news sciences

2 lunar perigees in June 2020

Above: A simulation of the moon’s phase on June 29-30, 2020, as our companion world reaches its second lunar perigee of this month. The image is via Fourmilab.

The moon in its orbit swings closest to Earth at perigee, and farthest away from Earth at apogee. There are a total of 13 lunar perigees in 2020, so it’s inevitable that one calendar month this year has to harbor two lunar perigees. That double feature happens in June 2020. Depending on where you live worldwide, the second of two June 2020 perigees falls on June 29 or 30 (June 30 at 2:09 UTC). A playful person might wish to call this a Blue Moon perigee, given the popular definition of Blue Moons as the second full moon of a month, and given that this June 29-30 perigee is the second of two lunar perigees this month.

How to catch the elusive green flash

The green flash image at the top of this post was taken by Chris Mannerino, from SanDiego, California, USA, on December 13, 2017.

It’s not hard to see a green flash with the eye alone, when sky conditions are right, and when you’re looking toward a very clear and very distant horizon. That’s why those who live near an ocean tend to report green flashes most often. A sea horizon is the best place to see them.

The video below, posted to EarthSky by Vladek in 2016, is an excellent example of the experience of seeing a green flash:

Most people see green flashes just at sunset, at the last moment before the sun disappears below the horizon. Be careful and don’t look too soon. If you do look too soon, the light of the sunset will dazzle (or damage) your eyes, and you’ll miss your green flash chance that day. But if you wait – looking away until just the thinnest rim of the sun appears above the horizon – that day’s green flash could be yours.

Of course, the green flash can be seen before sunrise, too, although it’s harder at that time of day to know precisely when to look.

Pyramid-like deep orange setting sun with green smudge at top.

Mock mirage and green flash seen from San Francisco in 2006. Image via Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons.

There are many different types of green flash. Some describe a streak or ray of the color green … like a green flame shooting up from the sunrise or sunset horizon.

The most common green flash, though – the one most people describe – is a flash of the color green seen when the sun is nearly entirely below the horizon.

Again … you need a distant horizon to see any of these phenomena, and you need a distinct edge to the horizon. That’s why these green flashes, streaks, and rays are most often seen over the ocean. But you can see them over land, too, if your horizon is far enough away. Pollution or haze on the horizon will hide this instantaneous flash of the color green.

Orange sky, blue sea, tugboat silhouette with green smudge on horizon.

Jim Grant photographed this green flash on April 27, 2012, off the coast of San Diego.

If you’re interested in green flashes, Andrew Young’s green flash page is great. He also has a page of links to pictures of green flashes taken by people from around the globe.

And, of course, Les Cowley at the great website Atmospheric Optics devotes many pages to the green flash phenomenon. Notice the menu bar at the left side of the page; it’ll let you explore many different types of green flashes.

Yellow pyramid with tall tower silhouetted in center and bright green top.

Green flash atop sun pyramid via astrophotographer Colin Legg in Australia.

Bottom line: The green flash is legendary, and some people have told us they thought it was a myth, like a unicorn or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But green flashes are very real. You need a distant and exceedingly clear horizon to see them at the last moment before the sun disappears below the horizon at sunset.

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Old moon and morning planets on April 17, 2020.

Are you an early riser? Then catch the old moon beneath the line-up of three bright morning planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

Can you see a green flash? More tips, plus more pictures

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3i7qHQB

The green flash image at the top of this post was taken by Chris Mannerino, from SanDiego, California, USA, on December 13, 2017.

The video below, posted to EarthSky by Vladek in 2016, is an excellent example of the experience of seeing a green flash:

Of course, the green flash can be seen before sunrise, too, although it’s harder at that time of day to know precisely when to look.

Mock mirage and green flash seen from San Francisco in 2006. Image via Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons.

There are many different types of green flash. Some describe a streak or ray of the color green … like a green flame shooting up from the sunrise or sunset horizon.

The most common green flash, though – the one most people describe – is a flash of the color green seen when the sun is nearly entirely below the horizon.

Jim Grant photographed this green flash on April 27, 2012, off the coast of San Diego.

