Radar shows 2 moons for asteroid Florence

Asteroid 3122 Florence and its 2 newly discovered moons, as seen via radar on September 1, 2017. Image via NASA/JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Asteroid 3122 Florence – largest asteroid to pass so close in over a century – swept past Earth on September 1, 2017. As it did so, astronomers using radar found that it is orbited by two tiny moons! According to a September 1 statement from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS):

Radar images of asteroid 3122 Florence obtained at the 70-meter antenna at NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex between August 29 and September 1 have revealed that the asteroid has two small moons, and also confirmed that main asteroid Florence is about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in size. Florence is only the third triple asteroid known in the near-Earth population out of more than 16,400 that have been discovered to date. All three near-Earth asteroid triples have been discovered with radar observations and Florence is the first seen since two moons were discovered around asteroid 1994 CC in June 2009.

The sizes of the two moons are not yet well known, but they are probably between 100 – 300 meters (300-1000 feet) across. The times required for each moon to revolve around Florence are also not yet known precisely but appear to be roughly 8 hours for the inner moon and 22 to 27 hours for the outer moon. The inner moon of the Florence system has the shortest orbital period of any of the moons of the 60 near-Earth asteroids known to have moons. In the Goldstone radar images, which have a resolution of 75 meters, the moons are only a few pixels in extent and do not reveal any detail.

Animated sequence of radar images of asteroid Florence and its moons. The 70-meter antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications complex acquired the images September 1. The resolution is about 75 meters. The images show two moons orbiting the much larger central body, which is about 4.5 km in diameter. The inner moon briefly disappears as it moves behind the central body and is hidden from the radar. Image via NASA/JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Asteroid 3122 Florence was discovered on March 2, 1981 from the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing. It passed safely at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. It won’t come this close again until after the year 2500.

See images and video of asteroid 3122 Florence

Want to observe the asteroid from your backyard? Skyandtelescope.com offers great charts like the one below.

During late August and early September, the near-Earth asteroid 3122 Florence passes Earth as close as 4.4 million miles from Earth. It will be bright enough to spot in modest backyard telescopes, and possibly binoculars. Note that the labeled dates on this chart mark the asteroid’s location at 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; translate to your time zone. Diagram via SkyandTelescope.com.

Professional astronomers have scheduled from NASA’s Goldstone Radar between August 29 to September 8, 2017. The Arecibo Observatory will also analyze Florence from September 2 – 5, 2017. Astronomers had said that Florence provided them with an excellent opportunity to make detailed measurements of a large near-Earth asteroid. Radar scientists have obtained high-resolution images of Florence. The recent statement said:

The radar images … provide our first close-up view of Florence itself. Although the asteroid is fairly round, it has a ridge along its equator, at least one large crater, two large flat regions, and numerous other small-scale topographic features. The images also confirm that Florence rotates once every 2.4 hours, a result that was determined previously from optical measurements of the asteroid’s brightness variations.

Among the near-Earth asteroids classified as Potentially Hazardous, Florence is one of the biggest. Bigger asteroids include 1999 JM8 (4.3 miles or 7 km), 4183 Cuno (3.5 miles or 5.6 km) and 3200 Phaeton (3.2 miles or 5.1 km), which is thought to be the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower.

Of these, however, Florence is brightest, making it an excellent target for possible glimpses via small telescopes and binoculars.

Its size of about half the elevation of Mount Everest should allow it to reach a visual magnitude of +8.75 to +9, making it a relatively easy target for experienced observers at sites with dark skies.

Its distance will make it difficult to detect its slow motion across the stars, unless you are using at least a 5″ diameter or bigger telescope and observe in the right direction.

Although asteroid Florence is travelling at 30,266 miles per hour (48,708 km/h), the distance will make it appear so slow that observers should keep watching the fairly bright asteroid for about 5 to 10 minutes to detect its movement across the stars.

Radar images of asteroid 3122 Florence, obtained from August 29, 2017 via Goldstone Radar in California. Image via NASA/JPL.

Bottom line: Asteroid 3122 Florence will safely pass by our planet on September 1, 2017 at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. It’s the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet since the first near-Earth asteroid was discovered over a century ago and might be visible to observers at dark sites using small telescopes, and even binoculars.

Read more about large Asteroid Florence from the Center for NEO Studies

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2w2HDCj

Asteroid 3122 Florence and its 2 newly discovered moons, as seen via radar on September 1, 2017. Image via NASA/JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Asteroid 3122 Florence – largest asteroid to pass so close in over a century – swept past Earth on September 1, 2017. As it did so, astronomers using radar found that it is orbited by two tiny moons! According to a September 1 statement from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS):

Radar images of asteroid 3122 Florence obtained at the 70-meter antenna at NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex between August 29 and September 1 have revealed that the asteroid has two small moons, and also confirmed that main asteroid Florence is about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in size. Florence is only the third triple asteroid known in the near-Earth population out of more than 16,400 that have been discovered to date. All three near-Earth asteroid triples have been discovered with radar observations and Florence is the first seen since two moons were discovered around asteroid 1994 CC in June 2009.

The sizes of the two moons are not yet well known, but they are probably between 100 – 300 meters (300-1000 feet) across. The times required for each moon to revolve around Florence are also not yet known precisely but appear to be roughly 8 hours for the inner moon and 22 to 27 hours for the outer moon. The inner moon of the Florence system has the shortest orbital period of any of the moons of the 60 near-Earth asteroids known to have moons. In the Goldstone radar images, which have a resolution of 75 meters, the moons are only a few pixels in extent and do not reveal any detail.

Animated sequence of radar images of asteroid Florence and its moons. The 70-meter antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications complex acquired the images September 1. The resolution is about 75 meters. The images show two moons orbiting the much larger central body, which is about 4.5 km in diameter. The inner moon briefly disappears as it moves behind the central body and is hidden from the radar. Image via NASA/JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Asteroid 3122 Florence was discovered on March 2, 1981 from the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing. It passed safely at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. It won’t come this close again until after the year 2500.

