination.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs; they can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky.

Jenney Disimon in Sabah, Borneo captured Venus before dawn.

Let the moon guide your eye to the planets Venus and Mars on the mornings of October 16, 17 and 18. Read more.

Venus, brilliant in east at morning dawn Venus is always brilliant and beautiful, the brightest celestial body to light up our sky besides the sun and moon. If you’re an early bird, you can count on Venus to be your morning companion all month long.

Although Venus will remain in the morning sky for the rest of this year, Venus will sink closer and closer to the glare of sunrise over the next few months. October will present Venus higher up and easier to view in the morning sky than will the months of November and December of 2017.

Watch out for these highlights. Venus and Mars will have a spectacular conjunction in the morning sky on October 5. Then, later in the month, enjoy the picturesque display of the waning crescent moon and Venus plus Mars) for several mornings, centered on October 16.

Venus reached a milestone as the morning “star” when it swung out to its greatest elongation from the sun on June 3, 2017. At this juncture, Venus was farthest from the sun on our sky’s dome, and the telescope showed Venus as half-illuminated in sunshine, like a first quarter moon. For the rest of the year, Venus will wax toward full phase.

Click here to know Venus’s present phase, remembering to select Venus as your object of interest.

From mid-northern latitudes (U.S. and Europe), Venus rises about two hours before the sun in early October, and about one and one-half hours before sunrise by the month’s end.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and South Africa), Venus rises about one hour before sunup in early October. By the month’s end, that’ll taper to about 40 minutes.

Click here for an almanac giving rising times of Venus in your sky.

The chart below helps to illustrate why we sometimes see Venus in the evening, and sometimes before dawn.

The Earth and Venus orbit the sun counterclockwise as seen from earthly north. When Venus is to the east (left) of the Earth-sun line, we see Venus as an evening “star” in the west after sunset. After Venus reaches its inferior conjunction, Venus then moves to the west (right) of the Earth-sun line, appearing as a morning “star” in the east before sunrise.

Mars, Mercury, Earth’s moon and the dwarf planet Ceres. Mars is smaller than Earth, but bigger than our moon. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA.

The moon will pair up with the red planet Mars on the morning of October 17, 2017. Read more.

Mars climbs out of the glare of sunrise. Mars transitioned out of the evening sky and into the morning sky on July 27, 2017, at which juncture Mars was on the far side of the sun at what astronomers call superior conjunction.

Look for Mars to emerge in the east before dawn in late September or early October 2017. The conjunction of Mars and Venus on October 5, 2017, will likely present the first view of Mars in the morning sky for many sky watchers. Be sure to watch the moon pass close to Mars on the morning of October 17.

Exactly one year after Mars’s superior conjunction on July 27, 2017, Mars will swing to opposition on July 27, 2018. This will be Mars’s best opposition since the historically close opposition on August 28, 2003. In fact, Mars will become the fourth-brightest heavenly body to light up the sky in July 2018, after the sun, moon and the planet Venus. It’s not often that Mars outshines Jupiter, normally the fourth-brightest celestial object.

Wow! Wonderful shot of Mercury – over the Chilean Andes – January 2017, from Yuri Beletsky Nightscapes.

You might have seen the moon near Mercury and Mars on September 17, 2017. Since then, Mars has climbed upward, toward Venus, while Mercury has fallen downward, toward the sunrise.

Mercury lost in the glare of sunset. Mercury will transition out of the morning sky and into the evening sky on October 8. But Mercury may not climb high enough above the glare of sunset to become visible in the evening sky until November 2017.

Mercury is tricky, even when it becomes visible. If you look too early, Mercury will still be obscured by evening twilight; if you look too late, it will have followed the sun beneath the horizon.

The Southern Hemisphere has the advantage and could possibly catch Mercury by the end of October. Watch for Mercury low in the sky, and near the sunset point on the horizon, being mindful of Mercury’s setting time.

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

This image is from February 8, 2016. It shows all 5 bright planets at once. Photo by our friend Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Bottom line: In September 2017, two of the five bright planets appear in the evening sky: Jupiter and Saturn. Venus is found exclusively in the morning sky. Let Venus help guide your eye to the two other morning planets, Mercury and Mars.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

Enjoy knowing where to look in the night sky? Please donate to help EarthSky keep going.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/IJfHCr

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis

As the full scope of Hurricane Maria's devastation emerges, leaders are calling for urgent help. Many of the risks were spelled out in a 2013 climate assessment.

 

Hurricane Maria swept mud and debris down streets and into homes across the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million people, about 44 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

A public health crisis is unfolding in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, as millions of people face a frightening array of urgent dangers, some of which may drag on for weeks or months.

Nearly one week after the storm hit, federal emergency response personnel struggled to make contact with remote communities and restore critical medical infrastructure.

As of Monday, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), already stretched thin by continuing recovery efforts from Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, had yet to reach six communities in Puerto Rico and was just sending its first shipment of water to the remote islands of Vieques and Culebra.

"We are in response mode, and our main priority is saving lives, getting generators to the hospitals, and making sure that there is enough fuel for those generators to run," FEMA spokesperson Jose Davila said.

"It is very bad down there right now," said Sven Rodenbeck, chief science officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2017 hurricane response. "For the vast majority of the island, there is no power. They have had flooding, and the health care system—many of the clinics and hospitals are closed. A lot of the drinking water systems are not operational, along with the waste water systems."

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, gave a blunt assessment of the situation.

"People are dying," Cruz told CBS news on Tuesday. "This is the reality that we live in, the crude aftermath of a storm, a hurricane that has left us practically paralyzed."

‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017

---

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 24, 2017

• The Climate Swerve: Reflections on Mind, Hope and Survival with Robert Jay Lifton and Bill Moyers, Moyers & Company, Sep 21, 2017
• Simulating The Bodily Pain Of Future Climate Change, Opinion by Lisa Feldman Barrett, NPR News, Sep 23, 2017
• Climate deniers want to protect the status quo that made them rich by John Gibbons, Guardian, Sep 22, 2017
• Silent killer: Sweltering planet braces for deadly heat shocks by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 19, 2017
• Solar Panel Tariff Threat: 8 Questions Homeowners Are Asking by Marianne LaVelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017
• Global warming presents a clear and present danger to America's national security, world stability by Alice Hall, Houston Chronicle, Sep 23, 2017
• “Eden Is Broken”: A Caribbean Leader Calls for Action on Climate Change by Natalie Meade, New Yorker, Sep 24, 2017
• Cities Cracking Down on Climate Law-Breakers by Courtney Humphries, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017

Mon Sep 25, 2017

• Category 5 hurricanes have hit 6 land areas dead-on in 2017, more than ever before by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 22, 2017
• The Weird Way That Climate Change Could Make Earthquakes Worse by Kristin Hugo, Newsweek, Sep 24, 2017
• Extreme weather to cost UK billions and leave 2.5m homes at risk of flooding unless ministers take action, warns WWF by Ian Johnston, Independent, Sep 25, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria by Frances Robles & Luis Ferré-Sadurní, New York Times, Sep 24, 2017
• The Mail's censure shows which media outlets are biased on climate change by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017
• At 2017 minimum, scientists ask: Is Arctic entering the Thin Ice Age? by Gloria Dickie, Mongabay, Sep 25,2017
• Hot, isolated, and running out of supplies, parts of Puerto Rico near desperation by Samantha Schmidt & Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, Sep 24, 2017

Tue Sep 26, 2017

• Kerala trains local leaders on climate change by S. Gopikrishna Warrier, India Climate Dialogue, Sep 25, 2017
• Here's How a Borderline La Niña Could Impact the Rest of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season by Jonathan Erdman, The Weather Channel, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump Is Ignoring Puerto Rico’s Suffering by Phillip Carter, Slate, Sep 25, 2017
• Battered Puerto Rico hospitals on life support after Hurricane Maria by Robin Respaut & Dave Graham, Reuters, Sep 24, 2017
• Anger at EU climate chief’s suggestion US can backtrack on Paris by Arthur Neslen, Climate Home, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump's lack of empathy about Puerto Rico is staggering, Opinion by Paul A Reyes, CNN, Sep 26. 2017
• In Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, 2017 has been anything but normal by Michael Kruk, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 26, 2017
• What would an entirely flood-proof city look like? by Sophie Knight, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017

Wed Sep 27, 2017

• Vanishing Antarctic Snowflakes May Alter Sea Level Rise by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 26, 2017
• What Happens When a Superstorm Hits D.C.? by Justin Nobel, Rolling Stone, Sep 21, 2017
• How Puerto Rico Is Becoming Trump's Katrina by Tim Dickenson, Rolling Stone, Sep 26, 2017
• Climate change made Lucifer heatwave far more likely, scientists find by Damien Carrington, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Right-wing media could not be more wrong about the 1.5°C carbon budget paper by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• One in five Australians believe global warming is a hoax by Felicity Caldwell, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 27, 2017
• Exxon Aims to Cut Methane Leaks, a Culprit in Global Warming by Clifford Krause, Energy & Environment, New York Times, Sep 25, 2017
• What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster by Brian Resnick & Eliza Barclay, Science & Health, Vox, Sep 27, 2017

Thu Sep 28, 2017

• Warm waters tripled the amount of ice lost in these Antarctic glaciers — and that's bad for sea level rise by Alessandra Potenza, The Verge, Sep 26, 2017
• Do more to help poor nations cope with climate change, IMF tells rich countries by Larry Elliott, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Washington state deals blow to plan for coal export terminal by Rachel La Corte, AP, Sep 26, 2017
• Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Late-September heat wave leaves climate experts stunned by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Sep 27, 2017
• A key Antarctic glacier just lost a huge piece of ice — the latest sign of its worrying retreat by Chris Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 25, 2017
• Maria and Lee are weakening and heading east. What’s next for this hurricane season? by Brian McNoldy, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017
• Tropical forests used to protect us from climate change. A new study says they’re now making it worse. by Chris Mooney, Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017

Fri Sep 29, 2017

• Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running Hundreds of Billions a Year by Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, Sep 27, 2017
• Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Puerto Ricans Could Be Newest U.S. Climate Refugees by Daniel Cusick Adam Aton, Climate Wire/Scientific American, Sep 28, 2017
• One of the clearest signs of climate change in Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey was the rain by Umair Irfan, Vox, Sep 28, 2017
• Global Warming Tort Litigation: Two Very Different Approaches by David Bookbinder, Niskanen Center, Sep 28, 2017
• Analysis: What does revised methane data mean for the Paris Agreement? by Daisy Dunne, InsideCarbon News, Sep 29, 2017
• Rick Perry proposes sweeping new steps to support coal and nuclear plants by Steven Mufson & Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 29, 2017
• Pruitt Plans to Gut The Clean Power Plan: How Weak Will The New EPA Proposal Be? by Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists, Sep 29, 2017

Sat Sep 30, 2017

• Diesel cars help drive Australia's energy emissions to highest level, report shows by Nicole Hasham, The Age, Sep 29, 2017
• 'Stuck in the dark ages': Pacific Island leader vents after Australia's emissions hit record high by Nicole Ashman, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 29, 2017
• Pascal’s Wager And Global Climate Change: Hedging Your Bet When the Cost of Error is Too High by Eric K Clemons, HuffPost, Sep 25, 2017
• September is the most energetic month for hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic by Matthew Cappucci, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 27, 2017
• ‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017
• The McKibben effect: a case study in how radical environmentalism can work by David Roberts, Energy & Enviornment, Vox, Sep 29, 2017
• New research, September 18-24, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 30, 2017
• Climate change burden unfairly borne by world's poorest countries by Stuart Braun, Deutsche Welle (DW), Sep 28, 2017

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2xS6Ikn

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis

As the full scope of Hurricane Maria's devastation emerges, leaders are calling for urgent help. Many of the risks were spelled out in a 2013 climate assessment.