If you’re interested in green flashes, Andrew Young’s green flash page is great. He also has a page of links to pictures of green flashes taken by people from around the globe.

Green flash atop sun pyramid via astrophotographer Colin Legg in Australia.

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

Are you an early riser? Then catch the old moon beneath the line-up of three bright morning planets: Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

Can you see a green flash? More tips, plus more pictures

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/3i7qHQB

News digest – targeted drug approval, microbubble ‘warheads’ and prostate cancer treatment

With news about the coronavirus pandemic developing daily, we want to make sure everyone affected by cancer gets the information they need during this time.

We’re pulling together the latest government and NHS health updates from across the UK in a separate blog post, which we’re updating regularly.

Targeted drug to treat multiple cancer types approved in England

A targeted cancer drug has been approved for NHS use in England to treat multiple cancer types, reports The Times and Mail Online. Entrectinib is designed to target specific changes in a cancer cell’s DNA, rather than where the cancer is growing in the body. It’s the second drug of its kind to be approved for NHS use in England, after larotrectinib was given the green light in April this year. These innovative treatments have been hailed as ‘revolutionary, but they also post unique and complex challenges for the NHS, as our blog post explains.

Targeted drug improves survival for children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma

New clinical trial results show that adding rituximab to standard chemotherapy could improve survival for children and young people with a fast-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The results have been called “the most significant breakthrough in treating this type of cancer for 30 years”. Our news report has the story.

New targeted cancer drug safe in early clinical trials

BBC News reports on early trials of a new drug that could stop cancer cells repairing their DNA. Initial trials of borzosertib, involving 40 people with advanced cancers, found the drug was well tolerated by patients. Researchers also saw early indications that the treatment was having an effect on tumour growth, but as the study was not designed to measure the effectiveness of the treatment, it’s too early to talk about the drug’s benefits.

Prostate cancer drug rejected for NHS use in England

A hormone therapy for some adults with newly, diagnosed, advanced prostate cancer has been rejected by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. Clinical trial data suggests that abiraterone improves survival compared to some current treatment options, but NICE raised concerns that the drug’s effective had been overestimated. Our news report has the story.

Lower activity levels associated with increased risk of cancer death

A new study of over 8,000 adults has found a link between those who don’t move for long periods of time and an increased risk of dying from cancer. By monitoring participants using wearable tracking devices, researchers found that the most sedentary participants had an 82% higher risk of dying from the disease, taking into account factors such as age, gender and disease status. Read more on this at Insider.

‘Starved’ cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in making acute myeloid leukaemia cells more sensitive to chemotherapy in the lab by blocking sugar uptake. Scientists have tried to target cancer’s altered metabolism for many years, with mixed success. Full story at Lund University.

And finally…

A new ultrasound technique could be harnessed to kill cancer cells. During the experimental study, researchers used ultrasound to trigger microbubbles to explode, creating a targeted ‘warhead’. The team found that by directly injecting the microbubbles into tumours in mice, and then applying a low frequency ultrasound, they were able to wipe out a large number of the cancer cells. But to stop any remaining cancer cells from spreading, they had to combine the microbubble treatment with an immune-boosting gene therapy. New Atlas has this one.

Scarlett Sangster is a writer for PA Media Group

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/3i64Bhf

With news about the coronavirus pandemic developing daily, we want to make sure everyone affected by cancer gets the information they need during this time.

We’re pulling together the latest government and NHS health updates from across the UK in a separate blog post, which we’re updating regularly.

Targeted drug to treat multiple cancer types approved in England

Targeted drug improves survival for children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma

New targeted cancer drug safe in early clinical trials

Prostate cancer drug rejected for NHS use in England

Lower activity levels associated with increased risk of cancer death

‘Starved’ cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy

And finally…

Scarlett Sangster is a writer for PA Media Group

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/3i64Bhf

Latest sunsets follow summer solstice

Image at top: Peter Gipson in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England, captured this June sunset, complete with a sun pillar. Thanks, Peter! Submit your image to EarthSky here.