See images and video of asteroid 3122 Florence

Want to observe the asteroid from your backyard? Skyandtelescope.com offers great charts like the one below.

During late August and early September, the near-Earth asteroid 3122 Florence passes Earth as close as 4.4 million miles from Earth. It will be bright enough to spot in modest backyard telescopes, and possibly binoculars. Note that the labeled dates on this chart mark the asteroid’s location at 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; translate to your time zone. Diagram via SkyandTelescope.com.

Professional astronomers have scheduled from NASA’s Goldstone Radar between August 29 to September 8, 2017. The Arecibo Observatory will also analyze Florence from September 2 – 5, 2017. Astronomers had said that Florence provided them with an excellent opportunity to make detailed measurements of a large near-Earth asteroid. Radar scientists have obtained high-resolution images of Florence. The recent statement said:

The radar images … provide our first close-up view of Florence itself. Although the asteroid is fairly round, it has a ridge along its equator, at least one large crater, two large flat regions, and numerous other small-scale topographic features. The images also confirm that Florence rotates once every 2.4 hours, a result that was determined previously from optical measurements of the asteroid’s brightness variations.

Among the near-Earth asteroids classified as Potentially Hazardous, Florence is one of the biggest. Bigger asteroids include 1999 JM8 (4.3 miles or 7 km), 4183 Cuno (3.5 miles or 5.6 km) and 3200 Phaeton (3.2 miles or 5.1 km), which is thought to be the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower.

Of these, however, Florence is brightest, making it an excellent target for possible glimpses via small telescopes and binoculars.

Its size of about half the elevation of Mount Everest should allow it to reach a visual magnitude of +8.75 to +9, making it a relatively easy target for experienced observers at sites with dark skies.

Its distance will make it difficult to detect its slow motion across the stars, unless you are using at least a 5″ diameter or bigger telescope and observe in the right direction.

Although asteroid Florence is travelling at 30,266 miles per hour (48,708 km/h), the distance will make it appear so slow that observers should keep watching the fairly bright asteroid for about 5 to 10 minutes to detect its movement across the stars.

Radar images of asteroid 3122 Florence, obtained from August 29, 2017 via Goldstone Radar in California. Image via NASA/JPL.

Bottom line: Asteroid 3122 Florence will safely pass by our planet on September 1, 2017 at over 18 times the Earth-moon distance. It’s the largest asteroid to pass this close to our planet since the first near-Earth asteroid was discovered over a century ago and might be visible to observers at dark sites using small telescopes, and even binoculars.

Read more about large Asteroid Florence from the Center for NEO Studies

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2w2HDCj

The strange case of FRB 121102

View larger. | Visible-light image of the host galaxy of the source of the fast radio bursts, called FRB 121102. Image via NRAO/ Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF/NRC.

Breakthrough Listen – a global astronomical initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe, launched in 2015 by Internet investor Yuri Milner and cosmologist Stephen Hawking – has detected 15 more brief but powerful radio pulses from FRB 121102, a mysterious source associated with a galaxy in the distant universe. Fast radio bursts are unpredictable bright pulses of radio emission, of extremely short duration (on the order of milliseconds), from largely unknown sources. FRB 121102 is the only one known to repeat. The new Breakthrough Listen observations, made with the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, bring the total of known high-energy bursts from this strange object to more than 150.

The new results are published as an Astronomer’s Telegram, which is a non-peer-reviewed vehicle used by astronomers to report upon new astronomical observations of transient sources such as this one.

The first known radio burst from FRB 121102 came on November 2, 2012 (hence the object’s name). Two more bursts occurred on May 17, 2015, and eight more on June 2, 2015. Astronomers had observed fast radio bursts (FRBs) in the past, but, because it repeats, this one quickly became the target of ongoing monitoring campaigns by instruments across the globe.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory VLA fast radio burst animation from NRAO Outreach on Vimeo.

What causes the fast radio bursts, and why do they repeat? Astronomers don’t know but are trying to find out, aided by the information about FRB 121102 that’s only now accumulating. In 2016, astronomers pinpointed the location of the bursts on our sky’s dome, associating them with a dwarf galaxy about 3 billion light-years from Earth. One suggestion was that the bursts might come a strongly magnetized neutron star, or pulsar, such as the one at the center of the Crab Nebula. But, unlike the Crab Nebula, no X-rays have been detected from FRB 121102, indicating that the bursts’ source is not just a scaled-up version of the young pulsar at the Crab Nebula’s heart.

A 3-color composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1). It’s the remnant of a supernova explosion about 6,000 light-years away, observed in the year 1054. At its center is a pulsar — a small, compact neutron star that spins around its axis 30 times per second – that might be similar to the source FRB 121102. However, while the Crab pulsar emits X-rays, FRB 121102 does not. Image via ESO.

A much more speculative idea is that the bursts are directed energy sources used by extraterrestrial civilizations to power spacecraft. Hence Breakthrough Listen’s interst in this object. Their August 29, 2017 statement about the 15 new bursts said:

In the early hours of Saturday, August 26, UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Vishal Gajjar observed the location of FRB 121102 using the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The instrument accumulated 400 TB of data on the object over a five-hour observation, observing the entire 4 to 8 GHz frequency band. This large dataset was searched for signatures of short pulses from the source over a broad range of frequencies, with a characteristic dispersion, or delay as a function of frequency, caused by the presence of gas in space between us and the source. The distinctive shape that the dispersion imposes on the initial pulse is an indicator of the amount of material between us and the source, and hence an indicator of the distance to the host galaxy.

Analysis by Dr. Gajjar and the Listen team revealed 15 new pulses from FRB 121102.

Research published in March 2017 by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) suggests that fast radio bursts could be evidence of advanced alien technology. Specifically, these bursts might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies. Theorist Avi Loeb, who co-authored that research, said: “An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking.” This artist’s concept is via CfA.

