LE BOURGET, France—On the first of my two flights this weekend, I sat next to a defense contractor from Kentucky. He was on his way to Fairbanks, Alaska, for a project that sounded at once too mundane and too secretive to ask him to explain. The forecast up there was calling for temperatures to dive past 20 degrees below zero. He told me he planned to go straight from his next plane to a heated bus to the project to his heated hotel. Then he asked me where I was going.
“Paris,” I told him.
He mulled this over. “Well, you be careful,” he finally offered, reassuringly.
I knew what he meant. It had been a little more than two weeks since 130 people were killed in simultaneous attacks on restaurants, a concert hall, and France’s national soccer stadium, followed by police raids against the jihadists said to be responsible. So, like my seatmate, when most Americans think of Paris right now, they think of ISIS cells and flag-waving solidarity.
But I wasn’t coming to Paris to cover terrorism. I was coming to cover something that all of us have heard a lot less about in recent weeks, but whose stakes are far more important: a last-ditch effort by the world’s leaders to stop the most dangerous effects of climate change.
LE BOURGET, France—On the first of my two flights this weekend, I sat next to a defense contractor from Kentucky. He was on his way to Fairbanks, Alaska, for a project that sounded at once too mundane and too secretive to ask him to explain. The forecast up there was calling for temperatures to dive past 20 degrees below zero. He told me he planned to go straight from his next plane to a heated bus to the project to his heated hotel. Then he asked me where I was going.
“Paris,” I told him.
He mulled this over. “Well, you be careful,” he finally offered, reassuringly.
I knew what he meant. It had been a little more than two weeks since 130 people were killed in simultaneous attacks on restaurants, a concert hall, and France’s national soccer stadium, followed by police raids against the jihadists said to be responsible. So, like my seatmate, when most Americans think of Paris right now, they think of ISIS cells and flag-waving solidarity.
But I wasn’t coming to Paris to cover terrorism. I was coming to cover something that all of us have heard a lot less about in recent weeks, but whose stakes are far more important: a last-ditch effort by the world’s leaders to stop the most dangerous effects of climate change.
Featured Media Resource [AUDIO] “Good Thing/Bad Thing: 3D Printed Pills” (Science Friday)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first 3D-printed pill last August. The drug, called SPRITAM, is produced by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company and used to treat epilepsy. Jim Ruble, who specializes in Read More …
Featured Media Resource [AUDIO] “Good Thing/Bad Thing: 3D Printed Pills” (Science Friday)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first 3D-printed pill last August. The drug, called SPRITAM, is produced by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company and used to treat epilepsy. Jim Ruble, who specializes in Read More …
"Ours is the first rolling DNA motor, making it far faster and more robust," says Khalid Salaita, the Emory chemist who led he research. (Photos by Bryan Meltz, Emory Photo/Video.)
By Carol Clark
Physical chemists have devised a rolling DNA-based motor that’s 1,000 times faster than any other synthetic DNA motor, giving it potential for real-world applications, such as disease diagnostics. Nature Nanotechnology is publishing the finding.
“Unlike other synthetic DNA-based motors, which use legs to ‘walk’ like tiny robots, ours is the first rolling DNA motor, making it far faster and more robust,” says Khalid Salaita, the Emory University chemist who led the research. “It’s like the biological equivalent of the invention of the wheel for the field of DNA machines.”
The speed of the new DNA-based motor, which is powered by ribonuclease H, means a simple smart phone microscope can capture its motion through video. The researchers have filed an invention disclosure patent for the concept of using the particle motion of their rolling molecular motor as a sensor for everything from a single DNA mutation in a biological sample to heavy metals in water.
“Our method offers a way of doing low-cost, low-tech diagnostics in settings with limited resources,” Salaita says.
The field of synthetic DNA-based motors, also known as nano-walkers, is about 15 years old. Researchers are striving to duplicate the action of nature’s nano-walkers. Myosin, for example, are tiny biological mechanisms that “walk” on filaments to carry nutrients throughout the human body.
“It’s the ultimate in science fiction,” Salaita says of the quest to create tiny robots, or nano-bots, that could be programmed to do your bidding. “People have dreamed of sending in nano-bots to deliver drugs or to repair problems in the human body.”