For people living around 40 degrees north latitude, the latest sunset of the year happens on or near June 27. And in the Southern Hemisphere, at 40 degrees south latitude, it’s the year’s latest sunrise that happens around now. That’s in spite of the fact that the Northern Hemisphere’s longest (or Southern Hemisphere’s shortest) day of the year fell on the June 20 solstice.

The year’s latest sunset always comes after the summer solstice, even though the exact date of the latest sunset depends on your latitude. Farther north – at Seattle – the latest sunset happened around June 25. Farther south – at Mexico City or Hawaii – the latest sunset won’t happen until early July.

Want to know your date of latest sunset? Try this custom sunrise/sunset calendar.

Perspective view of dark clouds over bright sunset, long pier running toward horizon.

June sunset – Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon, Michigan – via Jerry James Photography. Thank you, Jerry!

The latest sunset comes after the summer solstice because the day is more than 24 hours long at this time of the year.

For several weeks, around the June solstice, the day (as measured by successive returns of the midday sun) is nearly 1/4 minute longer than 24 hours. Hence, the midday sun (solar noon) comes later by the clock in late June than it does on the June solstice. Therefore, the sunrise and sunset times also come later by the clock, as the table below helps to explain.

For Denver, Colorado

Date	Sunrise	Midday (Solar Noon)	Sunset	Daylight Hours
June 20	5:32 a.m.	1:01 p.m.	8:31 p.m.	14h 59m 15s
June 27	5:33 a.m.	1:03 p.m.	8:32 p.m.	14h 57m 50s

Source: timeanddate.com

Dark trees each side, colors yellow to orange to lavender to blue in sky.

Juan Argudin in Pembroke Pines, Florida, wrote on June 21, 2018: “We’ve taken dozens of sunset pictures but cannot remember such beautiful sunset colors. This was the first sunset after summer solstice, taken between 2 live oak trees in front of our house. Thank you for your excellent newsletter. We have learned a lot.” Photo by Olga Argudin. Thank you, Juan and Olga!

If the Earth’s axis stood upright as our world circled the sun, and if, in addition, the Earth stayed the same distance from the sun all year long, then clock time and sun time would always agree. However, the Earth’s axis is titled 23.44 degrees out of vertical, and our distance from the sun varies by about 3 million miles (5 million km) throughout the year. At and around the equinoxes, solar days are shorter than 24 hours, yet at the solstices, solar days are longer than 24 hours.

The latest sunset always comes on or near June 27 at mid-northern latitudes every year.

At mid-northern latitudes, the later clock time for solar noon one week after the summer solstice is more substantial than the change in daylight hours. Given that the daylight hours today (June 27) are almost the same as they were a week ago (on the June 20th solstice), the later clock time for today’s solar noon gives us slightly later sunrise and sunset times, as well

Bottom line: Why don’t the latest sunsets come on the longest day (the solstice)? In a nutshell, it’s a discrepancy between the sun and the clock. Thus, for mid-northern latitudes, the latest sunsets always come in late June.

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Image at top: Peter Gipson in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England, captured this June sunset, complete with a sun pillar. Thanks, Peter! Submit your image to EarthSky here.

Want to know your date of latest sunset? Try this custom sunrise/sunset calendar.

June sunset – Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon, Michigan – via Jerry James Photography. Thank you, Jerry!

The latest sunset comes after the summer solstice because the day is more than 24 hours long at this time of the year.

For Denver, Colorado

Date	Sunrise	Midday (Solar Noon)	Sunset	Daylight Hours
June 20	5:32 a.m.	1:01 p.m.	8:31 p.m.	14h 59m 15s
June 27	5:33 a.m.	1:03 p.m.	8:32 p.m.	14h 57m 50s

Source: timeanddate.com

The latest sunset always comes on or near June 27 at mid-northern latitudes every year.

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

Donate: Your support means the world to us

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2KHCZSn

Saharan-fed sunsets in the US

Silhouettes of two people against dark gray sky with dim sun.

A vast plume of Saharan dust blankets Havana, Cuba, June 24, 2020. Image via Yamil Lage/ AFP/ Getty Images.