As well as confirming that the source is in a newly active state, the new observations at Green Bank – using the Breakthrough Listen instrument on the telescope – will allow very precise measurements of the properties of the mysterious bursts from FRB 121102. Breakthrough Listen said:

The observations also show for the first time that FRBs emit at higher frequencies (with the brightest emission occurring at around 7 GHz) than previously observed. The extraordinary capabilities of the Listen backend, which is able to record several gigahertz of bandwidth at a time, split into billions of individual channels, enable a new view of the frequency spectrum of FRBs, and should shed additional light on the processes giving rise to FRB emission.

Breakthrough Listen pointed out that – when the recently-detected pulses left their host galaxy – our own solar system was just 2 billion years old. Life on Earth consisted of only single-celled organisms, and it would be another billion years before even the simplest multi-cellular life began to evolve.

A sequence of 14 of the 15 fast radio bursts from FRB 121102. The streaks across the colored energy plot are the bursts appearing at different times and different energies because of dispersion caused by 3 billion years of travel through intergalactic space. The bursts were captured in a broad bandwidth via the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope. Image via Berkeley News.

Bottom line: Breakthrough Listen – an initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe – reports 15 new fast radio bursts from the mysterious distant galaxy FRB 121102. The observations were made using the new Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2xF2fyI

View larger. | Visible-light image of the host galaxy of the source of the fast radio bursts, called FRB 121102. Image via NRAO/ Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF/NRC.

Breakthrough Listen – a global astronomical initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe, launched in 2015 by Internet investor Yuri Milner and cosmologist Stephen Hawking – has detected 15 more brief but powerful radio pulses from FRB 121102, a mysterious source associated with a galaxy in the distant universe. Fast radio bursts are unpredictable bright pulses of radio emission, of extremely short duration (on the order of milliseconds), from largely unknown sources. FRB 121102 is the only one known to repeat. The new Breakthrough Listen observations, made with the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, bring the total of known high-energy bursts from this strange object to more than 150.

The new results are published as an Astronomer’s Telegram, which is a non-peer-reviewed vehicle used by astronomers to report upon new astronomical observations of transient sources such as this one.

The first known radio burst from FRB 121102 came on November 2, 2012 (hence the object’s name). Two more bursts occurred on May 17, 2015, and eight more on June 2, 2015. Astronomers had observed fast radio bursts (FRBs) in the past, but, because it repeats, this one quickly became the target of ongoing monitoring campaigns by instruments across the globe.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory VLA fast radio burst animation from NRAO Outreach on Vimeo.

What causes the fast radio bursts, and why do they repeat? Astronomers don’t know but are trying to find out, aided by the information about FRB 121102 that’s only now accumulating. In 2016, astronomers pinpointed the location of the bursts on our sky’s dome, associating them with a dwarf galaxy about 3 billion light-years from Earth. One suggestion was that the bursts might come a strongly magnetized neutron star, or pulsar, such as the one at the center of the Crab Nebula. But, unlike the Crab Nebula, no X-rays have been detected from FRB 121102, indicating that the bursts’ source is not just a scaled-up version of the young pulsar at the Crab Nebula’s heart.

A 3-color composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1). It’s the remnant of a supernova explosion about 6,000 light-years away, observed in the year 1054. At its center is a pulsar — a small, compact neutron star that spins around its axis 30 times per second – that might be similar to the source FRB 121102. However, while the Crab pulsar emits X-rays, FRB 121102 does not. Image via ESO.

A much more speculative idea is that the bursts are directed energy sources used by extraterrestrial civilizations to power spacecraft. Hence Breakthrough Listen’s interst in this object. Their August 29, 2017 statement about the 15 new bursts said:

In the early hours of Saturday, August 26, UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Vishal Gajjar observed the location of FRB 121102 using the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The instrument accumulated 400 TB of data on the object over a five-hour observation, observing the entire 4 to 8 GHz frequency band. This large dataset was searched for signatures of short pulses from the source over a broad range of frequencies, with a characteristic dispersion, or delay as a function of frequency, caused by the presence of gas in space between us and the source. The distinctive shape that the dispersion imposes on the initial pulse is an indicator of the amount of material between us and the source, and hence an indicator of the distance to the host galaxy.

Analysis by Dr. Gajjar and the Listen team revealed 15 new pulses from FRB 121102.

Research published in March 2017 by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) suggests that fast radio bursts could be evidence of advanced alien technology. Specifically, these bursts might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies. Theorist Avi Loeb, who co-authored that research, said: “An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking.” This artist’s concept is via CfA.

As well as confirming that the source is in a newly active state, the new observations at Green Bank – using the Breakthrough Listen instrument on the telescope – will allow very precise measurements of the properties of the mysterious bursts from FRB 121102. Breakthrough Listen said:

The observations also show for the first time that FRBs emit at higher frequencies (with the brightest emission occurring at around 7 GHz) than previously observed. The extraordinary capabilities of the Listen backend, which is able to record several gigahertz of bandwidth at a time, split into billions of individual channels, enable a new view of the frequency spectrum of FRBs, and should shed additional light on the processes giving rise to FRB emission.

Breakthrough Listen pointed out that – when the recently-detected pulses left their host galaxy – our own solar system was just 2 billion years old. Life on Earth consisted of only single-celled organisms, and it would be another billion years before even the simplest multi-cellular life began to evolve.

A sequence of 14 of the 15 fast radio bursts from FRB 121102. The streaks across the colored energy plot are the bursts appearing at different times and different energies because of dispersion caused by 3 billion years of travel through intergalactic space. The bursts were captured in a broad bandwidth via the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope. Image via Berkeley News.

Bottom line: Breakthrough Listen – an initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe – reports 15 new fast radio bursts from the mysterious distant galaxy FRB 121102. The observations were made using the new Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2xF2fyI

Milky Way over Cape Hatteras lighthouse

Image via John Entwistle Photography.

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

Image via John Entwistle Photography.

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

News digest – CAR T cells, nanomachines, vaping in teens and… selfies diagnosing cancer?