So far, however, mankind’s efforts have fallen far short of nature’s myosin, which speeds effortlessly about its biological errands. “The ability of myosin to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy is astounding,” Salaita says. “They are the most efficient motors we know of today.”
Some synthetic nano-walkers move on two legs. They are essentially enzymes made of DNA, powered by the catalyst RNA. These nano-walkers tend to be extremely unstable, due to the high levels of Brownian motion at the nano-scale. Other versions with four, and even six, legs have proved more stable, but much slower. In fact, their pace is glacial: A four-legged DNA-based motor would need about 20 years to move one centimeter.
Kevin Yehl, a post-doctoral fellow in the Salaita lab, had the idea of constructing a DNA-based motor using a micron-sized glass sphere. Hundreds of DNA strands, or “legs,” are allowed to bind to the sphere. These DNA legs are placed on a glass slide coated with the reactant: RNA.
The DNA legs are drawn to the RNA, but as soon as they set foot on it they destroy it through the activity of an enzyme called RNase H. As the legs bind and then release from the substrate, they guide the sphere along, allowing more of the DNA legs to keep binding and pulling.
“It’s called a burnt-bridge mechanism,” Salaita explains. “Wherever the DNA legs step, they trample and destroy the reactant. They have to keep moving and step where they haven’t stepped in order to find more reactant.”
The combination of the rolling motion, and the speed of the RNase H enzyme on a substrate, gives the new DNA motor its stability and speed.
“Our DNA-based motor can travel one centimeter in seven days, instead of 20 years, making it 1,000 times faster than the older versions,” Salaita says. “In fact, nature’s myosin motors are only 10 times faster than ours, and it took them billions of years to evolve.”
Emory post-doctoral fellow Kevin Yehl sets up a smart-phone microscope to get a readout for the particle motion of the rolling DNA-based motor.
The researchers demonstrated that their rolling motors can be used to detect a single DNA mutation by measuring particle displacement. They simply glued lenses from two inexpensive laser pointers to the camera of a smart phone to turn the phone into a microscope and capture videos of the particle motion.
“Using a smart phone, we can get a readout for anything that’s interfering with the enzyme-substrate reaction, because that will change the speed of the particle,” Salaita says. “For instance, we can detect a single mutation in a DNA strand.”
This simple, low-tech method could come in handy for doing diagnostic sensing of biological samples in the field, or anywhere with limited resources.
The proof that the motors roll came by accident, Salaita adds. During their experiments, two of the glass spheres occasionally became stuck together, or dimerized. Instead of making a wandering trail, they left a pair of straight, parallel tracks across the substrate, like a lawn mower cutting grass. “It’s the first example of a synthetic molecular motor that goes in a straight line without a track or a magnetic field to guide it,” Salaita says.
In addition to Salaita and Yehl, the co-authors on the Nature Nanotechnology paper include Emory researchers Skanda Vivek, Yang Liu, Yun Zhang, Megzhen Fan, Eric Weeks and Andrew Mugler (who is now at Purdue University).
"Ours is the first rolling DNA motor, making it far faster and more robust," says Khalid Salaita, the Emory chemist who led he research. (Photos by Bryan Meltz, Emory Photo/Video.)
By Carol Clark
Physical chemists have devised a rolling DNA-based motor that’s 1,000 times faster than any other synthetic DNA motor, giving it potential for real-world applications, such as disease diagnostics. Nature Nanotechnology is publishing the finding.
“Unlike other synthetic DNA-based motors, which use legs to ‘walk’ like tiny robots, ours is the first rolling DNA motor, making it far faster and more robust,” says Khalid Salaita, the Emory University chemist who led the research. “It’s like the biological equivalent of the invention of the wheel for the field of DNA machines.”
The speed of the new DNA-based motor, which is powered by ribonuclease H, means a simple smart phone microscope can capture its motion through video. The researchers have filed an invention disclosure patent for the concept of using the particle motion of their rolling molecular motor as a sensor for everything from a single DNA mutation in a biological sample to heavy metals in water.
“Our method offers a way of doing low-cost, low-tech diagnostics in settings with limited resources,” Salaita says.
The field of synthetic DNA-based motors, also known as nano-walkers, is about 15 years old. Researchers are striving to duplicate the action of nature’s nano-walkers. Myosin, for example, are tiny biological mechanisms that “walk” on filaments to carry nutrients throughout the human body.