By Scott Denning, Colorado State University

A hot desert wind is carrying a massive cloud of Saharan dust into the southern United States this week. Dust plumes from the Sahara routinely blow westward across the Atlantic at this time of year, but this event is a doozy – by some measures, the biggest in decades. And a second plume appears to be forming about a week behind the big one.

Across the southeastern U.S., from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas and potentially as far north as Indianapolis and Cincinnati, dust effects will likely be visible in the coming days. Trillions of dust grains will reflect sunlight in every direction, creating milky white skies. The dusty haze reflects some sunshine back to space, cooling the surface a bit where the plume is thickest.

Longer waves of red and orange light tend to penetrate the dusty haze, so sunrises and sunsets are likely to be especially beautiful. On the downside, where the plume mingles with showers or thunderstorms, downdrafts may carry desert dust to Earth’s surface. This will impair air quality and could trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks. The more dust reaches an area, the more pronounced the effects will be.

For atmospheric scientists like me, this huge dust plume is more than a cool event – it also shows how the Earth’s physical geography creates weather and climate patterns. Here’s what causes these plumes to form.

Animated satellite view of large tan swaths being blown over the partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean.

On June 16, 2020, the GOES-East satellite captured this GeoColor imagery of an expansive plume of dust from the Sahara Desert traveling westward across the Atlantic Ocean. Read more about this image. Image via NOAA.

Earth’s rotation and uneven heating create climate zones

Our planet’s climate and weather systems start with motion in the atmosphere – swaths of air rising and falling, or moving horizontally from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas.

Earth’s rotation and the fact that the planet is warmer near the equator than at the poles create circulation patterns in the atmosphere. At higher latitudes, toward the poles, winds blow faster and move from west to east. Near the equator, winds blow more slowly and travel from east to west. These are the trade winds that blew ships toward the New World during the age of exploration.

In the deep tropics, rising air expands and cools. The water vapor in it condenses and falls, producing rainforests that are the most productive ecosystems on the planet in the Amazon, the Congo, parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Atmospheric circulation – the movement of air through Earth’s atmosphere – helps create the planet’s weather patterns and climate zones.

In the subtropics of both hemispheres, sinking air compresses and warms, vaporizing every little wisp of cloud to produce the world’s arid regions: the Gobi, Atacama, Sonoran, Namib and Australian deserts. The largest desert is the belt of searing aridity that stretches across the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula and reaches deep into Central Asia. This is where trans-Atlantic dust plumes form.

Wavy winds and lofting dust

The Sahara is so hot and dry that North Africa is hotter than the equator at this time of year, although it lies thousands of miles farther north. This is the only place on the planet where the gradient of hot to cold runs backward – from the subtropics to the equator.

In the space of 1,000 miles (1,600 km), from the Atlantic coast of Ghana to the deep interior of Mali, the landscape changes from dripping jungle to searing sand. Evaporation keeps the rainforests cooler than the deserts to their north. This reversed thermal gradient affects the predominant trade winds, causing them to undulate back and forth and up and down in gigantic easterly waves from June through October.

The combination of a huge expanse of roasted land and an upside-down thermal pattern allows billows of high wind to free sand and dust from the Sahara’s hot surface, lofting it high on buoyant thermals and carrying it far to the west. As the air acquires a heavier and heavier burden of dust, it becomes even more erosive, sandblasting the arid landscape ever more thoroughly.

The largest dust plumes are ejected westward across the tropical Atlantic. Much of this desert dust is deposited in the ocean, but some of it reaches the Americas.

A mass of very dry, dusty air is moving across the Atlantic right now.

This NOAA animation predicts the movement of the #SaharanDust plume from now through Sunday evening (June 29).

Learn more about the #SaharanAirLayer: https://t.co/OJLrnuKiLI pic.twitter.com/yvPjiE5o91

— NOAA Research (@NOAAResearch) June 24, 2020

Fertilizing rainforests and short-circuiting hurricanes

Over the ocean, African easterly waves gobble up water vapor from the warm sea surface and can blow up into tropical storms. Nearly all Atlantic hurricanes start out as undulating breezes over the reversed thermal regime of West Africa.