• A medical milestone was reached this week as the US approved CAR T cell therapy for a small number of children and young adults with a particular type of leukaemia. The go-ahead for the new treatment, which engineers a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer, was widely reported.
• The Government announced plans to pour £146 million into the life sciences sector, says the BBC and PharmaTimes. The new funds aim to accelerate the discovery of new medicines, and there will also be a focus on finding ways to detect cancer earlier, as we reported.
• Our researchers in Glasgow found a new way of killing cancer cells in the lab, reports the Mail Online and Express. The newly discovered process, which involves the immune system, has the potential to be more effective at getting rid of cancer cells as well as generating fewer side effects, according to the researchers. The next step is to see if it works in mice.
• The majority of teens who experiment with vaping don’t normally keep it up, says the Guardian and The Telegraph. We also covered the study that looked at e-cigarette use in 11 – 16 year olds.
• Our physicists in Cambridge have used their knowledge of light and sound to capture images of prostate cancers in mice in new detail. The Express ran the story, we also blogged about the research, and the scientists behind the discovery explain more in this video.
• Watch our physicists in Cambridge discuss their new paper on YouTube
• Scientists in Durham have invented nanomachines that can drill holes into cancer cells in a dish and kill them, according to the Telegraph. The team now need to see if these tiny molecules work in animals with cancer.
• The latest study looking at fruit and veg consumption claims that eating three or four portions a day may be enough to stay healthy. The Guardian says this new estimate is good for those in low and middle income countries where people struggle to afford the recommended five portions. But, when it comes to fruit and veg, the more the better, so this isn’t your cue to cut down.

Number of the week

475,000

The cost in dollars of one dose of CAR T cell therapy

• The Sun warned readers that not all skin cancers start in existing moles. They report that as well as keeping old moles in check, it’s good to pay attention to new ones that crop up. Here are our top tips on how to enjoy the sun safely.
• Statins and cancer were in the headlines again, after a new study led to claims that the cholesterol lowering drugs might reduce the risk of breast cancer. But the unpublished study behind the reports didn’t test the effect of statins on breast cancer risk, and there isn’t good evidence to suggest that taking this type of drug reduces the risk of cancer.
• We covered a team of scientists in the US who have developed experimental models for 12 types of childhood cancer and given the information to the scientific community for free. The hope is that these models can be used by other scientists to test out new cancer drugs for children, speeding up progress.
• The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said the breast cancer drug fulvestrant wasn’t cost effective for NHS use due to lack of evidence that it extended lives. But the Mail Online says experts believe the drug can stall the disease for up to three months. We also reported on this.
• STAT News looked at why discussions around palliative and end-of-life care are so important, particularly in the age of immunotherapy. And a year on from a data report on cancer deaths 30 days after chemotherapy, we found that one hospital in England is starting those conversations earlier.
  

  And finally

• An app caused a stir this week as claims were made it could spot early signs of pancreatic cancer. By using a smartphone camera to take pictures of the whites of the eyes, the app is said to measure bilirubin levels responsible for giving people jaundice, which can also be a sign of pancreatic cancer. While a ‘selfie’ diagnosis sounds convenient, the tech would need to go through rigorous clinical trials before we’ll know if it can spot the disease, especially because jaundice can also be a sign of many other health conditions.

Gabi

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

• A medical milestone was reached this week as the US approved CAR T cell therapy for a small number of children and young adults with a particular type of leukaemia. The go-ahead for the new treatment, which engineers a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer, was widely reported.
• The Government announced plans to pour £146 million into the life sciences sector, says the BBC and PharmaTimes. The new funds aim to accelerate the discovery of new medicines, and there will also be a focus on finding ways to detect cancer earlier, as we reported.
• Our researchers in Glasgow found a new way of killing cancer cells in the lab, reports the Mail Online and Express. The newly discovered process, which involves the immune system, has the potential to be more effective at getting rid of cancer cells as well as generating fewer side effects, according to the researchers. The next step is to see if it works in mice.
• The majority of teens who experiment with vaping don’t normally keep it up, says the Guardian and The Telegraph. We also covered the study that looked at e-cigarette use in 11 – 16 year olds.
• Our physicists in Cambridge have used their knowledge of light and sound to capture images of prostate cancers in mice in new detail. The Express ran the story, we also blogged about the research, and the scientists behind the discovery explain more in this video.
• Watch our physicists in Cambridge discuss their new paper on YouTube
• Scientists in Durham have invented nanomachines that can drill holes into cancer cells in a dish and kill them, according to the Telegraph. The team now need to see if these tiny molecules work in animals with cancer.
• The latest study looking at fruit and veg consumption claims that eating three or four portions a day may be enough to stay healthy. The Guardian says this new estimate is good for those in low and middle income countries where people struggle to afford the recommended five portions. But, when it comes to fruit and veg, the more the better, so this isn’t your cue to cut down.

Number of the week

475,000

The cost in dollars of one dose of CAR T cell therapy

• The Sun warned readers that not all skin cancers start in existing moles. They report that as well as keeping old moles in check, it’s good to pay attention to new ones that crop up. Here are our top tips on how to enjoy the sun safely.
• Statins and cancer were in the headlines again, after a new study led to claims that the cholesterol lowering drugs might reduce the risk of breast cancer. But the unpublished study behind the reports didn’t test the effect of statins on breast cancer risk, and there isn’t good evidence to suggest that taking this type of drug reduces the risk of cancer.
• We covered a team of scientists in the US who have developed experimental models for 12 types of childhood cancer and given the information to the scientific community for free. The hope is that these models can be used by other scientists to test out new cancer drugs for children, speeding up progress.
• The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said the breast cancer drug fulvestrant wasn’t cost effective for NHS use due to lack of evidence that it extended lives. But the Mail Online says experts believe the drug can stall the disease for up to three months. We also reported on this.
• STAT News looked at why discussions around palliative and end-of-life care are so important, particularly in the age of immunotherapy. And a year on from a data report on cancer deaths 30 days after chemotherapy, we found that one hospital in England is starting those conversations earlier.
  

