Rare juvenile T. rex discovered by young fossil hunters

Sam Fisher texted this image to Tyler Lyson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a photo of his son Liam lying next to what looked like a dinosaur bone, in the North Dakota badlands. The bone turned out to be the femur and tibia of a juvenile T. rex. Image via Sam Fisher.

A couple years ago, three young boys fossil hunting in the North Dakota badlands discovered some unusual ancient dinosaur bones. And on June 4, 2024, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science said its scientists later identified the bones as belonging to a rare juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex. The bones will be on view at the museum starting this month. And, it turns out, the fossil – nicknamed Teen Rex – is significant. That’s because few juvenile T. rexes have ever been unearthed. So this specimen is a valuable clue in understanding how these ferocious dinosaurs grew to adulthood.

Discovering the teenage T. rex

In July 2022, three young fossil hunters were searching the arid badlands near Marmarth, North Dakota, for fossils. Liam Fisher was eight years old at the time, his brother Jessin, 11, and their cousin, Kaiden Madsen, was 10. The kids were accompanied by the brothers’ father, Sam Fisher.

The young fossil hunters were amazed to discover large bones protruding from sedimentary rock that formed the badlands hills. Some bones were in fragments, weathering out of the rock. Sam Fisher sent photos of this unusual find to his friend, paleontologist Tyler Lyson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Lyson immediately recognized it as dinosaur bone but could not identify it.

An artist’s depiction of Teen Rex, the juvenile T. rex found by the young fossil hunters in 2022. Image via Andrey Atuchin and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

A stunning realization

In July 2023, Lyson and his team went to the site to excavate the fossil. The young fossil hunters who made the discovery joined the expedition. While digging, Lyson unearthed teeth that clearly belonged to a T. rex. Based on the size of the exposed bone and teeth, he realized that the kids had made an extraordinary discovery, a rare juvenile T. rex.

Lyson recounted that stunning moment in an interview:

Sam’s oldest boy, Jessin, and I were digging and brushing and digging and brushing, and all of a sudden, a brush and a T-Rex tooth … pops off, and I pick it up. I look at Jessin. He gasps. He and I, like, share this moment. And then I started brushing where the tooth came out, and we could see three more teeth all lined up in a row.

We just uncovered the lower jaw of this juvenile T-Rex specimen. It was just one of the most remarkable, remarkable moments. And you were able to tell from the size of it that it was a juvenile. We could tell based both on the size of the teeth and then also the size of the leg bone, that we had a smaller dinosaur.

A fossil rooted tooth from the juvenile T. rex. Image via Tyler R. Lyson.

Extracting the juvenile T. Rex

For 11 days, the team carefully dug out a large chunk of rock that contained the fossil. They wrapped it in a jacket of plaster and burlap. Then, the 6,000-pound package was airlifted by a Black Hawk helicopter and placed in a heavy duty trailer. From there, it began its journey to Denver, Colorado.

A large chunk of rock containing the fossil was wrapped by the excavation team, pictured here, in a burlap and plaster jacket. They placed the package in a net so that a Black Hawk helicopter could lift it up and place it on a trailer for transport to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Image via Tyler R. Lyson.

At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, scientists removed some of the burlap and plaster jacket that protected the fossil during transport. The museum has now begun the painstaking process of extracting the fossil from rock.

The museum announced that starting June 21, 2024, visitors will be able to watch scientists work in real-time as they carefully remove the fossil from the rock. They also said Teen Rex’s discovery and excavation will be featured in a new film about T. rex that is opening in IMAX theaters nationwide.

What we know about Teen Rex

Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex, lived during the late Cretaceous epoch, which was 100 to 66 million years ago. Its fossils have been found only in western North America. T. rex was a large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, with sharp pointed saw-edged teeth. Its powerful jaws and teeth could break bones. Scientists think adults reached a length of 40 feet (12 m) or more. And it could have weighed over 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg).

Teen Rex is a significant discovery. That’s because most T. rex fossils are adults. There aren’t many juveniles in the fossil record. Researchers need more juveniles to compare them, so they can better understand how these ferocious creatures grew and developed during their teenage years to adulthood.

The Teen Rex fossil was a partial skeleton consisting of sections of the skull, tail, leg and hip. It’s only about 30% of the total skeleton, but there’s still a lot scientists can learn from it.

The Teen Rex fossil is an incomplete skeleton consisting of a section of the skull, tail, leg and hip. Those parts are shaded blue in this diagram of a T. rex skeleton. Image via Scott Hartman.

Answers from the T. rex skeleton

For instance, how did they know that Teen Rex was a juvenile? Its tibia (or shin bone) provided the first clue. It measured about 32 inches (81 cm). A full-grown T. rex’s tibia would have measured about 44 inches (112 cm). Teen Rex’s teeth were also smaller than that of an adult.