Big Saharan dust plumes interfere with the formation of Atlantic hurricanes in at least three ways. First, their very dry air dilutes the humidity whose condensation forms the fuel of tropical storms. Second, upper-level winds that carry these plumes blow more strongly than winds at the surface. This variation in wind speed, known as wind shear, blows the tops off of thunderstorms before they can become organized into bigger systems. Third, dust plumes reflect and scatter tropical sunlight, reducing the tropical sun’s evaporating power and starving storms of their moisture.

For all of these reasons, tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes are less likely when big Saharan dust plumes are active over the Atlantic. That’s good news for coastal residents in the U.S. but bad news for surfers, since tropical storms are the main generators of waves in summer.

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Saharan dust is a mixture of sand and dust from the Sahara, the vast desert area that covers most of North Africa. This dust mixed with rainy weather, left us a memorable sunset ? . . . . #trini_surfer #viewtt #triniphotographer #trinidadphotographer #trinidadphotography #triniphotos #trinidadandtobago?? #sahara #saharadust #saharadustsunset #stormclouds #rainynight #rainysunset #stormysunset #trinidadsunsets @sunset_vision #sunset_vision @sunset_stream #sunset_stream #sunsets #sunsetlovers #sunsetlovers? #sunsetskies #sunsetsniper #sunsetphotography #sunsethunters #sunsetmadness #sunsetview #sunsetphoto #sunsetlight #sunsetcolors #sunsetphoto

A post shared by ??i??i?_???ƒ?? ? ?????? ? ???f (@trini_surfer) on Jun 22, 2020 at 2:26am PDT

And dust plumes provide other benefits. Desert dust is an important source of nutrients for downwind ecosystems, both in the ocean and on land. Soluble iron in the dust helps some species of algae in surface waters to thrive. These tiny organisms form the foundation of food webs that sustain thousands of other species.

The dust also contains phosphorus, which is critical to the growth of tropical forests in Central and South America. These rich ecosystems get some phosphorus by dissolving local rocks at their roots but need more, which they receive from desert dust wafted thousands of miles westward by African easterly waves.

If you’re in an area affected by a dust plume, don’t forget to look up. You may see odd-looking skies or stunning sunsets, created by interlocking chains of cause and effect that link vast regions on both sides of the tropical Atlantic and sweep us into the drama of our spinning planet.

Scott Denning, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Hot desert winds are blowing an enormous plume of dust from the Sahara across the Atlantic and into the southeastern U.S. The plume could impair air quality in some areas, but these events also produce benefits. Minerals in the dust fertilize ocean plankton and Latin American rainforests, and the hot winds suppress hurricanes and tropical storms. And while skies may be hazy by day, look for some spectacular sunsets.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/31l5DAg

A vast plume of Saharan dust blankets Havana, Cuba, June 24, 2020. Image via Yamil Lage/ AFP/ Getty Images.

By Scott Denning, Colorado State University

Earth’s rotation and uneven heating create climate zones

Our planet’s climate and weather systems start with motion in the atmosphere – swaths of air rising and falling, or moving horizontally from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas.

Atmospheric circulation – the movement of air through Earth’s atmosphere – helps create the planet’s weather patterns and climate zones.

Wavy winds and lofting dust

The largest dust plumes are ejected westward across the tropical Atlantic. Much of this desert dust is deposited in the ocean, but some of it reaches the Americas.

A mass of very dry, dusty air is moving across the Atlantic right now.

This NOAA animation predicts the movement of the #SaharanDust plume from now through Sunday evening (June 29).