“It’s the ultimate in science fiction,” Salaita says of the quest to create tiny robots, or nano-bots, that could be programmed to do your bidding. “People have dreamed of sending in nano-bots to deliver drugs or to repair problems in the human body.”
So far, however, mankind’s efforts have fallen far short of nature’s myosin, which speeds effortlessly about its biological errands. “The ability of myosin to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy is astounding,” Salaita says. “They are the most efficient motors we know of today.”
Some synthetic nano-walkers move on two legs. They are essentially enzymes made of DNA, powered by the catalyst RNA. These nano-walkers tend to be extremely unstable, due to the high levels of Brownian motion at the nano-scale. Other versions with four, and even six, legs have proved more stable, but much slower. In fact, their pace is glacial: A four-legged DNA-based motor would need about 20 years to move one centimeter.
Kevin Yehl, a post-doctoral fellow in the Salaita lab, had the idea of constructing a DNA-based motor using a micron-sized glass sphere. Hundreds of DNA strands, or “legs,” are allowed to bind to the sphere. These DNA legs are placed on a glass slide coated with the reactant: RNA.
The DNA legs are drawn to the RNA, but as soon as they set foot on it they destroy it through the activity of an enzyme called RNase H. As the legs bind and then release from the substrate, they guide the sphere along, allowing more of the DNA legs to keep binding and pulling.
“It’s called a burnt-bridge mechanism,” Salaita explains. “Wherever the DNA legs step, they trample and destroy the reactant. They have to keep moving and step where they haven’t stepped in order to find more reactant.”
The combination of the rolling motion, and the speed of the RNase H enzyme on a substrate, gives the new DNA motor its stability and speed.
“Our DNA-based motor can travel one centimeter in seven days, instead of 20 years, making it 1,000 times faster than the older versions,” Salaita says. “In fact, nature’s myosin motors are only 10 times faster than ours, and it took them billions of years to evolve.”
Emory post-doctoral fellow Kevin Yehl sets up a smart-phone microscope to get a readout for the particle motion of the rolling DNA-based motor.
The researchers demonstrated that their rolling motors can be used to detect a single DNA mutation by measuring particle displacement. They simply glued lenses from two inexpensive laser pointers to the camera of a smart phone to turn the phone into a microscope and capture videos of the particle motion.
“Using a smart phone, we can get a readout for anything that’s interfering with the enzyme-substrate reaction, because that will change the speed of the particle,” Salaita says. “For instance, we can detect a single mutation in a DNA strand.”
This simple, low-tech method could come in handy for doing diagnostic sensing of biological samples in the field, or anywhere with limited resources.
The proof that the motors roll came by accident, Salaita adds. During their experiments, two of the glass spheres occasionally became stuck together, or dimerized. Instead of making a wandering trail, they left a pair of straight, parallel tracks across the substrate, like a lawn mower cutting grass. “It’s the first example of a synthetic molecular motor that goes in a straight line without a track or a magnetic field to guide it,” Salaita says.
In addition to Salaita and Yehl, the co-authors on the Nature Nanotechnology paper include Emory researchers Skanda Vivek, Yang Liu, Yun Zhang, Megzhen Fan, Eric Weeks and Andrew Mugler (who is now at Purdue University).
I’ve been a little bad about self-promoting here of late, but I should definitely plug this: I’m speaking at the TEDxAlbany event this Thursday, December 3rd; I’m scheduled first, at 9:40 am. The title is “The Exotic Physics of an Ordinary Morning“:
You might think that the bizarre predictions of quantum mechanics and relativity– particles that are also waves, cats that are both alive and dead, clocks that run at different rates depending on how you’re moving– and only come into play in physics laboratories or near black holes. In fact, though, even the strangest features of modern physics are essential for everything around us. The mundane process of getting up and getting ready for work relies on surprisingly exotic physics; understanding how this plays out adds an element of wonder to even the most ordinary morning.
(This is slightly inaccurate, as I was originally planning to get some relativity into this, but that ended up being awkward. So the final version is all quantum.)
I believe they’ve streamed the talks in past years, though I don’t have any information on that at the moment. They have video of all the past speakers, so I assume the same will be true this year; once it’s up, you can be sure I’ll point to it.