  And finally

• An app caused a stir this week as claims were made it could spot early signs of pancreatic cancer. By using a smartphone camera to take pictures of the whites of the eyes, the app is said to measure bilirubin levels responsible for giving people jaundice, which can also be a sign of pancreatic cancer. While a ‘selfie’ diagnosis sounds convenient, the tech would need to go through rigorous clinical trials before we’ll know if it can spot the disease, especially because jaundice can also be a sign of many other health conditions.

Gabi

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

Before dawn, Orion the Hunter

Mike wrote:

I noticed on your site that Orion returned to the predawn sky in late July. You called it the ‘ghost of the summer dawn.’ Due to cloudy skies and other conditions, I was not able to see it until August 6. When will Orion return to the evening sky?

Mike, Orion the Hunter is always behind the sun as seen from Earth in June. It comes back to the predawn sky every year in late July. By early September, Orion is rising in the wee hours and is well up in the southeast an hour before dawn, as shown on today’s chart.

Orion will soon be up by midnight, then 10 p.m. … and by December you’ll find it rising in early evening.

There’s nothing unusual about Orion’s shift from the predawn to the evening sky. This constellation is simply following the westward shift of all the stars, caused by Earth’s orbit around the sun. As we orbit the sun, our night sky points toward an ever-changing panorama of the Milky Way galaxy. Our orbit causes all the stars to rise approximately 4 minutes earlier each day.

Martin Marthadinata in East Java, Indonesia, caught this photo on September 11, 2016. It’s Orion rising behind the rooftops. Notice Orion’s Belt of 3 stars.

Bottom line: If you’re an early riser, look to the southeast and spot Orion the Hunter roaming the September predawn sky.

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

There are some great astronomy events this weekend. Check to see if there’s one in your area.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1Q5C725

Mike wrote:

I noticed on your site that Orion returned to the predawn sky in late July. You called it the ‘ghost of the summer dawn.’ Due to cloudy skies and other conditions, I was not able to see it until August 6. When will Orion return to the evening sky?

Mike, Orion the Hunter is always behind the sun as seen from Earth in June. It comes back to the predawn sky every year in late July. By early September, Orion is rising in the wee hours and is well up in the southeast an hour before dawn, as shown on today’s chart.

Orion will soon be up by midnight, then 10 p.m. … and by December you’ll find it rising in early evening.

There’s nothing unusual about Orion’s shift from the predawn to the evening sky. This constellation is simply following the westward shift of all the stars, caused by Earth’s orbit around the sun. As we orbit the sun, our night sky points toward an ever-changing panorama of the Milky Way galaxy. Our orbit causes all the stars to rise approximately 4 minutes earlier each day.

Martin Marthadinata in East Java, Indonesia, caught this photo on September 11, 2016. It’s Orion rising behind the rooftops. Notice Orion’s Belt of 3 stars.

Bottom line: If you’re an early riser, look to the southeast and spot Orion the Hunter roaming the September predawn sky.

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

There are some great astronomy events this weekend. Check to see if there’s one in your area.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1Q5C725

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: 9 top questions answered

Today marks the start of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness around children’s cancers.

Every year, around 4,200 children and young people in the UK (ages 0-24) are diagnosed with cancer. But while survival for this group has improved a lot in the last 40 years, more needs to be done. Not only to increase survival but to ensure that those who do survive, do so with a good quality of life.

September is therefore an important time for us to talk about Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens, a fundraising campaign we set up to support research into new, better and kinder treatments for children and young people with cancer.

Deciding how we approach this challenge isn’t easy, especially with a subject as emotive as childhood cancer. And we’re asked a lot of questions about the ‘how’, ‘why’ and ‘how much’ decisions we make when funding research, and about our campaign.

Here, Dr Ian Walker, Director of Clinical Research at Cancer Research UK, answers some of the most common questions.

How does Cancer Research UK decide what research to fund?

As a charity, we don’t allocate set amounts of money to specific types of cancer. Instead, the amount we spend on different cancers depends on the number of high quality research proposals we get from researchers.

We decide what research to fund based solely on the applications submitted to us by the research community. And that’s why the range of research we fund and the amount we spend on different cancers changes each year.

The process works by scientists or doctors submitting a research proposal to us based on what they would like to work on. This proposal is reviewed by an international panel of experts and then further discussed by a second, separate panel of experts. Each research proposal is judged on its scientific merit, strategic priority, feasibility and the impact it could have for people with cancer.

If the panels decide the research is of the highest quality, that it will increase our understanding of cancer, and ultimately underpins improvements in outcomes for patients, we agree to fund it. You can learn more about the process here and here.

What percentage of the money you spend on research goes towards cancers affecting children and young people?

In 2016/17 we spent £6.1 million on research grants specifically focused on cancers affecting children and young people. This equates to 1.4% of the £428 million we paid out in 2016/17 on charitable activities. You can read more about this in our Annual Report and Accounts.

We also invest a huge amount of money (£112 million in 2016/17) in research to understand the ‘nuts and bolts’ of cancers’ many forms. This includes research into what goes wrong in cancer cells, what their weaknesses are, and how they develop in the first place. This work is relevant to all types of cancer, including those affecting children and young people. And it plays a vital role in the development of new, better and kinder ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

A large amount of the money we spend outside of research grants is used to give scientists the best facilities and services in which to carry out their life-saving work. This includes establishing and running our Centres, Institutes, biobanks and Clinical Trials Units across the UK. We also co-fund 18 Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs), which bring world-leading doctors, research nurses and technical staff together to develop and test new cancer treatments.

This work includes funding and running a paediatric Clinical Trials Unit, a paediatric ECMC network and a paediatric biobank across the UK.

So while we spent £6.1 million on research specifically into children’s cancers in 2016/17, the money we spend on fundamental cancer research and on creating a world-class research environment will also help us beat children’s cancers sooner.

What happens to any excess funds that are raised but aren’t spent?

Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens is a restricted fundraising campaign. This means 100% of the money raised through the campaign is used to fund research into cancers affecting children and young people. But it doesn’t mean that we always spend all of the donations we receive in a given year.

That’s because we won’t fund sub-standard projects that our expert reviewers believe won’t increase our understanding of cancers that affect children and young people or bring benefits to patients. Instead, any excess funds are carried over to next year, where they are available to fund high quality research proposals we receive that year.

What are you doing to generate more research into children’s cancers?

Cancers affecting children and young people have always been important to us, and we have a strong track record when it comes to working in this area.

But we are still losing too many children to cancer, and some survivors have long-term side effects that can affect them for the rest of their lives.

In order to accelerate progress, we need to see an increase in the number of high quality research proposals we receive. Part of the reason we don’t receive as many research proposals for children’s cancers is because there are fewer researchers working in this area. That’s why we’re working to boost interest among younger researchers across the UK and encourage them to consider working on children’s cancers.

We’ve also been working on the services and facilities required for delivering high quality research on cancers affecting children and young people. This includes funding a paediatric Clinical Trials Unit and a biobank, which collects tissue and blood samples generously donated by young patients involved in research. These critical resources ensure high quality research can be carried out into cancers that affect children and young people.

We’re also gathering together global experts to find out what else might be hindering progress in children’s cancers so we can work together to overcome this.

Why don’t you just allocate more funds to children’s cancer research?

We know that new, better and kinder treatments are needed for children and young people diagnosed with cancer, and we are committed to doing more to make this happen.

But unfortunately, it’s not as simple as spending more money in this area. It’s about spending money in the right way, on the right research.

We know that part of this will come from attracting more high quality research proposals, which is why we’re working with researchers to make this happen.

Right now, if we received more high quality research proposals for work on children’s cancers we could fund them. And if the number of fundable proposals exceeded the amount available to us through restricted donations, we would use money from other budgets to fund them.

What research are you doing to improve things for children with cancer?

Right now, our scientists across the UK are researching cancers that affect children and young people.

Professor Richard Gilbertson in Cambridge is studying medulloblastoma and why some children diagnosed with the disease do better than others. He hopes that understanding more about the disease, and its different subtypes, will help doctors get the right treatment to the right patient.

We’re also working in collaboration with UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Children with Cancer UK to fund and run a research project into children’s kidney cancer. Led by Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones, the team is looking into a new genetic test that could improve treatment of the disease in children.

And recently, we announced a new funding scheme to create Cancer Research UK Centres of Excellence for brain tumours. Scientists working on adult and childhood brain tumours can apply for this funding.

Are you supporting the ‘Glow Gold’ campaign this year?

Our shops are supporting Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September by selling gold ribbon pin badges in every store across the UK throughout the month. You can also buy them from our online shop.

We also run other campaigns for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens in our shops during the year. In fact, in the past year alone, our shop teams have raised more than half a million pounds for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens.

While we’re unable to turn our shop windows gold, there will be gold ribbon stickers in the windows to increase awareness of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and to let passers-by know that they can buy gold ribbon pin badges in our stores.

The majority of people who help run our shops are volunteers. And a lot of them have been affected by cancer in some way. They volunteer in our shops as a way of giving something back. If you are visiting one of our shops and have questions about our research on children’s cancers, please understand that our shop volunteers will not be able to answer detailed questions about our research programmes and research spend.

TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes For Good campaign raises funds for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens. In the last two weeks of September, there will be posters featuring the gold ribbon in our shop windows highlighting the campaign and that people can donate quality unwanted clothes, accessories and homeware to help beat children’s cancers sooner.

Throughout September we’re also carrying out PR campaigns to promote Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in national and regional media, including turning the BT Tower in London gold between 12pm-2pm and 4pm-7pm on the 1^st September.

Why do you feature such a large number of children in your adverts when you don’t fund much research into children’s cancers?

Children, young people and their families feature in our wider advertising campaigns because we want to show the reality of cancer and how it affects peoples’ lives. And we share the stories of people of all ages that have been affected by cancer in some way across our campaigns. Money raised from these campaigns goes to fund research into every type of cancer, including the fundamental biology of cancer.

Everyone who features in our adverts is a real person and has given their permission and support for us to share their story.

What can I do to support Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens?

If you would like to support Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens, you can register for a fundraising booklet, which can be sent to you in the post or downloaded along with some materials to get you started.

If you’d like anything extra, such as balloons or T shirts, please contact our supporter services team on 0300 123 1861. Items to sell and buy as gifts for your family and friends are available from our online shop.

You can also learn more about how to support Cancer Research UK more widely on our website as well as how to get in contact with us.

Dr Ian Walker, Director of Clinical Research at Cancer Research UK.

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2iN1Dno

Today marks the start of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness around children’s cancers.

Every year, around 4,200 children and young people in the UK (ages 0-24) are diagnosed with cancer. But while survival for this group has improved a lot in the last 40 years, more needs to be done. Not only to increase survival but to ensure that those who do survive, do so with a good quality of life.

September is therefore an important time for us to talk about Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens, a fundraising campaign we set up to support research into new, better and kinder treatments for children and young people with cancer.

Deciding how we approach this challenge isn’t easy, especially with a subject as emotive as childhood cancer. And we’re asked a lot of questions about the ‘how’, ‘why’ and ‘how much’ decisions we make when funding research, and about our campaign.

Here, Dr Ian Walker, Director of Clinical Research at Cancer Research UK, answers some of the most common questions.

How does Cancer Research UK decide what research to fund?

As a charity, we don’t allocate set amounts of money to specific types of cancer. Instead, the amount we spend on different cancers depends on the number of high quality research proposals we get from researchers.

We decide what research to fund based solely on the applications submitted to us by the research community. And that’s why the range of research we fund and the amount we spend on different cancers changes each year.