 

Hurricane Maria swept mud and debris down streets and into homes across the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million people, about 44 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

A public health crisis is unfolding in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, as millions of people face a frightening array of urgent dangers, some of which may drag on for weeks or months.

Nearly one week after the storm hit, federal emergency response personnel struggled to make contact with remote communities and restore critical medical infrastructure.

As of Monday, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), already stretched thin by continuing recovery efforts from Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, had yet to reach six communities in Puerto Rico and was just sending its first shipment of water to the remote islands of Vieques and Culebra.

"We are in response mode, and our main priority is saving lives, getting generators to the hospitals, and making sure that there is enough fuel for those generators to run," FEMA spokesperson Jose Davila said.

"It is very bad down there right now," said Sven Rodenbeck, chief science officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2017 hurricane response. "For the vast majority of the island, there is no power. They have had flooding, and the health care system—many of the clinics and hospitals are closed. A lot of the drinking water systems are not operational, along with the waste water systems."

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, gave a blunt assessment of the situation.

"People are dying," Cruz told CBS news on Tuesday. "This is the reality that we live in, the crude aftermath of a storm, a hurricane that has left us practically paralyzed."

‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017

---

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 24, 2017

• The Climate Swerve: Reflections on Mind, Hope and Survival with Robert Jay Lifton and Bill Moyers, Moyers & Company, Sep 21, 2017
• Simulating The Bodily Pain Of Future Climate Change, Opinion by Lisa Feldman Barrett, NPR News, Sep 23, 2017
• Climate deniers want to protect the status quo that made them rich by John Gibbons, Guardian, Sep 22, 2017
• Silent killer: Sweltering planet braces for deadly heat shocks by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 19, 2017
• Solar Panel Tariff Threat: 8 Questions Homeowners Are Asking by Marianne LaVelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017
• Global warming presents a clear and present danger to America's national security, world stability by Alice Hall, Houston Chronicle, Sep 23, 2017
• “Eden Is Broken”: A Caribbean Leader Calls for Action on Climate Change by Natalie Meade, New Yorker, Sep 24, 2017
• Cities Cracking Down on Climate Law-Breakers by Courtney Humphries, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017

Mon Sep 25, 2017

• Category 5 hurricanes have hit 6 land areas dead-on in 2017, more than ever before by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 22, 2017
• The Weird Way That Climate Change Could Make Earthquakes Worse by Kristin Hugo, Newsweek, Sep 24, 2017
• Extreme weather to cost UK billions and leave 2.5m homes at risk of flooding unless ministers take action, warns WWF by Ian Johnston, Independent, Sep 25, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria by Frances Robles & Luis Ferré-Sadurní, New York Times, Sep 24, 2017
• The Mail's censure shows which media outlets are biased on climate change by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017
• At 2017 minimum, scientists ask: Is Arctic entering the Thin Ice Age? by Gloria Dickie, Mongabay, Sep 25,2017
• Hot, isolated, and running out of supplies, parts of Puerto Rico near desperation by Samantha Schmidt & Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, Sep 24, 2017

Tue Sep 26, 2017

• Kerala trains local leaders on climate change by S. Gopikrishna Warrier, India Climate Dialogue, Sep 25, 2017
• Here's How a Borderline La Niña Could Impact the Rest of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season by Jonathan Erdman, The Weather Channel, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump Is Ignoring Puerto Rico’s Suffering by Phillip Carter, Slate, Sep 25, 2017
• Battered Puerto Rico hospitals on life support after Hurricane Maria by Robin Respaut & Dave Graham, Reuters, Sep 24, 2017
• Anger at EU climate chief’s suggestion US can backtrack on Paris by Arthur Neslen, Climate Home, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump's lack of empathy about Puerto Rico is staggering, Opinion by Paul A Reyes, CNN, Sep 26. 2017
• In Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, 2017 has been anything but normal by Michael Kruk, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 26, 2017
• What would an entirely flood-proof city look like? by Sophie Knight, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017

Wed Sep 27, 2017

• Vanishing Antarctic Snowflakes May Alter Sea Level Rise by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 26, 2017
• What Happens When a Superstorm Hits D.C.? by Justin Nobel, Rolling Stone, Sep 21, 2017
• How Puerto Rico Is Becoming Trump's Katrina by Tim Dickenson, Rolling Stone, Sep 26, 2017
• Climate change made Lucifer heatwave far more likely, scientists find by Damien Carrington, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Right-wing media could not be more wrong about the 1.5°C carbon budget paper by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• One in five Australians believe global warming is a hoax by Felicity Caldwell, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 27, 2017
• Exxon Aims to Cut Methane Leaks, a Culprit in Global Warming by Clifford Krause, Energy & Environment, New York Times, Sep 25, 2017
• What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster by Brian Resnick & Eliza Barclay, Science & Health, Vox, Sep 27, 2017

Thu Sep 28, 2017

• Warm waters tripled the amount of ice lost in these Antarctic glaciers — and that's bad for sea level rise by Alessandra Potenza, The Verge, Sep 26, 2017
• Do more to help poor nations cope with climate change, IMF tells rich countries by Larry Elliott, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Washington state deals blow to plan for coal export terminal by Rachel La Corte, AP, Sep 26, 2017
• Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Late-September heat wave leaves climate experts stunned by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Sep 27, 2017
• A key Antarctic glacier just lost a huge piece of ice — the latest sign of its worrying retreat by Chris Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 25, 2017
• Maria and Lee are weakening and heading east. What’s next for this hurricane season? by Brian McNoldy, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017
• Tropical forests used to protect us from climate change. A new study says they’re now making it worse. by Chris Mooney, Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017

Fri Sep 29, 2017

• Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running Hundreds of Billions a Year by Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, Sep 27, 2017
• Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Puerto Ricans Could Be Newest U.S. Climate Refugees by Daniel Cusick Adam Aton, Climate Wire/Scientific American, Sep 28, 2017
• One of the clearest signs of climate change in Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey was the rain by Umair Irfan, Vox, Sep 28, 2017
• Global Warming Tort Litigation: Two Very Different Approaches by David Bookbinder, Niskanen Center, Sep 28, 2017
• Analysis: What does revised methane data mean for the Paris Agreement? by Daisy Dunne, InsideCarbon News, Sep 29, 2017
• Rick Perry proposes sweeping new steps to support coal and nuclear plants by Steven Mufson & Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 29, 2017
• Pruitt Plans to Gut The Clean Power Plan: How Weak Will The New EPA Proposal Be? by Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists, Sep 29, 2017

Sat Sep 30, 2017

• Diesel cars help drive Australia's energy emissions to highest level, report shows by Nicole Hasham, The Age, Sep 29, 2017
• 'Stuck in the dark ages': Pacific Island leader vents after Australia's emissions hit record high by Nicole Ashman, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 29, 2017
• Pascal’s Wager And Global Climate Change: Hedging Your Bet When the Cost of Error is Too High by Eric K Clemons, HuffPost, Sep 25, 2017
• September is the most energetic month for hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic by Matthew Cappucci, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 27, 2017
• ‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017
• The McKibben effect: a case study in how radical environmentalism can work by David Roberts, Energy & Enviornment, Vox, Sep 29, 2017
• New research, September 18-24, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 30, 2017
• Climate change burden unfairly borne by world's poorest countries by Stuart Braun, Deutsche Welle (DW), Sep 28, 2017

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2xS6Ikn

New Horizons’ discoveries keep coming

New Horizons, which passed Pluto in 2015, is on its way to new discoveries deep in the Kuiper Belt – a region inhabited by ancient remnants from the dawn of the solar system. It’ll encounter its next target, a cold, classic Kuiper Belt object called MU69, in __. In the meantime, mission scientists are still pouring over the data from New Horizons’ Pluto encounter, and wow! The discoveries they’re still making show Pluto – dwarf planet though it may now be – as one of the most fascinating worlds in our solar system.

Find a transcript of this video here.

Here’s an example of what New Horizons is still discovering at Pluto. Images recently analyzed from the craft’s cameras revealed what appear to be small, low-lying isolated clouds – the first to be seen on the dwarf planet. Alan Stern – principal investigator for the New Horizons mission – commented: “If there are clouds, it would mean the weather on Pluto is even more complex than we imagined.” Image via ScienceCast video.

Bottom line: New ScienceCast video on what’s still being learned from New Horizons’ 2015 Pluto encounter, plus a preview of the craft’s next target, MU69.

Via NASA ScienceCast

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2hE4IGe

New Horizons, which passed Pluto in 2015, is on its way to new discoveries deep in the Kuiper Belt – a region inhabited by ancient remnants from the dawn of the solar system. It’ll encounter its next target, a cold, classic Kuiper Belt object called MU69, in __. In the meantime, mission scientists are still pouring over the data from New Horizons’ Pluto encounter, and wow! The discoveries they’re still making show Pluto – dwarf planet though it may now be – as one of the most fascinating worlds in our solar system.

Find a transcript of this video here.

Here’s an example of what New Horizons is still discovering at Pluto. Images recently analyzed from the craft’s cameras revealed what appear to be small, low-lying isolated clouds – the first to be seen on the dwarf planet. Alan Stern – principal investigator for the New Horizons mission – commented: “If there are clouds, it would mean the weather on Pluto is even more complex than we imagined.” Image via ScienceCast video.