Anyway, that’s the Big Thing I’m stressing out about this week… If I get useful information on how to stream the video, I’ll share it; if you’re in the Albany area, and free that day, they may still have tickets if you want to check it out live…
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1NoaTVX
I’ve been a little bad about self-promoting here of late, but I should definitely plug this: I’m speaking at the TEDxAlbany event this Thursday, December 3rd; I’m scheduled first, at 9:40 am. The title is “The Exotic Physics of an Ordinary Morning“:
You might think that the bizarre predictions of quantum mechanics and relativity– particles that are also waves, cats that are both alive and dead, clocks that run at different rates depending on how you’re moving– and only come into play in physics laboratories or near black holes. In fact, though, even the strangest features of modern physics are essential for everything around us. The mundane process of getting up and getting ready for work relies on surprisingly exotic physics; understanding how this plays out adds an element of wonder to even the most ordinary morning.
(This is slightly inaccurate, as I was originally planning to get some relativity into this, but that ended up being awkward. So the final version is all quantum.)
I believe they’ve streamed the talks in past years, though I don’t have any information on that at the moment. They have video of all the past speakers, so I assume the same will be true this year; once it’s up, you can be sure I’ll point to it.
Anyway, that’s the Big Thing I’m stressing out about this week… If I get useful information on how to stream the video, I’ll share it; if you’re in the Albany area, and free that day, they may still have tickets if you want to check it out live…
LISA Pathfinder, ready for launch. In this image, taken with an ultra-wide angle fisheye lens on November 19, the spacecraft is hidden from view, encapsulated in the ‘upper composite’ of its Vega rocket. Only the aerodynamic fairing at the top of the fully assembled launcher is visible, while the lower stages are hidden by the movable access platform. The hose is part of the air conditioning system that regulates the environment inside the fairing. Image and caption via ESA.
ESA’s LISA Pathfinder is nearing its launch time at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft is ESA’s technology demonstrator, designed to pave the way for detecting gravitational waves – ripples in the curvature of spacetime, propagating outward as waves from a mass – from objects in space. Liftoff is planned for December 2, 2015 at 04:15 GMT (12:15 a.m. EST Wednesday morning, 11:15 p.m. CST Tuesday evening).
LISA Pathfinder is the forerunning of a planned gravitational-wave observatory eLISA that ESA says will one day capture the sound of the universe. With the upcoming launch rides more than 10 years of scientific development by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Hannover and other institutions. Karsten Danzmann, director at the Albert Einstein Institute and professor at Leibniz Universität Hannover, said in a November 27 statement:
With LISA Pathfinder we will demonstrate crucial technologies for future missions such as eLISA and will be one large step closer to the detection of gravitational waves from space.
The ESA statement continued:
After its launch on December 2, LISA Pathfinder (LPF) will be in a near-Earth parking orbit and will separate from the launcher after two hours. Starting on December 6, a series of six thruster burns will repeatedly raise the orbit’s apogee within five days.
After this, LPF will leave orbit around the Earth and drift on a transfer orbit towards the Lagrange point L1, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth towards the Sun. After about 40 days the satellite will arrive there and assume an orbit around L1. This offers ideal conditions for LISA Pathfinder’s main task: releasing two test masses in perfect free fall and to measure and control their positions with unprecedented precision.
Good luck, LISA Pathfinder!
Bottom line: LISA Pathfinder – forerunning of a mission that, it is hoped, will detect gravitational waves from space, will launch on December 2, 2015 at 04:15 GMT (12:15 a.m. EST, 11:15 p.m. CST on December 1).
LISA Pathfinder, ready for launch. In this image, taken with an ultra-wide angle fisheye lens on November 19, the spacecraft is hidden from view, encapsulated in the ‘upper composite’ of its Vega rocket. Only the aerodynamic fairing at the top of the fully assembled launcher is visible, while the lower stages are hidden by the movable access platform. The hose is part of the air conditioning system that regulates the environment inside the fairing. Image and caption via ESA.
ESA’s LISA Pathfinder is nearing its launch time at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft is ESA’s technology demonstrator, designed to pave the way for detecting gravitational waves – ripples in the curvature of spacetime, propagating outward as waves from a mass – from objects in space. Liftoff is planned for December 2, 2015 at 04:15 GMT (12:15 a.m. EST Wednesday morning, 11:15 p.m. CST Tuesday evening).