The process works by scientists or doctors submitting a research proposal to us based on what they would like to work on. This proposal is reviewed by an international panel of experts and then further discussed by a second, separate panel of experts. Each research proposal is judged on its scientific merit, strategic priority, feasibility and the impact it could have for people with cancer.

If the panels decide the research is of the highest quality, that it will increase our understanding of cancer, and ultimately underpins improvements in outcomes for patients, we agree to fund it. You can learn more about the process here and here.

What percentage of the money you spend on research goes towards cancers affecting children and young people?

In 2016/17 we spent £6.1 million on research grants specifically focused on cancers affecting children and young people. This equates to 1.4% of the £428 million we paid out in 2016/17 on charitable activities. You can read more about this in our Annual Report and Accounts.

We also invest a huge amount of money (£112 million in 2016/17) in research to understand the ‘nuts and bolts’ of cancers’ many forms. This includes research into what goes wrong in cancer cells, what their weaknesses are, and how they develop in the first place. This work is relevant to all types of cancer, including those affecting children and young people. And it plays a vital role in the development of new, better and kinder ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

A large amount of the money we spend outside of research grants is used to give scientists the best facilities and services in which to carry out their life-saving work. This includes establishing and running our Centres, Institutes, biobanks and Clinical Trials Units across the UK. We also co-fund 18 Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs), which bring world-leading doctors, research nurses and technical staff together to develop and test new cancer treatments.

This work includes funding and running a paediatric Clinical Trials Unit, a paediatric ECMC network and a paediatric biobank across the UK.

So while we spent £6.1 million on research specifically into children’s cancers in 2016/17, the money we spend on fundamental cancer research and on creating a world-class research environment will also help us beat children’s cancers sooner.

What happens to any excess funds that are raised but aren’t spent?

Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens is a restricted fundraising campaign. This means 100% of the money raised through the campaign is used to fund research into cancers affecting children and young people. But it doesn’t mean that we always spend all of the donations we receive in a given year.

That’s because we won’t fund sub-standard projects that our expert reviewers believe won’t increase our understanding of cancers that affect children and young people or bring benefits to patients. Instead, any excess funds are carried over to next year, where they are available to fund high quality research proposals we receive that year.

What are you doing to generate more research into children’s cancers?

Cancers affecting children and young people have always been important to us, and we have a strong track record when it comes to working in this area.

But we are still losing too many children to cancer, and some survivors have long-term side effects that can affect them for the rest of their lives.

In order to accelerate progress, we need to see an increase in the number of high quality research proposals we receive. Part of the reason we don’t receive as many research proposals for children’s cancers is because there are fewer researchers working in this area. That’s why we’re working to boost interest among younger researchers across the UK and encourage them to consider working on children’s cancers.

We’ve also been working on the services and facilities required for delivering high quality research on cancers affecting children and young people. This includes funding a paediatric Clinical Trials Unit and a biobank, which collects tissue and blood samples generously donated by young patients involved in research. These critical resources ensure high quality research can be carried out into cancers that affect children and young people.

We’re also gathering together global experts to find out what else might be hindering progress in children’s cancers so we can work together to overcome this.

Why don’t you just allocate more funds to children’s cancer research?

We know that new, better and kinder treatments are needed for children and young people diagnosed with cancer, and we are committed to doing more to make this happen.

But unfortunately, it’s not as simple as spending more money in this area. It’s about spending money in the right way, on the right research.

We know that part of this will come from attracting more high quality research proposals, which is why we’re working with researchers to make this happen.

Right now, if we received more high quality research proposals for work on children’s cancers we could fund them. And if the number of fundable proposals exceeded the amount available to us through restricted donations, we would use money from other budgets to fund them.

What research are you doing to improve things for children with cancer?

Right now, our scientists across the UK are researching cancers that affect children and young people.

Professor Richard Gilbertson in Cambridge is studying medulloblastoma and why some children diagnosed with the disease do better than others. He hopes that understanding more about the disease, and its different subtypes, will help doctors get the right treatment to the right patient.

We’re also working in collaboration with UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Children with Cancer UK to fund and run a research project into children’s kidney cancer. Led by Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones, the team is looking into a new genetic test that could improve treatment of the disease in children.

And recently, we announced a new funding scheme to create Cancer Research UK Centres of Excellence for brain tumours. Scientists working on adult and childhood brain tumours can apply for this funding.

Are you supporting the ‘Glow Gold’ campaign this year?

Our shops are supporting Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September by selling gold ribbon pin badges in every store across the UK throughout the month. You can also buy them from our online shop.

We also run other campaigns for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens in our shops during the year. In fact, in the past year alone, our shop teams have raised more than half a million pounds for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens.

While we’re unable to turn our shop windows gold, there will be gold ribbon stickers in the windows to increase awareness of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and to let passers-by know that they can buy gold ribbon pin badges in our stores.

The majority of people who help run our shops are volunteers. And a lot of them have been affected by cancer in some way. They volunteer in our shops as a way of giving something back. If you are visiting one of our shops and have questions about our research on children’s cancers, please understand that our shop volunteers will not be able to answer detailed questions about our research programmes and research spend.

TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes For Good campaign raises funds for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens. In the last two weeks of September, there will be posters featuring the gold ribbon in our shop windows highlighting the campaign and that people can donate quality unwanted clothes, accessories and homeware to help beat children’s cancers sooner.

Throughout September we’re also carrying out PR campaigns to promote Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in national and regional media, including turning the BT Tower in London gold between 12pm-2pm and 4pm-7pm on the 1^st September.

Why do you feature such a large number of children in your adverts when you don’t fund much research into children’s cancers?

Children, young people and their families feature in our wider advertising campaigns because we want to show the reality of cancer and how it affects peoples’ lives. And we share the stories of people of all ages that have been affected by cancer in some way across our campaigns. Money raised from these campaigns goes to fund research into every type of cancer, including the fundamental biology of cancer.

Everyone who features in our adverts is a real person and has given their permission and support for us to share their story.

What can I do to support Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens?

If you would like to support Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens, you can register for a fundraising booklet, which can be sent to you in the post or downloaded along with some materials to get you started.