Bottom line: New ScienceCast video on what’s still being learned from New Horizons’ 2015 Pluto encounter, plus a preview of the craft’s next target, MU69.

Via NASA ScienceCast

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2hE4IGe

Autumn arrives in Colorado

Image via Manish Mamtani Photography.

EarthSky tees are back! Check out the styles and colors

Manish Mamtani captured this aerial view on September 24, 2017 – two days after the September equinox. Welcome to fall for the Northern Hemisphere!

Help us create an autumn 2017 gallery. Submit your photo here.

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2yz9N5Q

Image via Manish Mamtani Photography.

EarthSky tees are back! Check out the styles and colors

Manish Mamtani captured this aerial view on September 24, 2017 – two days after the September equinox. Welcome to fall for the Northern Hemisphere!

Help us create an autumn 2017 gallery. Submit your photo here.

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2yz9N5Q

News digest – repurposed drugs, HIV, bisphosphonates and… a prostate cancer ‘cure’?

• Our scientists will be comparing the ways in which HIV and lung cancer evolve, as well as evade the immune system, reports the Evening Standard. Studying these health challenges side by side may reveal new targets for lung cancer drugs. For more info on the other projects funded through our Pioneer Award read this post.
• Breast Cancer Now is campaigning for drugs designed to strengthen bones to be given to certain women with breast cancer. The Guardian and Sky News say that all postmenopausal women who have received treatment for early stage breast cancer should be given the drugs, called bisphosphonates. This is because existing data suggests they can stop cancer coming back in the bone later on.
• New stats from Public Health England state there are ‘alarming’ levels of obesity in children leaving primary school. And the Telegraph say this is despite a drop in obesity levels in younger kids, aged 4 and 5.
• The Mail Online reports that a group of British scientists have an idea about how prostate cancer cells spread to the bone. Based on lab tests they suggest an asthma drug, with the catchy name of AS1517499, may stop this from happening.

Number of the week

36

Women with a disability in the UK are 36% less likely to attend breast cancer screening, compared to those with no reported disability.

•  Another drug that may be repurposed to treat cancer is a treatment for Parkinson’s disease called carbidopa. Scientists have shown that the drug can stop the growth of cells and tumours in mice, according to the Huffington Post.
• Immunotherapy has been hailed by many as a new era of cancer medicine, but Dr Ranjana Srivastava, writing for the Guardian, makes the important point that it still doesn’t work in the majority of patients.
• The Huffington Post reports that women with disabilities are less likely to take part in some types of cancer screening than those without. We part-funded the study which found women with a disability are a third less likely to participate in breast cancer screening and a quarter less likely to take part in bowel cancer screening. Our press release has the details. And if you want to take part in screening and think you might need assistance, it’s best to call your doctor or screening unit who will be able to talk through what can be done to accommodate your individual needs.
• A number of patients with late stage bowel cancer were offered end of life care instead of seeing a specialist surgeon, says The Sun and Mail Online. The concern, raised by the charity Bowel Cancer UK, is that patients with bowel cancer that has spread to the liver are missing out on liver surgeries that could potentially extend their lives.

And finally…

We reported that a form of ‘precision’ radiotherapy that targets the pelvis is safe to use on men with advanced localised prostate cancer. But other media reports jumped the gun a little, saying the study showed the radiotherapy technique could ‘cure’ patients. What the headlines didn’t stress is that the trial was testing the safety of the treatment, called IMRT, rather than how it affected survival. The research is still promising though and does suggest that this type of radiotherapy should be studied further for these men. NHS Choices had this excellent account of the complex study.

Gabi 

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2x4yqLC

• Our scientists will be comparing the ways in which HIV and lung cancer evolve, as well as evade the immune system, reports the Evening Standard. Studying these health challenges side by side may reveal new targets for lung cancer drugs. For more info on the other projects funded through our Pioneer Award read this post.
• Breast Cancer Now is campaigning for drugs designed to strengthen bones to be given to certain women with breast cancer. The Guardian and Sky News say that all postmenopausal women who have received treatment for early stage breast cancer should be given the drugs, called bisphosphonates. This is because existing data suggests they can stop cancer coming back in the bone later on.
• New stats from Public Health England state there are ‘alarming’ levels of obesity in children leaving primary school. And the Telegraph say this is despite a drop in obesity levels in younger kids, aged 4 and 5.
• The Mail Online reports that a group of British scientists have an idea about how prostate cancer cells spread to the bone. Based on lab tests they suggest an asthma drug, with the catchy name of AS1517499, may stop this from happening.

Number of the week

36

Women with a disability in the UK are 36% less likely to attend breast cancer screening, compared to those with no reported disability.

•  Another drug that may be repurposed to treat cancer is a treatment for Parkinson’s disease called carbidopa. Scientists have shown that the drug can stop the growth of cells and tumours in mice, according to the Huffington Post.
• Immunotherapy has been hailed by many as a new era of cancer medicine, but Dr Ranjana Srivastava, writing for the Guardian, makes the important point that it still doesn’t work in the majority of patients.
• The Huffington Post reports that women with disabilities are less likely to take part in some types of cancer screening than those without. We part-funded the study which found women with a disability are a third less likely to participate in breast cancer screening and a quarter less likely to take part in bowel cancer screening. Our press release has the details. And if you want to take part in screening and think you might need assistance, it’s best to call your doctor or screening unit who will be able to talk through what can be done to accommodate your individual needs.
• A number of patients with late stage bowel cancer were offered end of life care instead of seeing a specialist surgeon, says The Sun and Mail Online. The concern, raised by the charity Bowel Cancer UK, is that patients with bowel cancer that has spread to the liver are missing out on liver surgeries that could potentially extend their lives.

And finally…

We reported that a form of ‘precision’ radiotherapy that targets the pelvis is safe to use on men with advanced localised prostate cancer. But other media reports jumped the gun a little, saying the study showed the radiotherapy technique could ‘cure’ patients. What the headlines didn’t stress is that the trial was testing the safety of the treatment, called IMRT, rather than how it affected survival. The research is still promising though and does suggest that this type of radiotherapy should be studied further for these men. NHS Choices had this excellent account of the complex study.

Gabi 

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2x4yqLC

Moon’s near side is its dark side

Moon image via US Naval Observatory

Tonight – September 30, 2017 – see if you can make out the dark areas on tonight’s waxing gibbous moon. These smooth, low-lying lunar plains are called mare (singular) or maria (plural), the Latin words for sea or seas. You should be able to see the darkened portions on the moon with the eye alone. This collection of lunar plains – the solidified remnants of ancient seas of molten magma – actually makes the near side of the moon reflect less light than the far side does, which lacks the maria. So, in terms of reflectivity, the moon’s near side is its darker side.

If you’d like to scrutinize the maria more closely, use binoculars or the telescope. Remember, the view will be better around the time of sunset or early dusk – before the dark of night accentuates the moon’s glare.

Near side of the moon via Wikimedia Commons. Click here to expand image.

Far side of the moon via Wikimedia Commons. Click here to expand image.

In times past, astronomers really thought the dark areas contrasting with the light-colored, heavily-crated highlands were lunar seas. In some ways they were correct, except that these were seas of molten magma instead of water. Now solidified, this molten rock came from volcanic eruptions that flooded the lunar lowlands. However, volcanic activity – at least from basaltic volcanoes – is now a thing of the moon’s past.

For the most part, lunar maria are found on the near side of the moon. In this respect, that makes the near side – not the far side – the dark side of the moon.

Maria cover about 30% of the near side but only 2% of the far side. The reason for this is not well understood, but it has been suggested that the crust on the moon’s far side is thicker, making it more difficult for magma to reach the surface.

The lighter-colored highland regions of the moon are composed of anorthosite, a certain kind of igneous rock. On Earth, anorthosite is uncommon, except for in the Adirondack Mountains and the Canadian Shield. For this reason, people in this part of the world like to fancy that the moon originated from their home turf.

The prevailing theory states that the moon was formed when a Mars-sized object crashed into the Earth, creating a ring of debris that eventually condensed into the moon. I suppose time will tell whether this explanation for the moon’s origin is true or false.

Bottom line: Strange as it may seem, the moon’s near side is really its dark side. By that we mean the near side of the moon reflects less light – due to a collection of dark, low-lying lunar plains that are the solidified remnants of ancient seas of molten magma.

Help support EarthSky! Visit the EarthSky store for to see the great selection of educational tools and team gear we have to offer.

The lunar calendars are almost here! They’ll help you with the moon phases throughout the year.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/19WxlQf

Moon image via US Naval Observatory

Tonight – September 30, 2017 – see if you can make out the dark areas on tonight’s waxing gibbous moon. These smooth, low-lying lunar plains are called mare (singular) or maria (plural), the Latin words for sea or seas. You should be able to see the darkened portions on the moon with the eye alone. This collection of lunar plains – the solidified remnants of ancient seas of molten magma – actually makes the near side of the moon reflect less light than the far side does, which lacks the maria. So, in terms of reflectivity, the moon’s near side is its darker side.

If you’d like to scrutinize the maria more closely, use binoculars or the telescope. Remember, the view will be better around the time of sunset or early dusk – before the dark of night accentuates the moon’s glare.

Near side of the moon via Wikimedia Commons. Click here to expand image.

Far side of the moon via Wikimedia Commons. Click here to expand image.

In times past, astronomers really thought the dark areas contrasting with the light-colored, heavily-crated highlands were lunar seas. In some ways they were correct, except that these were seas of molten magma instead of water. Now solidified, this molten rock came from volcanic eruptions that flooded the lunar lowlands. However, volcanic activity – at least from basaltic volcanoes – is now a thing of the moon’s past.

For the most part, lunar maria are found on the near side of the moon. In this respect, that makes the near side – not the far side – the dark side of the moon.

Maria cover about 30% of the near side but only 2% of the far side. The reason for this is not well understood, but it has been suggested that the crust on the moon’s far side is thicker, making it more difficult for magma to reach the surface.

The lighter-colored highland regions of the moon are composed of anorthosite, a certain kind of igneous rock. On Earth, anorthosite is uncommon, except for in the Adirondack Mountains and the Canadian Shield. For this reason, people in this part of the world like to fancy that the moon originated from their home turf.

The prevailing theory states that the moon was formed when a Mars-sized object crashed into the Earth, creating a ring of debris that eventually condensed into the moon. I suppose time will tell whether this explanation for the moon’s origin is true or false.