LISA Pathfinder is the forerunning of a planned gravitational-wave observatory eLISA that ESA says will one day capture the sound of the universe. With the upcoming launch rides more than 10 years of scientific development by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Hannover and other institutions. Karsten Danzmann, director at the Albert Einstein Institute and professor at Leibniz Universität Hannover, said in a November 27 statement:
With LISA Pathfinder we will demonstrate crucial technologies for future missions such as eLISA and will be one large step closer to the detection of gravitational waves from space.
The ESA statement continued:
After its launch on December 2, LISA Pathfinder (LPF) will be in a near-Earth parking orbit and will separate from the launcher after two hours. Starting on December 6, a series of six thruster burns will repeatedly raise the orbit’s apogee within five days.
After this, LPF will leave orbit around the Earth and drift on a transfer orbit towards the Lagrange point L1, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth towards the Sun. After about 40 days the satellite will arrive there and assume an orbit around L1. This offers ideal conditions for LISA Pathfinder’s main task: releasing two test masses in perfect free fall and to measure and control their positions with unprecedented precision.
Good luck, LISA Pathfinder!
Bottom line: LISA Pathfinder – forerunning of a mission that, it is hoped, will detect gravitational waves from space, will launch on December 2, 2015 at 04:15 GMT (12:15 a.m. EST, 11:15 p.m. CST on December 1).
In September, President Obama traveled to Alaska to see firsthand the impacts of climate change on the people who live and work here every day. During his time here, he met some of Alaska’s extraordinary people, many of whom are working every day to adapt to a changing climate. We know Alaskans are incredibly resilient and they are taking action to support their community and the environment for generations to come. Now we would like to provide an opportunity for Alaskans to share their story.
Today, we are launching Alaskan Voices on Climate and inviting Alaskans to send us their videos about the effects of a changing climate and about the work they are doing to ensure a healthy environment for future generations. How are these changes affecting your community? Have they made a difference in the way you live, work, or play? What lessons can your community share about becoming more resilient that would be helpful to other communities? We’d love to hear about all these things – and anything else you’d like to tell us about the changes you are experiencing and actions you are taking.
We will share our favorite stories by posting them on Facebook, Twitter, the EPA website, our Alaska InfoBox, and other Alaska channels. We hope you will share them with your friends and family. We anticipate lots of people inside and outside Alaska will be seeing the effects of a changing climate through your eyes. Please use this link to access the web page. http://ift.tt/1NFK0yM
Who can participate? Everybody! We’re looking for videos from Alaskans from all ages and walks of life.
How do you participate: It’s easy! Take a 30- to 90-second video about how our changing climate is affecting you and or your community. Include in your video a sign or segment with the hashtag #AlaskanVoices and mention where the video was filmed. Then send us your video via Twitter, Facebook, or email. You can find all the details on the EPA website.
We prepared a short video about Alaskan Voices on Climate. Please pass it along! The more videos we get, the better people everywhere will understand the impacts of climate change on Alaska and what Alaskan communities are doing to adapt or become more resilient.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at epa-seattle@epa.gov. We look forward to hearing from you, and we can’t wait to see what you submit!
About the author: Dianne Soderlund is Director of the EPA Region 10 Alaska Operations Office.
from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/1lslcxq
By Dianne Soderlund
In September, President Obama traveled to Alaska to see firsthand the impacts of climate change on the people who live and work here every day. During his time here, he met some of Alaska’s extraordinary people, many of whom are working every day to adapt to a changing climate. We know Alaskans are incredibly resilient and they are taking action to support their community and the environment for generations to come. Now we would like to provide an opportunity for Alaskans to share their story.
Today, we are launching Alaskan Voices on Climate and inviting Alaskans to send us their videos about the effects of a changing climate and about the work they are doing to ensure a healthy environment for future generations. How are these changes affecting your community? Have they made a difference in the way you live, work, or play? What lessons can your community share about becoming more resilient that would be helpful to other communities? We’d love to hear about all these things – and anything else you’d like to tell us about the changes you are experiencing and actions you are taking.
We will share our favorite stories by posting them on Facebook, Twitter, the EPA website, our Alaska InfoBox, and other Alaska channels. We hope you will share them with your friends and family. We anticipate lots of people inside and outside Alaska will be seeing the effects of a changing climate through your eyes. Please use this link to access the web page. http://ift.tt/1NFK0yM
Who can participate? Everybody! We’re looking for videos from Alaskans from all ages and walks of life.