Learn more about the #SaharanAirLayer: https://t.co/OJLrnuKiLI pic.twitter.com/yvPjiE5o91

— NOAA Research (@NOAAResearch) June 24, 2020

Fertilizing rainforests and short-circuiting hurricanes

View this post on Instagram

Saharan dust is a mixture of sand and dust from the Sahara, the vast desert area that covers most of North Africa. This dust mixed with rainy weather, left us a memorable sunset ? . . . . #trini_surfer #viewtt #triniphotographer #trinidadphotographer #trinidadphotography #triniphotos #trinidadandtobago?? #sahara #saharadust #saharadustsunset #stormclouds #rainynight #rainysunset #stormysunset #trinidadsunsets @sunset_vision #sunset_vision @sunset_stream #sunset_stream #sunsets #sunsetlovers #sunsetlovers? #sunsetskies #sunsetsniper #sunsetphotography #sunsethunters #sunsetmadness #sunsetview #sunsetphoto #sunsetlight #sunsetcolors #sunsetphoto

A post shared by ??i??i?_???ƒ?? ? ?????? ? ???f (@trini_surfer) on Jun 22, 2020 at 2:26am PDT

Scott Denning, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/31l5DAg

A monster quasar in the early universe

A swirling disk, with a large black ball in its midst, and jets radiating from either pole of the black ball.

Artist’s concept of a quasar, a very distant and exceedingly luminous object powered by a central supermassive black hole. Image via International Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA/ P. Marenfeld/ UANews.

Although quasars are found over a range of distances, most are exceedingly far away. The very distant quasars exist at a time shortly after the Big Bang, when our universe was young. Our current understanding of quasars is that they lie in the centers of young, active galaxies. The luminous, powerful and energetic quasars are thought to be driven by a process of accretion onto supermassive black holes. This week, astronomers announced the discovery of the most massive quasar yet known in the early universe. Its monster central black hole has a mass equivalent to 1.5 billion of our suns. By contrast, the quiescent and relatively sedate black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy has a mass of only 4 million suns. In honor of the new quasar’s discovery via telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea, the quasar has been given the Hawaiian name Poniua’ena, which means:

… unseen spinning source of creation, surrounded with brilliance.

The newly discovered quasar is formally designated J1007+2115. It’s the first quasar to receive an Indigenous name, created by 30 Hawaiian immersion school teachers during a workshop led by the A Hua He Inoa group, part of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center – an astronomy and culture education center – in Hilo, Hawaii.

The quasar’s brilliance suggests its monstrously massive central black hole. Consider our Milky Way’s 4 million solar mass black hole again, in contrast to Poniua’ena’s 1.5 billion solar mass black hole. Consider that a million seconds is about 12 days, while a billion seconds is 31 years. So you can see, perhaps, that this distant quasar and its black hole are truly colossal.

Poniua’ena is one of only two quasars known from the same early period in our universe’s history. The statement from the University of Arizona, whose astronomers led the discovery, explained:

The supermassive black hole powering Poniua’ena makes this quasar the most distant, and therefore earliest, object known in the universe to host a black hole exceeding 1 billion solar masses. According to a new study documenting the quasar’s discovery, the light from Poniua’ena took 13.02 billion years to reach Earth – starting its journey just 700 million years after the Big Bang.

A scientific description of the discovery is available now via arXiv and will be published in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal Letters. The study introduces a mystery about this quasar, which is … how could such a massive black hole have formed at such an early time in the history of our universe? Lead author Jinyi Yang of Steward Observatory at University of Arizona said:

It’s the earliest monster of this kind that we know of. The time was too short for it to grow from a small black hole to the enormous size we see.

Co-author Xiaohui Fan, also of Steward Observatory, said:

This discovery presents the biggest challenge yet for the theory of black hole formation and growth in the early universe.

Their statement explained:

The notion that a black hole of Poniua’ena proportions could have evolved from a much smaller black hole formed by the collapse of a single star in such a short time since the Big Bang is next to impossible, according to current cosmological models.

Instead, the study authors suggest that the quasar would have had to start out as a ‘seed’ black hole already containing the equivalent mass of 10,000 suns as early as 100 million years after the Big Bang.

The discovery of a quasar from the dawn of the cosmos provides researchers with a rare glimpse into a time when the universe was still young and very different from what we see today, the researchers said.