Bottom line: Strange as it may seem, the moon’s near side is really its dark side. By that we mean the near side of the moon reflects less light – due to a collection of dark, low-lying lunar plains that are the solidified remnants of ancient seas of molten magma.

Help support EarthSky! Visit the EarthSky store for to see the great selection of educational tools and team gear we have to offer.

The lunar calendars are almost here! They’ll help you with the moon phases throughout the year.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/19WxlQf

Meet Fomalhaut, the loneliest star

Tonight – September 28, 2017 – look for the lonelieststar. Which one is that? Many people would say the answer is Fomalhaut, a bright star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish, bright enough to be seen on a moonlit night. Fomalhaut is a bright star – visible from all but far-northern latitudes – located in a region of the sky that contains only very faint stars. So it appears solitary in the night sky.

From the Northern Hemisphere, at about 8 to 9 p.m., look for a solitary star that’s peeking out at you just above the southeast horizon. See it? No other bright star sits so low in the southeast at this time of year. From this hemisphere, Fomalhaut dances close the southern horizon until well after midnight on these autumn nights. It reaches its highest point for the night in the southern sky at roughly 10:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. daylight-saving time). At mid-northern latitudes, Fomalhaut sets in the southwest around 2 to 3 a.m. local time (3 to 4 a.m. local daylight-saving time).

From the Southern Hemisphere, Fomalhaut rises in a southeasterly direction, too, but this star climbs much higher up in the Southern Hemisphere sky and stays out for a longer period of time. Click here to find out precisely when Fomalhaut rises, transits (climbs highest up for the night) and sets in your sky.

Remember … it’s bright and solitary. The coming month or so presents a good time to see this star.

Fomalhaut is a bright white star, the brightest star in an otherwise empty-looking part of the sky. In skylore, you sometimes see it called the Lonely One, or the Solitary One, or sometimes the Autumn Star. Depending on whose list you believe, Fomalhaut is either the 17th or the 18th brightest star in the sky.

Roughly translated from Arabic, the star’s name means mouth of the fish or whale. Its constellation, Piscis Austrinus, represents the Southern Fish.

Besides being one of the brighter stars in the night sky, Fomalhaut has interest to professional astronomers. In 2008, it became the center of the first star with an extrasolar planet candidate (Fomalhaut b) imaged at visible wavelengths. The image was published in the journal Science in November, 2008. By the way, Fomalhaut is the third-brightest star (as viewed from Earth) known to have a planetary system, after the star Pollux in the constellation Gemini and our own sun.

View larger. | This image shows the debris ring around Fomalhaut and the location of its first known planet. This is the actual discovery image, published in the journal Science in November, 2008. Fomalhaut b was the first beyond our solar system visible to the eye in photographic images. Image via Hubble Space Telescope.

Bottom line: Go outside around mid-evening – and learn to keep company with Fomalhaut – brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish – also called the loneliest star.

More about Fomalhaut here.

EarthSky’s guide to the bright planets

Donate: Your support means the world to us

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1UUaLxz

Tonight – September 28, 2017 – look for the lonelieststar. Which one is that? Many people would say the answer is Fomalhaut, a bright star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish, bright enough to be seen on a moonlit night. Fomalhaut is a bright star – visible from all but far-northern latitudes – located in a region of the sky that contains only very faint stars. So it appears solitary in the night sky.

From the Northern Hemisphere, at about 8 to 9 p.m., look for a solitary star that’s peeking out at you just above the southeast horizon. See it? No other bright star sits so low in the southeast at this time of year. From this hemisphere, Fomalhaut dances close the southern horizon until well after midnight on these autumn nights. It reaches its highest point for the night in the southern sky at roughly 10:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. daylight-saving time). At mid-northern latitudes, Fomalhaut sets in the southwest around 2 to 3 a.m. local time (3 to 4 a.m. local daylight-saving time).

From the Southern Hemisphere, Fomalhaut rises in a southeasterly direction, too, but this star climbs much higher up in the Southern Hemisphere sky and stays out for a longer period of time. Click here to find out precisely when Fomalhaut rises, transits (climbs highest up for the night) and sets in your sky.

Remember … it’s bright and solitary. The coming month or so presents a good time to see this star.

Fomalhaut is a bright white star, the brightest star in an otherwise empty-looking part of the sky. In skylore, you sometimes see it called the Lonely One, or the Solitary One, or sometimes the Autumn Star. Depending on whose list you believe, Fomalhaut is either the 17th or the 18th brightest star in the sky.

Roughly translated from Arabic, the star’s name means mouth of the fish or whale. Its constellation, Piscis Austrinus, represents the Southern Fish.

Besides being one of the brighter stars in the night sky, Fomalhaut has interest to professional astronomers. In 2008, it became the center of the first star with an extrasolar planet candidate (Fomalhaut b) imaged at visible wavelengths. The image was published in the journal Science in November, 2008. By the way, Fomalhaut is the third-brightest star (as viewed from Earth) known to have a planetary system, after the star Pollux in the constellation Gemini and our own sun.

View larger. | This image shows the debris ring around Fomalhaut and the location of its first known planet. This is the actual discovery image, published in the journal Science in November, 2008. Fomalhaut b was the first beyond our solar system visible to the eye in photographic images. Image via Hubble Space Telescope.

Bottom line: Go outside around mid-evening – and learn to keep company with Fomalhaut – brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish – also called the loneliest star.

More about Fomalhaut here.

EarthSky’s guide to the bright planets

Donate: Your support means the world to us

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1UUaLxz

VMC went pro and goes great

In the past fortnight, the VMC camera on Mars Express has delivered some of the best images ever, showing the Martian surface in excellent detail, colour and contrast.

If you’re a VMCer (and, if you’re reading this, you are!) and you’ve been following the live (well, as live as possible) frequent updates in Twitter, you’ve been treated to some excellent images of the north polar ice cap, Valles Marineris, the Tharsis Montes region and some of the craters where rovers rove.

Many of the images in August and September so far were acquired from an altitude above the surface of just 3000-5000 km, giving even the puny VMC webcam a chance to use its simple optics to get a great ‘close-up’ view of what’s passing by below.

In fact, these are some of the closest-ever images that VMC has been able to grab, and were acquired approximately half-way between periares and apoares – the closest and furthest points to the surface in the highly elliptical MEX orbit.

And they contrast (nicely!) with the typical VMC images we’ve been used to seeing for the past near-decade, which were all taken at or very close to apoares at about 10 000km.

Why the great pics?

Simon Wood, spacecraft operations engineer on the Mars Express team here at ESOC in Darmstadt, says that the delicious close ups are now possible because VMC has ‘gone pro’.

He points to the big news last year when VMC was promoted to the status of a pro science instrument. Its images are now being studied – and new software is being developed – by the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country, Spain.

The promotion to adulthood meant that observing time (and, hence, spacecraft pointings) for VMC can be programmed into the overall mission science timeline, in coordination with pointing slots for the rest of the instruments, which is a higher priority than when the camera was being used only for outreach, education and PR.

Formerly, VMC observation slots could only be programmed on a strict non-interference basis with the spacecraft’s ‘real’ science instruments, with the effect that VMC only got to peek at Mars from high above, at apoares, the highest point in MEX’s orbit, which few or none of the other instrument teams ever requested as most of their observations require the spacecraft to be close to the planet.

So, back to the question: why the recent series of great close ups?

“To enable it to be used as a scientific instrument, it is necessary to understand how the colours, brightness and shadows on VMC images match up to reality,” says Simon.

“In general, instruments need to regularly collect data for calibration because they change with time. In the particular, in the case of VMC, these data were never collected in the first place, as it ‘wasn’t an instrument’.”

“The low-altitude images are being acquired to obtain what we call flat fields – to correct the pixel response variability.”

“So as part of this process, in August and September, we are taking a series of images at lower altitudes where we have good data from other instruments to which we can compare and correct VMC images. This will help calibrate the output from VMC in future.”

In the meantime, for the rest of we VMCers, it’s a chance to enjoy some terrific shots of our second-favourite planet, as updates are auto-tweeted and all images auto-posted into the dedicated Flickr site.

from Rocket Science http://ift.tt/2xMg0xP
v

In the past fortnight, the VMC camera on Mars Express has delivered some of the best images ever, showing the Martian surface in excellent detail, colour and contrast.

If you’re a VMCer (and, if you’re reading this, you are!) and you’ve been following the live (well, as live as possible) frequent updates in Twitter, you’ve been treated to some excellent images of the north polar ice cap, Valles Marineris, the Tharsis Montes region and some of the craters where rovers rove.

Many of the images in August and September so far were acquired from an altitude above the surface of just 3000-5000 km, giving even the puny VMC webcam a chance to use its simple optics to get a great ‘close-up’ view of what’s passing by below.

In fact, these are some of the closest-ever images that VMC has been able to grab, and were acquired approximately half-way between periares and apoares – the closest and furthest points to the surface in the highly elliptical MEX orbit.

And they contrast (nicely!) with the typical VMC images we’ve been used to seeing for the past near-decade, which were all taken at or very close to apoares at about 10 000km.

Why the great pics?

Simon Wood, spacecraft operations engineer on the Mars Express team here at ESOC in Darmstadt, says that the delicious close ups are now possible because VMC has ‘gone pro’.

He points to the big news last year when VMC was promoted to the status of a pro science instrument. Its images are now being studied – and new software is being developed – by the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country, Spain.

The promotion to adulthood meant that observing time (and, hence, spacecraft pointings) for VMC can be programmed into the overall mission science timeline, in coordination with pointing slots for the rest of the instruments, which is a higher priority than when the camera was being used only for outreach, education and PR.

Formerly, VMC observation slots could only be programmed on a strict non-interference basis with the spacecraft’s ‘real’ science instruments, with the effect that VMC only got to peek at Mars from high above, at apoares, the highest point in MEX’s orbit, which few or none of the other instrument teams ever requested as most of their observations require the spacecraft to be close to the planet.

So, back to the question: why the recent series of great close ups?

“To enable it to be used as a scientific instrument, it is necessary to understand how the colours, brightness and shadows on VMC images match up to reality,” says Simon.

“In general, instruments need to regularly collect data for calibration because they change with time. In the particular, in the case of VMC, these data were never collected in the first place, as it ‘wasn’t an instrument’.”

“The low-altitude images are being acquired to obtain what we call flat fields – to correct the pixel response variability.”

“So as part of this process, in August and September, we are taking a series of images at lower altitudes where we have good data from other instruments to which we can compare and correct VMC images. This will help calibrate the output from VMC in future.”