How do you participate: It’s easy! Take a 30- to 90-second video about how our changing climate is affecting you and or your community. Include in your video a sign or segment with the hashtag #AlaskanVoices and mention where the video was filmed. Then send us your video via Twitter, Facebook, or email. You can find all the details on the EPA website.
We prepared a short video about Alaskan Voices on Climate. Please pass it along! The more videos we get, the better people everywhere will understand the impacts of climate change on Alaska and what Alaskan communities are doing to adapt or become more resilient.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at epa-seattle@epa.gov. We look forward to hearing from you, and we can’t wait to see what you submit!
About the author: Dianne Soderlund is Director of the EPA Region 10 Alaska Operations Office.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of our sun as viewed from a very distant planet, via NASA / ESA / Adolf Schaller.
Earlier this month, astronomers announced a newly discovered object that is currently the most distant in our solar system. It’s more distant than Eris, Sedna, and 2012 VP113, all former record-holders. The object has been designated V774104, and it lies more than 100 times farther from the sun than Earth. It turned up in our sky – in the direction of the constellation Pisces the Fish – in images taken October 13, 2015 with Japan’s 8-meter Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Astronomers announced it at the yearly meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, held November 8-13, 2015 in Washington D.C.
Astronomers Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Tholen (University of Hawaii) found V774104. They and other astronomers don’t know much about it, other than its present distance and its size. That distance is 103 astronomical units; 1 AU is one Earth-sun distance. That translates to 9.6 billion miles (15.4 billion km).
These astronomers used the object’s brightness to estimate its size. They think it may be about 300 miles (500 km) across, but it also might be up to about twice as large. For comparison, the object Ceres – largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – is about 600 miles (950 km) across.
What scientists don’t know – and what they want to find out – is the exact orbit of the object. The astronomers will be trying for a follow-up observation soon, but it might take some time – certainly months, maybe a year – before they can pin down its orbit with certainty.
In the meantime, the object is adding to astronomers’ struggle to understand how these distant, fairly substantially sized objects like V774104 came to be located so far from the sun. It’s also adding to the long-controversial, hypothetical case for a planet larger than Earth – a Planet X – at the outer boundaries of our solar system.
This animation shows the two discovery images for the very distant solar-system object V774104. Its shift with respect to background stars is due to parallax as Earth shifted its location between the two exposures. Image via S. Sheppard / C. Trujillo / D. Tholen / Subaru Telescope/ / skyandtelescope.com.
Beyond the planet Neptune, there’s the Kuiper Belt. It’s a disk – similar to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but 20 times as wide and containing up to 200 times as much mass. It’s thought to extend from about Neptune’s orbit (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the sun, and it’s thought to contain icy comets and asteroids.
Beyond the Kuiper Belt, there are the scattered disk objects. The large object Eris – now categorized as a dwarf planet – was originally thought to be part of the Kuiper Belt, but now it’s considered part of what astronomers are calling the scattered disk. The gas giants, such as Neptune, may have gravitationally affected objects in the scattered disk. The orbits of such objects – like that of Eris – bring them as close as about Neptune’s distance (30 AU), then carry them much farther out, beyond the outer boundary of the Kuiper Belt, to beyond 100 AU.
Some objects in the scattered disk may extend into the inner Oort Cloud. Astronomers don’t really understand how these objects came to be in this part of the solar system. Sedna, 2012 VP113 and the newly discovered V774104 may be part of what astronomers have recently begun calling the inner Oort Cloud. The actual Oort Cloud – where long-comets come from – is believed to be an icy shell around our solar system that begins about 2,000 to 5,000 astronomical units from the sun; by comparison, Earth is at 1 A.U. and V774104 is at 103 A.U. Some of inner Oort Cloud objects appear to have very oblong orbits, too, but they go farther out and probably weren’t sent outward by interactions with the gas giant planets. Sedna, for example, is now at about its closest to the sun, 86 AU, but astronomers have determined that its orbit will ultimately take it as far out as 937 AU. V774104 may also turn out to have a very oblong orbit, like Sedna, or its orbit may be more circular.