If you’d like anything extra, such as balloons or T shirts, please contact our supporter services team on 0300 123 1861. Items to sell and buy as gifts for your family and friends are available from our online shop.

You can also learn more about how to support Cancer Research UK more widely on our website as well as how to get in contact with us.

Dr Ian Walker, Director of Clinical Research at Cancer Research UK.

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2iN1Dno

First hints of water on TRAPPIST-1 planets

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces. This artist’s impression is based on the known physical parameters of the planets and stars seen, and uses a vast database of objects in the universe. Image via Hubble.

Via Hubble Space Telescope

An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to estimate whether there might be water on the seven earth-sized planets orbiting the nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. The results suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbor substantial amounts of water. This includes the three planets within the habitable zone of the star, lending further weight to the possibility that they may indeed be habitable.

On February 22, 2017 astronomers announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, 40 light-years away. This makes TRAPPIST-1 the planetary system with the largest number of Earth-sized planets discovered so far.

Following up on the discovery, an international team of scientists led by the Swiss astronomer Vincent Bourrier from the Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system. Blurrier explained:

Ultraviolet radiation is an important factor in the atmospheric evolution of planets. As in our own atmosphere, where ultraviolet sunlight breaks molecules apart, ultraviolet starlight can break water vapor in the atmospheres of exoplanets into hydrogen and oxygen.

A size comparison of the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system, lined up in order of increasing distance from their host star. The planetary surfaces are portrayed with an artist’s impression of their potential surface features, including water, ice, and atmospheres. Image via NASA/R. Hurt/T. Pyle.

While lower-energy ultraviolet radiation breaks up water molecules — a process called photodissociation — ultraviolet rays with more energy (XUV radiation) and X-rays heat the upper atmosphere of a planet, which allows the products of photodissociation, hydrogen and oxygen, to escape.

As it is very light, hydrogen gas can escape the exoplanets’ atmospheres and be detected around the exoplanets with Hubble, acting as a possible indicator of atmospheric water vapor. The observed amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by TRAPPIST-1 indeed suggests that the planets could have lost gigantic amounts of water over the course of their history.

This is especially true for the innermost two planets of the system, TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, which receive the largest amount of ultraviolet energy.

Julien de Wit, from MIT, is co-author of the study. He said:

Our results indicate that atmospheric escape may play an important role in the evolution of these planets.

The inner planets could have lost more than 20 Earth-oceans-worth of water during the last eight billion years. However, the outer planets of the system — including the planets e, f and g which are in the habitable zone — should have lost much less water, suggesting that they could have retained some on their surfaces. The calculated water loss rates as well as geophysical water release rates also favour the idea that the outermost, more massive planets retain their water. However, with the currently available data and telescopes no final conclusion can be drawn on the water content of the planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1. Bourrier said:

While our results suggest that the outer planets are the best candidates to search for water with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, they also highlight the need for theoretical studies and complementary observations at all wavelengths to determine the nature of the TRAPPIST-1 planets and their potential habitability.

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Donate to EarthSky: Your support means the world to us

Bottom line: Hubble Space Telescope study suggests that there might be substantial amounts of water on the outer earth-sized planets orbiting nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2eL8NUW

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces. This artist’s impression is based on the known physical parameters of the planets and stars seen, and uses a vast database of objects in the universe. Image via Hubble.

Via Hubble Space Telescope

An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to estimate whether there might be water on the seven earth-sized planets orbiting the nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. The results suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbor substantial amounts of water. This includes the three planets within the habitable zone of the star, lending further weight to the possibility that they may indeed be habitable.

On February 22, 2017 astronomers announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, 40 light-years away. This makes TRAPPIST-1 the planetary system with the largest number of Earth-sized planets discovered so far.

Following up on the discovery, an international team of scientists led by the Swiss astronomer Vincent Bourrier from the Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system. Blurrier explained:

Ultraviolet radiation is an important factor in the atmospheric evolution of planets. As in our own atmosphere, where ultraviolet sunlight breaks molecules apart, ultraviolet starlight can break water vapor in the atmospheres of exoplanets into hydrogen and oxygen.

A size comparison of the planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system, lined up in order of increasing distance from their host star. The planetary surfaces are portrayed with an artist’s impression of their potential surface features, including water, ice, and atmospheres. Image via NASA/R. Hurt/T. Pyle.

While lower-energy ultraviolet radiation breaks up water molecules — a process called photodissociation — ultraviolet rays with more energy (XUV radiation) and X-rays heat the upper atmosphere of a planet, which allows the products of photodissociation, hydrogen and oxygen, to escape.

As it is very light, hydrogen gas can escape the exoplanets’ atmospheres and be detected around the exoplanets with Hubble, acting as a possible indicator of atmospheric water vapor. The observed amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by TRAPPIST-1 indeed suggests that the planets could have lost gigantic amounts of water over the course of their history.

This is especially true for the innermost two planets of the system, TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, which receive the largest amount of ultraviolet energy.

Julien de Wit, from MIT, is co-author of the study. He said:

Our results indicate that atmospheric escape may play an important role in the evolution of these planets.

The inner planets could have lost more than 20 Earth-oceans-worth of water during the last eight billion years. However, the outer planets of the system — including the planets e, f and g which are in the habitable zone — should have lost much less water, suggesting that they could have retained some on their surfaces. The calculated water loss rates as well as geophysical water release rates also favour the idea that the outermost, more massive planets retain their water. However, with the currently available data and telescopes no final conclusion can be drawn on the water content of the planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1. Bourrier said:

While our results suggest that the outer planets are the best candidates to search for water with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, they also highlight the need for theoretical studies and complementary observations at all wavelengths to determine the nature of the TRAPPIST-1 planets and their potential habitability.

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

Donate to EarthSky: Your support means the world to us

Bottom line: Hubble Space Telescope study suggests that there might be substantial amounts of water on the outer earth-sized planets orbiting nearby dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2eL8NUW