In the meantime, for the rest of we VMCers, it’s a chance to enjoy some terrific shots of our second-favourite planet, as updates are auto-tweeted and all images auto-posted into the dedicated Flickr site.

from Rocket Science http://ift.tt/2xMg0xP
v

Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races

As soon as Donald Trump won the presidential election, people in the US and around the world knew it was terrible news for the environment. Not wanting to believe that he would try to follow through on our worst fears, we held out hope. 

Those hopes for a sane US federal government were misplaced. But they are replaced by a new hope – an emerging climate leadership at the state level and a continuation of economic forces that favor clean/renewable energy over dirty fossil fuels. In fact, it appears that some states are relishing the national and international leadership roles that they have undertaken. Support for sensible climate and energy policies is now a topic to run on in elections.

This change has manifested itself in American politics. One such plan stems from my home state, but it exemplifies work in other regions. I live in the state of Minnesota where we are gearing up for a gubernatorial election, which is where this plan comes from.

My state is well known as somewhat progressive, both socially and economically. The progressive policies resulted in a very strong 2007 renewable energy standard, which helped to reduce carbon pollution and create 15,000 jobs. 

As an aside, it is really painful for me to have to describe sane energy policies as “progressive.” The fact that conservatives in the US have largely attacked clean energy and the science of climate change is deeply disappointing, but it is a reality nonetheless. 

Consequently, it is not surprising that one of the candidates for Governor, Rebecca Otto, has outlined what may become the trend among other states. She is not yet elected, but her clean energy proposal has many people talking. 

The proposal presents a two-part focus on clean energy-based economic development and climate-change mitigation. Basically, in my state (and in many other states), the clean energy economy is a major contributor to the creation of new, high-paying jobs. Here wind and solar power are king. If you drive through the farm fields of southern Minnesota, you will see wind farms that stretch as far as the eye can see. With solar, there are some large-scale solar farms but the real excitement is the small-scale commercial and residential solar generation that is complementing the large-scale wind turbines.

From an energy production standpoint, this makes sense. A diversified renewable energy portfolio is one that that includes large wind (which provides intermittent power) along with solar that also is intermittent but often generates power when the wind isn’t blowing (and vice versa). Also, the small-scale nature of solar makes it more reliable, less subject to local weather systems.

So the proposed clean energy plan would leverage the fast-growing and high-wage industries in energy. It also brings to bear perhaps the best financing mechanism to spur clean energy growth (the so-called “fee and dividend”). The way fee and dividend works is a fee is charged to companies that produce greenhouse gas emissions. No longer would society be subsidizing the costs from carbon pollution. 

The revenue from the fees would be returned to citizens so that it becomes a revenue-neutral tool. There is no net increase in cost or increase in income. What the fee and dividend method does, however, is reward people and companies for good choices. If you make choices that reduce your greenhouse gas contributions, you end up with extra money at the end of the year. On the other hand, if you make poor choices, you end up with less money. I think of this as a tax that advantages the smart over the, well, less smart.

What is also exciting about the plan is that a portion of the fees would go to fund clean-energy technology and tax credits. For instance, residents would get funds to offset the costs of energy purchases. So when residents insulate their house, buy solar panels, or install high-efficiency heat pumps, part of that cost is covered.

It will be interesting to see if similar plans emerge nationally. Most importantly, it will be interesting to see whether the climate change and energy topic becomes something that political candidates actively run on. In the past, this issue has been low on voter priorities lists. But, if proposing bold new plans can get votes, that may change – and quickly.

Click here to read the rest

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2x2o89X

As soon as Donald Trump won the presidential election, people in the US and around the world knew it was terrible news for the environment. Not wanting to believe that he would try to follow through on our worst fears, we held out hope. 

Those hopes for a sane US federal government were misplaced. But they are replaced by a new hope – an emerging climate leadership at the state level and a continuation of economic forces that favor clean/renewable energy over dirty fossil fuels. In fact, it appears that some states are relishing the national and international leadership roles that they have undertaken. Support for sensible climate and energy policies is now a topic to run on in elections.

This change has manifested itself in American politics. One such plan stems from my home state, but it exemplifies work in other regions. I live in the state of Minnesota where we are gearing up for a gubernatorial election, which is where this plan comes from.

My state is well known as somewhat progressive, both socially and economically. The progressive policies resulted in a very strong 2007 renewable energy standard, which helped to reduce carbon pollution and create 15,000 jobs. 

As an aside, it is really painful for me to have to describe sane energy policies as “progressive.” The fact that conservatives in the US have largely attacked clean energy and the science of climate change is deeply disappointing, but it is a reality nonetheless. 

Consequently, it is not surprising that one of the candidates for Governor, Rebecca Otto, has outlined what may become the trend among other states. She is not yet elected, but her clean energy proposal has many people talking. 

The proposal presents a two-part focus on clean energy-based economic development and climate-change mitigation. Basically, in my state (and in many other states), the clean energy economy is a major contributor to the creation of new, high-paying jobs. Here wind and solar power are king. If you drive through the farm fields of southern Minnesota, you will see wind farms that stretch as far as the eye can see. With solar, there are some large-scale solar farms but the real excitement is the small-scale commercial and residential solar generation that is complementing the large-scale wind turbines.

From an energy production standpoint, this makes sense. A diversified renewable energy portfolio is one that that includes large wind (which provides intermittent power) along with solar that also is intermittent but often generates power when the wind isn’t blowing (and vice versa). Also, the small-scale nature of solar makes it more reliable, less subject to local weather systems.

So the proposed clean energy plan would leverage the fast-growing and high-wage industries in energy. It also brings to bear perhaps the best financing mechanism to spur clean energy growth (the so-called “fee and dividend”). The way fee and dividend works is a fee is charged to companies that produce greenhouse gas emissions. No longer would society be subsidizing the costs from carbon pollution. 

The revenue from the fees would be returned to citizens so that it becomes a revenue-neutral tool. There is no net increase in cost or increase in income. What the fee and dividend method does, however, is reward people and companies for good choices. If you make choices that reduce your greenhouse gas contributions, you end up with extra money at the end of the year. On the other hand, if you make poor choices, you end up with less money. I think of this as a tax that advantages the smart over the, well, less smart.

What is also exciting about the plan is that a portion of the fees would go to fund clean-energy technology and tax credits. For instance, residents would get funds to offset the costs of energy purchases. So when residents insulate their house, buy solar panels, or install high-efficiency heat pumps, part of that cost is covered.

It will be interesting to see if similar plans emerge nationally. Most importantly, it will be interesting to see whether the climate change and energy topic becomes something that political candidates actively run on. In the past, this issue has been low on voter priorities lists. But, if proposing bold new plans can get votes, that may change – and quickly.

Click here to read the rest

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2x2o89X

The Mail's censure shows which media outlets are biased on climate change

Back in February, the conservative UK tabloid Mail on Sunday ran an error-riddled piece by David Rose attacking Noaa climate scientists, who had published data and a paper showing that there was never a global warming pause. The attack was based on an interview with former Noaa scientist John Bates, who subsequently admitted about his comments:

I knew people would misuse this. But you can’t control other people.

The UK press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) has now upheld a complaint submitted by Bob Ward of the London School of Economics. Ipso ruled that the Mail piece “failed to take care over the accuracy of the article” and “had then failed to correct these significantly misleading statements,” and the Mail on Sunday was required to publish the Ipso adjudication.

The Mail’s manufactured controversy

Essentially, Bates had expressed displeasure in the way the data from a Noaa paper had been archived at the organization. Rose and the Mail blew this minor complaint into the sensationalist claim that “world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data.” It would be hard to find a better example of fake news than this one. The piece included a grossly misleading chart that Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies director Gavin Schmidt described as a "hilarious screw up."  In fact, the Noaa data and paper in question had already been independently verified by other researchers, and are in close agreement with global temperature data from other scientific groups.

And of course the paper itself had undergone rigorous peer-review prior to its publication in one of the world’s most highly-regarded scientific journals, Science. All signs pointed to the Noaa data and paper being based on sound science that had been reproduced and verified. But that didn’t fit the preferred denialist narrative of Rose and the Mail on Sunday, so they weaved a conspiracy theory that then reverberated through the right-wing media echo chamber.

Misinformation spread through right-wing media outlets

Rose’s story seemed to have all the climate denial components that biased conservative media outlets crave. A lone wolf scientist whistleblowing his former colleagues with accusations of data manipulation for political purposes? Despite the glaring errors in the story that were immediately called out by climate scientists and reputable science journalists, this narrative proved irresistible to the conservative media: Breitbart, Fox News, Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, and more ran with Rose’s story. Meanwhile, legitimate news outlets like The Guardian, The Washington Post, Carbon Brief, E&E News, Ars Technica, Science Insider, RealClimate, and numerous other science blogs quickly debunked Rose’s falsehoods.

The errors really aren’t surprising. Rose and the Mail have a long history of climate denial, including error-riddled stories on Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice, human-caused global warming, even the very existence of global warming. And the Mail has such a long history of inaccuracies in general that Wikipedia editors consider it an unreliable source and banned its use. But Breitbart, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and other right-wing media outlets have no qualms with publishing inaccuracies from unreliable sources, as long as the story advances their climate denial agenda.

House (anti-)science committee echoed the Mail falsehoods

Lamar Smith (R-TX), the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, has been attacking the Noaa scientists since they published their ‘pausebuster’ paper in 2015. Rose’s piece was almost perfectly timed for one of Smith’s frequent anti-climate science congressional hearings just two days later, but alas, by then reputable journalists had already soundly debunked the story. Smith could only plead with attendees to believe that the story “may be more serious than you think.”

As Ipso has verified, it wasn’t.

Click here to read the rest

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2x2s4aC

Back in February, the conservative UK tabloid Mail on Sunday ran an error-riddled piece by David Rose attacking Noaa climate scientists, who had published data and a paper showing that there was never a global warming pause. The attack was based on an interview with former Noaa scientist John Bates, who subsequently admitted about his comments:

I knew people would misuse this. But you can’t control other people.

The UK press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) has now upheld a complaint submitted by Bob Ward of the London School of Economics. Ipso ruled that the Mail piece “failed to take care over the accuracy of the article” and “had then failed to correct these significantly misleading statements,” and the Mail on Sunday was required to publish the Ipso adjudication.