Within or beyond the inner Oort Cloud … a Planet X?At an article at Space.com in 2014, prior to V774104’s discovery, senior writer Mike Wall said:
Astronomers don’t know much about the origin or evolutionary history of Sedna and 2012 VP113 at this point. The objects may have formed closer to the sun, for example, before getting pushed out by gravitational interactions with other stars — perhaps ‘sister stars’ from the sun’s birth cluster, researchers said. Or inner Oort Cloud objects may be alien bodies that the sun plucked from another solar system during a stellar close encounter.
It’s also possible that 2012 VP113 and its neighbors were knocked from the Kuiper Belt to the inner Oort Cloud when a big planet was booted outward long ago. This planet may have been ejected from the solar system entirely, or it may still be there in the extreme outer reaches, waiting to be discovered.
… certain characteristics of the orbits of Sedna, 2012 VP113 and several of the most distant Kuiper Belt objects are consistent with the continued presence of a big and extremely faraway ‘perturber,’ researchers said.
It’s possible that a planet roughly 10 times more massive than Earth located hundreds of AU from the sun is shepherding these bodies into their current orbits.
This is all very speculative at this point, but the newly discovered V774104 is adding to the speculation. The fact is that astronomers just don’t know much about this very distant realm of the solar system. They’ll be trying to sort out Kuiper Belt, scattered disk and inner Oort Cloud objects in the years ahead.
As for a possible large, unknown Planet X … it’s good to remember that astronomers give the name Planet X to any unknown planet. Percival Lowell famously searched for a Planet X in the early part of the 20th century. Clyde Tombaugh had taken up his search at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, when he found Pluto in 1930. In the popular culture, the name Planet X is also associated with a hypothetical object called Nibiru, which doomsayers insist will collide with or closely pass by Earth sometime “soon.” A Nibiru on a collision-course with Earth is not supported by any scientific evidence; astronomers aren’t talking about Nibiru when they speak of a Planet X.
And so V774104 joins the ranks of interesting outer solar system objects!
We don’t yet know the orbit of the newly discovered distant object V774104. Within a year, astronomers hope to determine it. The outermost pink circle here denotes Neptune’s orbit. Sedna, 2012 VP113 and V774104 may be part of what astronomers have recently begun calling the inner Oort Cloud. Image via Scott Sheppard / Carnegie Inst. for Science / skyandtelescope.com.
Bottom line: Astronomers Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Tholen (University of Hawaii) have found another object on the outer fringes of our solar system. It’s been designated V774104, and it lies more than 100 times farther from the sun than Earth. It’s fueling speculation about a Planet X.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of our sun as viewed from a very distant planet, via NASA / ESA / Adolf Schaller.
Earlier this month, astronomers announced a newly discovered object that is currently the most distant in our solar system. It’s more distant than Eris, Sedna, and 2012 VP113, all former record-holders. The object has been designated V774104, and it lies more than 100 times farther from the sun than Earth. It turned up in our sky – in the direction of the constellation Pisces the Fish – in images taken October 13, 2015 with Japan’s 8-meter Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Astronomers announced it at the yearly meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, held November 8-13, 2015 in Washington D.C.
Astronomers Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Tholen (University of Hawaii) found V774104. They and other astronomers don’t know much about it, other than its present distance and its size. That distance is 103 astronomical units; 1 AU is one Earth-sun distance. That translates to 9.6 billion miles (15.4 billion km).
These astronomers used the object’s brightness to estimate its size. They think it may be about 300 miles (500 km) across, but it also might be up to about twice as large. For comparison, the object Ceres – largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – is about 600 miles (950 km) across.
What scientists don’t know – and what they want to find out – is the exact orbit of the object. The astronomers will be trying for a follow-up observation soon, but it might take some time – certainly months, maybe a year – before they can pin down its orbit with certainty.
In the meantime, the object is adding to astronomers’ struggle to understand how these distant, fairly substantially sized objects like V774104 came to be located so far from the sun. It’s also adding to the long-controversial, hypothetical case for a planet larger than Earth – a Planet X – at the outer boundaries of our solar system.
This animation shows the two discovery images for the very distant solar-system object V774104. Its shift with respect to background stars is due to parallax as Earth shifted its location between the two exposures. Image via S. Sheppard / C. Trujillo / D. Tholen / Subaru Telescope/ / skyandtelescope.com.