Current theory suggests that at the beginning of the universe, following the Big Bang, atoms were too distant from one another to interact and form stars and galaxies. The birth of stars and galaxies as we know them happened during the Epoch of Reionization, about 400 million years after the Big Bang. Fan said:

In the aftermath of the Big Bang, the universe was very cold, because there were no stars yet; no light. It took about 300 to 400 million years for the first stars and galaxies to appear, and they began heating up the universe.

Their statement further explained:

Under the influence of heating, hydrogen molecules were stripped of electrons in a process known as ionization. This process lasted only a few hundred million years – a blink of an eye in the life of the universe – and is the subject of ongoing research.

The discovery of quasars like Poniua’ena, deep into the reionization epoch, is a big step towards understanding the process of reionization and the formation of early supermassive black holes and massive galaxies. Poniua’ena has placed new and important constraints on the evolution of the matter between galaxies, known as the intergalactic medium, during the reionization epoch.

Fan added:

This quasar looks like it was detected right at the mid-point of that period, and the fact that we can observe these objects helps us refine what happened during that period.

An amorphous-looking glowing disk on the left; a more organized-looking galaxy with a central black hole and jets on the right.

Artist’s concept of the formation of the quasar Poniua’ena, starting with a seed black hole 100 million years after the Big Bang (left), then growing to a billion solar masses 700 million years after the Big Bang (right). Image via International Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA/ P. Marenfeld/ UANews.

Bottom line: Astronomers just announced the discovery of the most massive quasar yet known in the early universe. Its monster central black hole has a mass equivalent to 1.5 billion of our suns. The object has been given the Hawaiian name Poniua’ena.

Source: Poniua’ena: A Luminous z=7.5 Quasar Hosting a 1.5 Billion Solar Mass Black Hole

Via University of Arizona

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/31fYnFP

… unseen spinning source of creation, surrounded with brilliance.

Poniua’ena is one of only two quasars known from the same early period in our universe’s history. The statement from the University of Arizona, whose astronomers led the discovery, explained:

The supermassive black hole powering Poniua’ena makes this quasar the most distant, and therefore earliest, object known in the universe to host a black hole exceeding 1 billion solar masses. According to a new study documenting the quasar’s discovery, the light from Poniua’ena took 13.02 billion years to reach Earth – starting its journey just 700 million years after the Big Bang.

It’s the earliest monster of this kind that we know of. The time was too short for it to grow from a small black hole to the enormous size we see.

Co-author Xiaohui Fan, also of Steward Observatory, said:

This discovery presents the biggest challenge yet for the theory of black hole formation and growth in the early universe.

Their statement explained:

The notion that a black hole of Poniua’ena proportions could have evolved from a much smaller black hole formed by the collapse of a single star in such a short time since the Big Bang is next to impossible, according to current cosmological models.

Instead, the study authors suggest that the quasar would have had to start out as a ‘seed’ black hole already containing the equivalent mass of 10,000 suns as early as 100 million years after the Big Bang.

In the aftermath of the Big Bang, the universe was very cold, because there were no stars yet; no light. It took about 300 to 400 million years for the first stars and galaxies to appear, and they began heating up the universe.

Their statement further explained:

Under the influence of heating, hydrogen molecules were stripped of electrons in a process known as ionization. This process lasted only a few hundred million years – a blink of an eye in the life of the universe – and is the subject of ongoing research.

The discovery of quasars like Poniua’ena, deep into the reionization epoch, is a big step towards understanding the process of reionization and the formation of early supermassive black holes and massive galaxies. Poniua’ena has placed new and important constraints on the evolution of the matter between galaxies, known as the intergalactic medium, during the reionization epoch.

Fan added:

This quasar looks like it was detected right at the mid-point of that period, and the fact that we can observe these objects helps us refine what happened during that period.

Source: Poniua’ena: A Luminous z=7.5 Quasar Hosting a 1.5 Billion Solar Mass Black Hole

Via University of Arizona

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Coronavirus reports: “As a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, who wouldn’t be worried?”

Earlier this month, Public Health England published a long-awaited report on how factors like age, ethnicity and sex are linked to a person’s risk of COVID-19.

The report confirmed what many news headlines had already implied – that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, and seems to be exacerbating many other existing health inequalities too.