The Mail’s manufactured controversy

Essentially, Bates had expressed displeasure in the way the data from a Noaa paper had been archived at the organization. Rose and the Mail blew this minor complaint into the sensationalist claim that “world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data.” It would be hard to find a better example of fake news than this one. The piece included a grossly misleading chart that Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies director Gavin Schmidt described as a "hilarious screw up."  In fact, the Noaa data and paper in question had already been independently verified by other researchers, and are in close agreement with global temperature data from other scientific groups.

And of course the paper itself had undergone rigorous peer-review prior to its publication in one of the world’s most highly-regarded scientific journals, Science. All signs pointed to the Noaa data and paper being based on sound science that had been reproduced and verified. But that didn’t fit the preferred denialist narrative of Rose and the Mail on Sunday, so they weaved a conspiracy theory that then reverberated through the right-wing media echo chamber.

Misinformation spread through right-wing media outlets

Rose’s story seemed to have all the climate denial components that biased conservative media outlets crave. A lone wolf scientist whistleblowing his former colleagues with accusations of data manipulation for political purposes? Despite the glaring errors in the story that were immediately called out by climate scientists and reputable science journalists, this narrative proved irresistible to the conservative media: Breitbart, Fox News, Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, and more ran with Rose’s story. Meanwhile, legitimate news outlets like The Guardian, The Washington Post, Carbon Brief, E&E News, Ars Technica, Science Insider, RealClimate, and numerous other science blogs quickly debunked Rose’s falsehoods.

The errors really aren’t surprising. Rose and the Mail have a long history of climate denial, including error-riddled stories on Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice, human-caused global warming, even the very existence of global warming. And the Mail has such a long history of inaccuracies in general that Wikipedia editors consider it an unreliable source and banned its use. But Breitbart, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and other right-wing media outlets have no qualms with publishing inaccuracies from unreliable sources, as long as the story advances their climate denial agenda.

House (anti-)science committee echoed the Mail falsehoods

Lamar Smith (R-TX), the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, has been attacking the Noaa scientists since they published their ‘pausebuster’ paper in 2015. Rose’s piece was almost perfectly timed for one of Smith’s frequent anti-climate science congressional hearings just two days later, but alas, by then reputable journalists had already soundly debunked the story. Smith could only plead with attendees to believe that the story “may be more serious than you think.”

As Ipso has verified, it wasn’t.

Click here to read the rest

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2x2s4aC

New research, September 18-24, 2017

A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. The graphic is from Lamsal et al. (paper #32).

Climate change

1. Inconsistent subsurface and deeper ocean warming signals during recent global warming and hiatus

"In general, the global SDO has sequestered a significant amount of heat – about 3.50*10²² joules with trends of 0.59 W m⁻² on average among the four datasets – during the recent hiatus, demonstrating widespread and significant warming signals in the global SDO." (SDO = Subsurface and Deeper Ocean.)

2. Enhanced Decadal Warming of the Southeast Indian Ocean during the Recent Global Surface Warming Slowdown

"The rapid Indian Ocean warming during the early-21^th century was a major heat sink for the recent global surface warming slowdown. Analysis of observational data and ocean model experiments reveals that during 2003-2012 more than half of the increased upper Indian Ocean heat content was concentrated in the southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO), causing a warming “hotspot” of 0.8-1.2 K decade^-1 near the west coast of Australia." ... "Large-ensemble climate model simulations suggest that this warming event was likely also exacerbated by anthropogenic forcing and thus unprecedentedly strong as compared to previous IPO transition periods."

3. Emission budgets and pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 °C

"If CO2 emissions are continuously adjusted over time to limit 2100 warming to 1.5 °C, with ambitious non-CO2 mitigation, net future cumulative CO2 emissions are unlikely to prove less than 250 GtC and unlikely greater than 540 GtC. Hence, limiting warming to 1.5 °C is not yet a geophysical impossibility, but is likely to require delivery on strengthened pledges for 2030 followed by challengingly deep and rapid mitigation."

4. More-Persistent Weak Stratospheric Polar Vortex States Linked to Cold Extremes

"Using hierarchical clustering, we show that over the last 37 years, the frequency of weak vortex states in mid to late winter (January and February) has increased which were accompanied by subsequent cold extremes in mid-latitude Eurasia. For this region 60% of the observed cooling in the era of Arctic amplification, i.e. since 1990, can be explained by the increased frequency of weak stratospheric polar vortex states, a number which increases to almost 80% when El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability is included as well."

5. Climatic and synoptic characterization of heat waves in Brazil

"The performed analysis reveals the existence of positive and significant trends in HW frequency since the 1980s, particularly for the cities of São Paulo, Manaus, and Recife."

6. Roles of wind stress and thermodynamic forcing in recent trends in Antarctic sea ice and Southern Ocean SST: An ocean-sea ice model study

"The results suggest that Antarctic sea ice expansion is mostly explained by trends in the thermodynamic surface forcing, notably cooling and drying and a reduction in longwave radiation. Similarly, thermodynamic forcing is found to be the main driver of the zonal SST cooling trend. While apparently less influential on sea ice extent and SST, wind stress plays a key role in sea ice motion, thickening coastal sea ice, and thinning and decreasing the concentration of ice in mid-pack regions of the Amundsen-eastern Ross seas and 65–95°E in winter-spring."

7. CO2-Induced Ocean Warming of the Antarctic Continental Shelf in an Eddying Global Climate Model

8. Impacts of recent warming and the 2015/16 El Niño on tropical Peruvian ice fields

9. Fingerprints of Sea-Level Rise on Changing Tides in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays

10. Hydrological drought in the Anthropocene: impacts of local water extraction and reservoir regulation in the US

11. Are simulated and observed 20th century tropical Pacific sea surface temperature trends significant relative to internal variability?

12. Driving Roles of Tropospheric and Stratospheric Thermal Anomalies in Intensification and Persistence of the Arctic Superstorm in 2012

13. The role of microbes in snowmelt and radiative forcing on an Alaskan icefield

14. Multi-decadal weakening of Indian summer monsoon circulation induces an increasing northern Indian Ocean sea level

15. Global budget of tropospheric ozone: Evaluating recent model advances with satellite (OMI), aircraft (IAGOS), and ozonesonde observations

16. A Madden-Julian Oscillation event remotely accelerates ocean upwelling to abruptly terminate the 1997/1998 super El Niño

17. Methods and model dependency of extreme event attribution: The 2015 European drought

18. Variability and quasi-decadal changes in the methane budget over the period 2000–2012

19. Warming and wetting climate during last century revealed by an ice core in northwest Tibetan Plateau

20. Deep Uncertainty Surrounding Coastal Flood Risk Projections: A Case Study for New Orleans

21. Which temperature and precipitation extremes best explain the variation of warm vs. cold years and wet vs. dry years?

22. Relative humidity has uneven effects onshifts from snow to rain over the Western U.S.

23. Long-term warming trends in Korea and contribution of urbanization: An updated assessment

24. Post-stagnation retreat of Kamb Ice Stream's grounding zone

25. Structure and evolution of the drainage system of a Himalayan debris-covered glacier, and its relationship with patterns of mass loss

26. Impacts of 1.5 and 2 °C global warming on water availability and extreme hydrological events in Yiluo and Beijiang River catchments in China

27. The influence of flow and bed slope on gas transfer in steep streams and their implications for evasion of CO2

28. A Source-Receptor Perspective on the Polar Hydrologic Cycle: Sources, Seasonality, and Arctic-Antarctic Parity in the Hydrologic Cycle Response to CO₂-Doubling

29. Is there a role for human-induced climate change in the precipitation decline that drove the California drought?

30. The Impact of Climate Change on Hazardous Convective Weather in the United States: Insight from High-Resolution Dynamical Downscaling

31. Tropical ocean contributions to California’s surprisingly dry El Niño of 2015-16

Climate change impacts

32. The greening of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau under climate change

"Highlights

• Climatic suitability of the nine Himalayan tree-line species will expand towards higher elevation into areas that are currently unsuitable.

• The total climatic suitable areas will increase in the future compared to the current period.

• High elevation belts will see more climatic suitability.

• Cold stress is the main limiting factor for the current and future distribution of the investigated species."

33. Adaptation to climate change and freshwater resources in Vusama village, Viti Levu, Fiji

"In particular, prolonged drought and changing seasonal patterns, together with people’s increasing reliance on a village borehole in lieu of family wells have resulted in a freshwater crisis. People are coping by using earnings from wage employment and harvesting and selling seafood to buy water and vegetables, rationing freshwater and depending on extended social networks for fresh produce."

34. Vulnerability of specialty crops to short-term climatic variability and adaptation strategies in the Midwestern USA

"Our results indicate that weather-induced losses vary by state with excessive moisture resulting in the highest total number of claims across all Midwestern states followed by freeze and drought events. Overall, specialty crop growers are aware of the increased production risk under a changing climate and have identified the need for crop-specific weather, production, and financial risk management tools and increased crop insurance coverage."

35. Soil microbial communities drive the resistance of ecosystem multifunctionality to global change in drylands across the globe

36. Increased resource use efficiency amplifies positive response of aquatic primary production to experimental warming

37. Quick release of internal water storage in a glacier leads to underestimation of the hazard potential of glacial lake outburst floods from Lake Merzbacher in central Tian shan Mountains

38. Staying in place during times of change in Arctic Alaska: the implications of attachment, alternatives, and buffering

39. Plant resistance to drought depends on timely stomatal closure

40. The relative importance of subjective and structural factors for individual adaptation to climate change by forest owners in Sweden

41. Ecological performance of construction materials subject to ocean climate change

42. Climate variability affects the germination strategies exhibited by arid land plants

43. Winter warming effects on tundra shrub performance are species-specific and dependent on spring conditions

44. Effects of shrub and tree cover increase on the near-surface atmosphere in northern Fennoscandia

45. Significance of direct and indirect impacts of climate change on groundwater resources in the Olifants River basin: A review

46. Complex effect of projected sea temperature and wind change on flatfish dispersal

Climate change mitigation

47. The potential of behavioural change for climate change mitigation: a case study for the European Union

"Our results indicate that modest to rigorous behavioural change could reduce per capita footprint emissions by 6 to 16%, out of which one fourth will take place outside the EU, predominantly by reducing land use change. The domestic emission savings would contribute to reduce the costs of achieving the internationally agreed climate goal of the EU by 13.5 to 30%. Moreover, many of these options would also yield co-benefits such as monetary savings, positive health impacts or animal wellbeing."

48. For wind turbines in complex terrain, the devil is in the detail

"We find that the mean wind, wind shear and turbulence level are extremely sensitive to the exact details of the terrain: a small modification of the edge of our scale model, results in a reduction of the estimated annual energy production by at least 50% and an increase in the turbulence level by a factor of five in the worst-case scenario with the most unfavorable wind direction."