Beyond the planet Neptune, there’s the Kuiper Belt. It’s a disk – similar to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but 20 times as wide and containing up to 200 times as much mass. It’s thought to extend from about Neptune’s orbit (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the sun, and it’s thought to contain icy comets and asteroids.
Beyond the Kuiper Belt, there are the scattered disk objects. The large object Eris – now categorized as a dwarf planet – was originally thought to be part of the Kuiper Belt, but now it’s considered part of what astronomers are calling the scattered disk. The gas giants, such as Neptune, may have gravitationally affected objects in the scattered disk. The orbits of such objects – like that of Eris – bring them as close as about Neptune’s distance (30 AU), then carry them much farther out, beyond the outer boundary of the Kuiper Belt, to beyond 100 AU.
Some objects in the scattered disk may extend into the inner Oort Cloud. Astronomers don’t really understand how these objects came to be in this part of the solar system. Sedna, 2012 VP113 and the newly discovered V774104 may be part of what astronomers have recently begun calling the inner Oort Cloud. The actual Oort Cloud – where long-comets come from – is believed to be an icy shell around our solar system that begins about 2,000 to 5,000 astronomical units from the sun; by comparison, Earth is at 1 A.U. and V774104 is at 103 A.U. Some of inner Oort Cloud objects appear to have very oblong orbits, too, but they go farther out and probably weren’t sent outward by interactions with the gas giant planets. Sedna, for example, is now at about its closest to the sun, 86 AU, but astronomers have determined that its orbit will ultimately take it as far out as 937 AU. V774104 may also turn out to have a very oblong orbit, like Sedna, or its orbit may be more circular.
Within or beyond the inner Oort Cloud … a Planet X?At an article at Space.com in 2014, prior to V774104’s discovery, senior writer Mike Wall said:
Astronomers don’t know much about the origin or evolutionary history of Sedna and 2012 VP113 at this point. The objects may have formed closer to the sun, for example, before getting pushed out by gravitational interactions with other stars — perhaps ‘sister stars’ from the sun’s birth cluster, researchers said. Or inner Oort Cloud objects may be alien bodies that the sun plucked from another solar system during a stellar close encounter.
It’s also possible that 2012 VP113 and its neighbors were knocked from the Kuiper Belt to the inner Oort Cloud when a big planet was booted outward long ago. This planet may have been ejected from the solar system entirely, or it may still be there in the extreme outer reaches, waiting to be discovered.
… certain characteristics of the orbits of Sedna, 2012 VP113 and several of the most distant Kuiper Belt objects are consistent with the continued presence of a big and extremely faraway ‘perturber,’ researchers said.
It’s possible that a planet roughly 10 times more massive than Earth located hundreds of AU from the sun is shepherding these bodies into their current orbits.
This is all very speculative at this point, but the newly discovered V774104 is adding to the speculation. The fact is that astronomers just don’t know much about this very distant realm of the solar system. They’ll be trying to sort out Kuiper Belt, scattered disk and inner Oort Cloud objects in the years ahead.
As for a possible large, unknown Planet X … it’s good to remember that astronomers give the name Planet X to any unknown planet. Percival Lowell famously searched for a Planet X in the early part of the 20th century. Clyde Tombaugh had taken up his search at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, when he found Pluto in 1930. In the popular culture, the name Planet X is also associated with a hypothetical object called Nibiru, which doomsayers insist will collide with or closely pass by Earth sometime “soon.” A Nibiru on a collision-course with Earth is not supported by any scientific evidence; astronomers aren’t talking about Nibiru when they speak of a Planet X.
And so V774104 joins the ranks of interesting outer solar system objects!
We don’t yet know the orbit of the newly discovered distant object V774104. Within a year, astronomers hope to determine it. The outermost pink circle here denotes Neptune’s orbit. Sedna, 2012 VP113 and V774104 may be part of what astronomers have recently begun calling the inner Oort Cloud. Image via Scott Sheppard / Carnegie Inst. for Science / skyandtelescope.com.
Bottom line: Astronomers Scott Sheppard (Carnegie Institution for Science), Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and David Tholen (University of Hawaii) have found another object on the outer fringes of our solar system. It’s been designated V774104, and it lies more than 100 times farther from the sun than Earth. It’s fueling speculation about a Planet X.