And while a follow-up report has gone into more detail about why inequalities might exist between ethnic groups, there are still some unanswered questions.

We spoke to Anisha and Alfred about the latest findings.

Anisha: “We need to deal with health inequalities”

Anisha wearing PPE for a clinic.

Anisha, a GP who has had bowel cancer, was concerned when the COVID-19 figures started to come out. “As someone who is BAME and working in the frontline of the health service I thought, how scared should I be?”

A particular worry for Anisha was that, after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in September 2018, some of her cancer treatment could make her more vulnerable to the virus. “As I am of Asian origin and have had cancer treatment myself not so long ago, I did think whether I should be working, but only for a split-second. This is my job and I want to be here.”

And it’s not just Anisha who’s worried, the headlines about increased risk of COVID-19 are creating huge anxiety in Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities.

“There are so many unknowns about what is going on. Is it related to genetics? Vitamin D? Is it cultural or socio-economic? Is it due to barriers to health messages?

“There was talk in the latest government report of issues like people not asking for PPE. The answers are going to be so complex.”

But even though the figures have so far raised more questions than they’ve answered, Anisha feels it’s important to get them out there.

“The reason that we can even ask some of these questions is because of the statistics that are coming out around COVID-19 – these statistics are being monitored so closely for so many reasons, and health inequalities are being highlighted immediately.”

The next step for Anisha is for governments and health services to learn from them. “As a GP, I am a health provider, and we need to deal with health inequalities – it’s our job.”

“Within BAME communities, we know that there can be different challenges around health messaging, and extra work is needed on education.

“There can be stigma around certain illnesses, and around treatments, lack of knowledge of symptoms, and fear, as well as generational attitudes to talking about health. These may lead to later diagnosis of a wide range of illnesses, including cancer.”

And while, as a disease, COVID-19 is very different to cancer, Anisha thinks that it shows how much work is needed to break down these inequalities.

“The fact that we are even talking about these issues is a good thing – it is something that has needed to change.”

Alfred: “As a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, who wouldn’t be worried?”

Alfred on one of his daily walks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alfred is having treatment for advanced prostate cancer. “I had to go into hospital during lockdown because I was feeling unwell and needed to be checked out. I was given a COVID-19 test and, when it came back as clear, I was so relieved.”

“As a Black man with advanced prostate cancer, and hearing all the stats since the start of COVID-19, who wouldn’t be worried?”

Alfred says that while the COVID-19 test results provided some relief, the concern lingers. “With the lockdown relaxing, I am so worried about further waves of COVID-19.”

“I have heard so many people in BAME communities who have been affected by COVID-19. It has spread so much fear.”

Like Anisha, Alfred has questions about the figures. “The COVID-19 statistics are showing problems, but they need to be investigated further. Are there specific cultural issues that are important within those groups too? We have not got to the bottom of the causation. There are more questions.”

And for Alfred, it’s bigger than COVID-19. “When I was in hospital, a doctor was talking about people coming to hospital being diagnosed with cancer later. It was a reminder that cancer has not gone away, and the inequalities within BAME communities exist in cancer too.”

He’s concerned that further waves of COVID-19 could compound issues. “BAME people could be more affected, and they could also be more affected by the backlog in cancer too – how many more things do we need to deal with?”

“When it comes to health messaging, there are trust issues. Whether it’s from Number 10, the Department of Health or charities, health advice needs to be backed up by investment in reaching communities. You have to listen to people who have experience of communities and harness these experiences to make an impact.”

For Alfred, working with people from different communities is essential to health initiatives. “Whether that’s about COVID-19 or cancer, if you aren’t doing it right, you won’t get far.”

Tom Bourton is a media volunteer liaison manager at Cancer Research UK

Thanks to Anisha and Alfred for sharing their experiences with our Media Volunteer Liaison team. Anisha is also on Instagram as @doctorsgetcancertoo

If you would like to share your story with us, please visit our website. And if you have questions about cancer, you can talk to our nurses Monday to Friday, 9-5pm, on freephone 0808 800 4040.