49. Making sense of climate engineering: a focus group study of lay publics in four countries

"With few exceptions, participants largely expressed negative views of large-scale deliberate intervention in climate systems as a means to address anthropogenic global warming."

50. Are the impacts of land use on warming underestimated in climate policy? 

51. Cultural multilevel selection suggests neither large or small cooperative agreements are likely to solve climate change without changing the game

52. Carbon tax effects on the poor: a SAM-based approach

53. Global assessment of shipping emissions in 2015 on a high spatial and temporal resolution

54. Greedy or needy? Land use and climate impacts of food in 2050 under different livestock futures

55. Roadmaps to Transition Countries to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy for All Purposes to Curtail Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Risk

56. Climate mitigation by dairy intensification depends on intensive use of spared grassland

57. The presidential politics of climate discourse: Energy frames, policy, and political tactics from the 2016 Primaries in the United States

58. Past and future carbon sequestration benefits of China’s grain for green program

59. What policies improve forest cover? A systematic review of research from Mesoamerica

Other papers

60. Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion

"Rather than a coincidence, we postulate that halogen-catalyzed stratospheric ozone depletion over Antarctica triggered large-scale atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate changes similar to the modern Antarctic ozone hole, explaining the synchronicity and abruptness of accelerated Southern Hemisphere deglaciation."

61. Atmospheric methane control mechanisms during the early Holocene

62. Spatial distribution of the atmospheric radionuclide production by Galactic cosmic rays and its imprint in natural archives

63. Special issue on earth observation of essential climate variables

64. Solar signal on regional scale: A study of possible solar impact upon Romania's climate

65. Influence of solar variability on the occurrence of central European weather types from 1763 to 2009

66. Can measurements of the near-infrared solar spectral irradiance be reconciled? A new ground-based assessment between 4000-10000 cm-1

67. Sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to interglacial climate forcing: MIS 5e versus MIS 11

68. Characterizing Sources of Uncertainty from Global Climate Models and Downscaling Techniques

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2xQMeZ1

A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. The graphic is from Lamsal et al. (paper #32).

Climate change

1. Inconsistent subsurface and deeper ocean warming signals during recent global warming and hiatus

"In general, the global SDO has sequestered a significant amount of heat – about 3.50*10²² joules with trends of 0.59 W m⁻² on average among the four datasets – during the recent hiatus, demonstrating widespread and significant warming signals in the global SDO." (SDO = Subsurface and Deeper Ocean.)

2. Enhanced Decadal Warming of the Southeast Indian Ocean during the Recent Global Surface Warming Slowdown

"The rapid Indian Ocean warming during the early-21^th century was a major heat sink for the recent global surface warming slowdown. Analysis of observational data and ocean model experiments reveals that during 2003-2012 more than half of the increased upper Indian Ocean heat content was concentrated in the southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO), causing a warming “hotspot” of 0.8-1.2 K decade^-1 near the west coast of Australia." ... "Large-ensemble climate model simulations suggest that this warming event was likely also exacerbated by anthropogenic forcing and thus unprecedentedly strong as compared to previous IPO transition periods."

3. Emission budgets and pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 °C

"If CO2 emissions are continuously adjusted over time to limit 2100 warming to 1.5 °C, with ambitious non-CO2 mitigation, net future cumulative CO2 emissions are unlikely to prove less than 250 GtC and unlikely greater than 540 GtC. Hence, limiting warming to 1.5 °C is not yet a geophysical impossibility, but is likely to require delivery on strengthened pledges for 2030 followed by challengingly deep and rapid mitigation."

4. More-Persistent Weak Stratospheric Polar Vortex States Linked to Cold Extremes

"Using hierarchical clustering, we show that over the last 37 years, the frequency of weak vortex states in mid to late winter (January and February) has increased which were accompanied by subsequent cold extremes in mid-latitude Eurasia. For this region 60% of the observed cooling in the era of Arctic amplification, i.e. since 1990, can be explained by the increased frequency of weak stratospheric polar vortex states, a number which increases to almost 80% when El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability is included as well."

5. Climatic and synoptic characterization of heat waves in Brazil

"The performed analysis reveals the existence of positive and significant trends in HW frequency since the 1980s, particularly for the cities of São Paulo, Manaus, and Recife."

6. Roles of wind stress and thermodynamic forcing in recent trends in Antarctic sea ice and Southern Ocean SST: An ocean-sea ice model study

"The results suggest that Antarctic sea ice expansion is mostly explained by trends in the thermodynamic surface forcing, notably cooling and drying and a reduction in longwave radiation. Similarly, thermodynamic forcing is found to be the main driver of the zonal SST cooling trend. While apparently less influential on sea ice extent and SST, wind stress plays a key role in sea ice motion, thickening coastal sea ice, and thinning and decreasing the concentration of ice in mid-pack regions of the Amundsen-eastern Ross seas and 65–95°E in winter-spring."

7. CO2-Induced Ocean Warming of the Antarctic Continental Shelf in an Eddying Global Climate Model

8. Impacts of recent warming and the 2015/16 El Niño on tropical Peruvian ice fields

9. Fingerprints of Sea-Level Rise on Changing Tides in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays

10. Hydrological drought in the Anthropocene: impacts of local water extraction and reservoir regulation in the US

11. Are simulated and observed 20th century tropical Pacific sea surface temperature trends significant relative to internal variability?

12. Driving Roles of Tropospheric and Stratospheric Thermal Anomalies in Intensification and Persistence of the Arctic Superstorm in 2012

13. The role of microbes in snowmelt and radiative forcing on an Alaskan icefield

14. Multi-decadal weakening of Indian summer monsoon circulation induces an increasing northern Indian Ocean sea level

15. Global budget of tropospheric ozone: Evaluating recent model advances with satellite (OMI), aircraft (IAGOS), and ozonesonde observations

16. A Madden-Julian Oscillation event remotely accelerates ocean upwelling to abruptly terminate the 1997/1998 super El Niño

17. Methods and model dependency of extreme event attribution: The 2015 European drought

18. Variability and quasi-decadal changes in the methane budget over the period 2000–2012

19. Warming and wetting climate during last century revealed by an ice core in northwest Tibetan Plateau

20. Deep Uncertainty Surrounding Coastal Flood Risk Projections: A Case Study for New Orleans

21. Which temperature and precipitation extremes best explain the variation of warm vs. cold years and wet vs. dry years?

22. Relative humidity has uneven effects onshifts from snow to rain over the Western U.S.

23. Long-term warming trends in Korea and contribution of urbanization: An updated assessment

24. Post-stagnation retreat of Kamb Ice Stream's grounding zone

25. Structure and evolution of the drainage system of a Himalayan debris-covered glacier, and its relationship with patterns of mass loss

26. Impacts of 1.5 and 2 °C global warming on water availability and extreme hydrological events in Yiluo and Beijiang River catchments in China

27. The influence of flow and bed slope on gas transfer in steep streams and their implications for evasion of CO2

28. A Source-Receptor Perspective on the Polar Hydrologic Cycle: Sources, Seasonality, and Arctic-Antarctic Parity in the Hydrologic Cycle Response to CO₂-Doubling

29. Is there a role for human-induced climate change in the precipitation decline that drove the California drought?

30. The Impact of Climate Change on Hazardous Convective Weather in the United States: Insight from High-Resolution Dynamical Downscaling

31. Tropical ocean contributions to California’s surprisingly dry El Niño of 2015-16

Climate change impacts

32. The greening of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau under climate change

"Highlights

• Climatic suitability of the nine Himalayan tree-line species will expand towards higher elevation into areas that are currently unsuitable.

• The total climatic suitable areas will increase in the future compared to the current period.

• High elevation belts will see more climatic suitability.

• Cold stress is the main limiting factor for the current and future distribution of the investigated species."

33. Adaptation to climate change and freshwater resources in Vusama village, Viti Levu, Fiji

"In particular, prolonged drought and changing seasonal patterns, together with people’s increasing reliance on a village borehole in lieu of family wells have resulted in a freshwater crisis. People are coping by using earnings from wage employment and harvesting and selling seafood to buy water and vegetables, rationing freshwater and depending on extended social networks for fresh produce."

34. Vulnerability of specialty crops to short-term climatic variability and adaptation strategies in the Midwestern USA

"Our results indicate that weather-induced losses vary by state with excessive moisture resulting in the highest total number of claims across all Midwestern states followed by freeze and drought events. Overall, specialty crop growers are aware of the increased production risk under a changing climate and have identified the need for crop-specific weather, production, and financial risk management tools and increased crop insurance coverage."

35. Soil microbial communities drive the resistance of ecosystem multifunctionality to global change in drylands across the globe

36. Increased resource use efficiency amplifies positive response of aquatic primary production to experimental warming

37. Quick release of internal water storage in a glacier leads to underestimation of the hazard potential of glacial lake outburst floods from Lake Merzbacher in central Tian shan Mountains

38. Staying in place during times of change in Arctic Alaska: the implications of attachment, alternatives, and buffering

39. Plant resistance to drought depends on timely stomatal closure

40. The relative importance of subjective and structural factors for individual adaptation to climate change by forest owners in Sweden

41. Ecological performance of construction materials subject to ocean climate change

42. Climate variability affects the germination strategies exhibited by arid land plants

43. Winter warming effects on tundra shrub performance are species-specific and dependent on spring conditions

44. Effects of shrub and tree cover increase on the near-surface atmosphere in northern Fennoscandia

45. Significance of direct and indirect impacts of climate change on groundwater resources in the Olifants River basin: A review

46. Complex effect of projected sea temperature and wind change on flatfish dispersal

Climate change mitigation

47. The potential of behavioural change for climate change mitigation: a case study for the European Union

"Our results indicate that modest to rigorous behavioural change could reduce per capita footprint emissions by 6 to 16%, out of which one fourth will take place outside the EU, predominantly by reducing land use change. The domestic emission savings would contribute to reduce the costs of achieving the internationally agreed climate goal of the EU by 13.5 to 30%. Moreover, many of these options would also yield co-benefits such as monetary savings, positive health impacts or animal wellbeing."

48. For wind turbines in complex terrain, the devil is in the detail

"We find that the mean wind, wind shear and turbulence level are extremely sensitive to the exact details of the terrain: a small modification of the edge of our scale model, results in a reduction of the estimated annual energy production by at least 50% and an increase in the turbulence level by a factor of five in the worst-case scenario with the most unfavorable wind direction."

49. Making sense of climate engineering: a focus group study of lay publics in four countries

"With few exceptions, participants largely expressed negative views of large-scale deliberate intervention in climate systems as a means to address anthropogenic global warming."

50. Are the impacts of land use on warming underestimated in climate policy? 

51. Cultural multilevel selection suggests neither large or small cooperative agreements are likely to solve climate change without changing the game

52. Carbon tax effects on the poor: a SAM-based approach

53. Global assessment of shipping emissions in 2015 on a high spatial and temporal resolution

54. Greedy or needy? Land use and climate impacts of food in 2050 under different livestock futures

55. Roadmaps to Transition Countries to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy for All Purposes to Curtail Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Risk

56. Climate mitigation by dairy intensification depends on intensive use of spared grassland

57. The presidential politics of climate discourse: Energy frames, policy, and political tactics from the 2016 Primaries in the United States

58. Past and future carbon sequestration benefits of China’s grain for green program

59. What policies improve forest cover? A systematic review of research from Mesoamerica

Other papers

60. Synchronous volcanic eruptions and abrupt climate change ∼17.7 ka plausibly linked by stratospheric ozone depletion

"Rather than a coincidence, we postulate that halogen-catalyzed stratospheric ozone depletion over Antarctica triggered large-scale atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate changes similar to the modern Antarctic ozone hole, explaining the synchronicity and abruptness of accelerated Southern Hemisphere deglaciation."

61. Atmospheric methane control mechanisms during the early Holocene

62. Spatial distribution of the atmospheric radionuclide production by Galactic cosmic rays and its imprint in natural archives

63. Special issue on earth observation of essential climate variables

64. Solar signal on regional scale: A study of possible solar impact upon Romania's climate

65. Influence of solar variability on the occurrence of central European weather types from 1763 to 2009

66. Can measurements of the near-infrared solar spectral irradiance be reconciled? A new ground-based assessment between 4000-10000 cm-1

67. Sensitivity of the Greenland Ice Sheet to interglacial climate forcing: MIS 5e versus MIS 11

68. Characterizing Sources of Uncertainty from Global Climate Models and Downscaling Techniques

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2xQMeZ1

Engineering the Future: MQ-9 pilot gives back

An Air Force pilot was recently recognized for his contributions to the community with the Great Minds in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Hero award, the League of United Latin American Citizens Excellence and Service Award and the Air Combat Command National Public Service Award.

from http://ift.tt/2xQZ9KN

An Air Force pilot was recently recognized for his contributions to the community with the Great Minds in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Hero award, the League of United Latin American Citizens Excellence and Service Award and the Air Combat Command National Public Service Award.

from http://ift.tt/2xQZ9KN

Star of the week: Gamma Cephei

Artist’s conception of Gamma Cephei’s planet, found in 2002, and its view of the two stars in the Gamma Cephei system. The planet, shown here with rings, orbits the bright yellow star on the right every 2.5 years. This was the first planet found in a close binary system. Image and caption via Tim Jones/McDonald Observatory.

Although Gamma Cephei – also known as Errai – rates as only a third-magnitude or moderately bright star, it is easy to find and quite visible in a dark country sky. To many stargazers, the constellation Cepheus the King looks like a child’s depiction of a house, with Gamma Cephei marking the peak of the roof. This is a fascinating star – a future North Star. It also plays an important role in this history of our understanding of extrasolar planets, that is, planets orbiting distant stars.

How to find Gamma Cephei

Gamma Cephei as a future North Star

Gamma Cephei has the first planet found in a close binary system

Cepheus can be found in the northern sky. It looks very much like a child’s drawing of a house. The star Gamma Cephei, or Errai, marks the peak of the roof of the house.

How to find Gamma Cephei. Do you know the M-shaped or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia? If so, then draw a line between the star Caph at one end of the M (or W) toward Polaris, our present-day North Star. Gamma Cephei – aka Errai – is just to one side of that line, a bit more than midway along it.

Think of it this way. Cepheus the King is not a particularly prominent constellation, but you’ll know that you’ve found Cepheus, because you’ll see his more striking wife – the M or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen – standing at his side.

Or use the familiar Big Dipper asterism to find Gamma Cephei. The two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl are Merak and Dubhe, sometimes called the Pointers, because a line between them extended northward points to Polaris. Then jump one fist-width – held at arm’s length – beyond Polaris to Gamma Cephei.

For most of the Northern Hemisphere, orange-colored Gamma Cephei shines as a circumpolar star. Circumpolar stars are stars that neither rise nor set, but always appear above the horizon.

The 26,000-year precession cycle causes the north celestial pole to move counter-clockwise in front of the backdrop stars at about one degree every 72 years

Animation showing 26,000-year precession cycle relative to backdrop stars. This cycle causes Earth’s northern axis to point out at an ever-changing succession of North Stars. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Gamma Cephei as a future North Star. Our present North Star, which we know as Polaris, will continue to reign as the northern pole star for centuries to come.

But our present-day Polaris won’t remain the North Star forever, due to a motion of Earth known as the precession of the equinoxes. Gamma Cephei stands next in line to inherit the North Star title. This star will be closer to the north celestial pole than Polaris around 3000 CE. It will most closely mark the north celestial pole around 4000 CE.

But – due to precession – Earth’s northern axis will continue to trace its great circle among the northern stars. Around 7500 CD, Alderamin – Cepheus’ brightest star – will become the North Star. And ultimately, of course, our present-day Polaris will be the North Star once more.

Gamma Cephei has the first planet found in a close binary system Gamma Cephei is a binary star – two stars revolving around a common center of mass. One component is an ordinary main-sequence star, somewhat similar to our sun. The other star has less than half our sun’s mass and is considered a red dwarf.

In 2002, astronomers with the McDonald Observatory Planet Search project found a planet for Gamma Cephei. It was the first planet orbiting a star in a close-in binary star system. The discovery had implications for the number of possible planets in our galaxy, because unlike our sun, most stars are in multiple systems. However, planets in multiple systems have their own inherent challenges. For example, some orbits for planets of multiple star systems are not possible for dynamical reasons; a planet would be ejected from the system, or transferred to a more inner or outer orbit.

That said, there are indeed many planets in multiple star systems known today. As of September 28, 2013, a total of 986 planets in 750 planetary systems have been found, including planets in 168 multiple planetary systems. (Source: Exoplanet.eu)

But Gamma Cephei’s planet will always be the first in a close binary!

Bottom line: The star Errai or Gamma Cephei is a binary star system with at least one planet. This star – at the peak of the “roof” in the house-shaped constellation Cepheus the King – will someday be a North Star for Earth.

Polaris: The North Star

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1eKwLf2

Artist’s conception of Gamma Cephei’s planet, found in 2002, and its view of the two stars in the Gamma Cephei system. The planet, shown here with rings, orbits the bright yellow star on the right every 2.5 years. This was the first planet found in a close binary system. Image and caption via Tim Jones/McDonald Observatory.

Although Gamma Cephei – also known as Errai – rates as only a third-magnitude or moderately bright star, it is easy to find and quite visible in a dark country sky. To many stargazers, the constellation Cepheus the King looks like a child’s depiction of a house, with Gamma Cephei marking the peak of the roof. This is a fascinating star – a future North Star. It also plays an important role in this history of our understanding of extrasolar planets, that is, planets orbiting distant stars.

How to find Gamma Cephei

Gamma Cephei as a future North Star

Gamma Cephei has the first planet found in a close binary system

Cepheus can be found in the northern sky. It looks very much like a child’s drawing of a house. The star Gamma Cephei, or Errai, marks the peak of the roof of the house.

How to find Gamma Cephei. Do you know the M-shaped or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia? If so, then draw a line between the star Caph at one end of the M (or W) toward Polaris, our present-day North Star. Gamma Cephei – aka Errai – is just to one side of that line, a bit more than midway along it.

Think of it this way. Cepheus the King is not a particularly prominent constellation, but you’ll know that you’ve found Cepheus, because you’ll see his more striking wife – the M or W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen – standing at his side.

Or use the familiar Big Dipper asterism to find Gamma Cephei. The two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl are Merak and Dubhe, sometimes called the Pointers, because a line between them extended northward points to Polaris. Then jump one fist-width – held at arm’s length – beyond Polaris to Gamma Cephei.

For most of the Northern Hemisphere, orange-colored Gamma Cephei shines as a circumpolar star. Circumpolar stars are stars that neither rise nor set, but always appear above the horizon.

The 26,000-year precession cycle causes the north celestial pole to move counter-clockwise in front of the backdrop stars at about one degree every 72 years

Animation showing 26,000-year precession cycle relative to backdrop stars. This cycle causes Earth’s northern axis to point out at an ever-changing succession of North Stars. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Gamma Cephei as a future North Star. Our present North Star, which we know as Polaris, will continue to reign as the northern pole star for centuries to come.

But our present-day Polaris won’t remain the North Star forever, due to a motion of Earth known as the precession of the equinoxes. Gamma Cephei stands next in line to inherit the North Star title. This star will be closer to the north celestial pole than Polaris around 3000 CE. It will most closely mark the north celestial pole around 4000 CE.

But – due to precession – Earth’s northern axis will continue to trace its great circle among the northern stars. Around 7500 CD, Alderamin – Cepheus’ brightest star – will become the North Star. And ultimately, of course, our present-day Polaris will be the North Star once more.

Gamma Cephei has the first planet found in a close binary system Gamma Cephei is a binary star – two stars revolving around a common center of mass. One component is an ordinary main-sequence star, somewhat similar to our sun. The other star has less than half our sun’s mass and is considered a red dwarf.

In 2002, astronomers with the McDonald Observatory Planet Search project found a planet for Gamma Cephei. It was the first planet orbiting a star in a close-in binary star system. The discovery had implications for the number of possible planets in our galaxy, because unlike our sun, most stars are in multiple systems. However, planets in multiple systems have their own inherent challenges. For example, some orbits for planets of multiple star systems are not possible for dynamical reasons; a planet would be ejected from the system, or transferred to a more inner or outer orbit.

That said, there are indeed many planets in multiple star systems known today. As of September 28, 2013, a total of 986 planets in 750 planetary systems have been found, including planets in 168 multiple planetary systems. (Source: Exoplanet.eu)

But Gamma Cephei’s planet will always be the first in a close binary!

Bottom line: The star Errai or Gamma Cephei is a binary star system with at least one planet. This star – at the peak of the “roof” in the house-shaped constellation Cepheus the King – will someday be a North Star for Earth.

Polaris: The North Star

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1eKwLf2