In addition, based on the size of the bones, researchers think Teen Rex measured about 25 feet (7.5 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) tall. They believe the dinosaur weighed about 3,500 pounds (1,590 kg). But that’s just an initial estimate. They’ll need to recover more bones to get a more accurate idea of Teen Rex’s size.

Paleontologist Tyler Lyson is pictured here with the 3 young fossil hunters who found Teen Rex: Liam Fisher, Jessin Fisher and Kaiden Madsen. Image via Kirk Johnson.

Bottom line: A family fossil hunting in the North Dakota badlands stumbled across an intriguing fossil that was later identified as a rare juvenile T. rex.

Via:

Denver Museum of Nature & Science Online Magazine

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Press Release and Media Kit

The post Rare juvenile T. rex discovered by young fossil hunters first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/g8ux2OZ

Sam Fisher texted this image to Tyler Lyson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a photo of his son Liam lying next to what looked like a dinosaur bone, in the North Dakota badlands. The bone turned out to be the femur and tibia of a juvenile T. rex. Image via Sam Fisher.

A couple years ago, three young boys fossil hunting in the North Dakota badlands discovered some unusual ancient dinosaur bones. And on June 4, 2024, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science said its scientists later identified the bones as belonging to a rare juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex. The bones will be on view at the museum starting this month. And, it turns out, the fossil – nicknamed Teen Rex – is significant. That’s because few juvenile T. rexes have ever been unearthed. So this specimen is a valuable clue in understanding how these ferocious dinosaurs grew to adulthood.

Discovering the teenage T. rex

In July 2022, three young fossil hunters were searching the arid badlands near Marmarth, North Dakota, for fossils. Liam Fisher was eight years old at the time, his brother Jessin, 11, and their cousin, Kaiden Madsen, was 10. The kids were accompanied by the brothers’ father, Sam Fisher.

The young fossil hunters were amazed to discover large bones protruding from sedimentary rock that formed the badlands hills. Some bones were in fragments, weathering out of the rock. Sam Fisher sent photos of this unusual find to his friend, paleontologist Tyler Lyson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Lyson immediately recognized it as dinosaur bone but could not identify it.

An artist’s depiction of Teen Rex, the juvenile T. rex found by the young fossil hunters in 2022. Image via Andrey Atuchin and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

A stunning realization

In July 2023, Lyson and his team went to the site to excavate the fossil. The young fossil hunters who made the discovery joined the expedition. While digging, Lyson unearthed teeth that clearly belonged to a T. rex. Based on the size of the exposed bone and teeth, he realized that the kids had made an extraordinary discovery, a rare juvenile T. rex.

Lyson recounted that stunning moment in an interview:

Sam’s oldest boy, Jessin, and I were digging and brushing and digging and brushing, and all of a sudden, a brush and a T-Rex tooth … pops off, and I pick it up. I look at Jessin. He gasps. He and I, like, share this moment. And then I started brushing where the tooth came out, and we could see three more teeth all lined up in a row.

We just uncovered the lower jaw of this juvenile T-Rex specimen. It was just one of the most remarkable, remarkable moments. And you were able to tell from the size of it that it was a juvenile. We could tell based both on the size of the teeth and then also the size of the leg bone, that we had a smaller dinosaur.

A fossil rooted tooth from the juvenile T. rex. Image via Tyler R. Lyson.

Extracting the juvenile T. Rex

For 11 days, the team carefully dug out a large chunk of rock that contained the fossil. They wrapped it in a jacket of plaster and burlap. Then, the 6,000-pound package was airlifted by a Black Hawk helicopter and placed in a heavy duty trailer. From there, it began its journey to Denver, Colorado.

A large chunk of rock containing the fossil was wrapped by the excavation team, pictured here, in a burlap and plaster jacket. They placed the package in a net so that a Black Hawk helicopter could lift it up and place it on a trailer for transport to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Image via Tyler R. Lyson.

At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, scientists removed some of the burlap and plaster jacket that protected the fossil during transport. The museum has now begun the painstaking process of extracting the fossil from rock.

The museum announced that starting June 21, 2024, visitors will be able to watch scientists work in real-time as they carefully remove the fossil from the rock. They also said Teen Rex’s discovery and excavation will be featured in a new film about T. rex that is opening in IMAX theaters nationwide.

What we know about Teen Rex

Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex, lived during the late Cretaceous epoch, which was 100 to 66 million years ago. Its fossils have been found only in western North America. T. rex was a large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, with sharp pointed saw-edged teeth. Its powerful jaws and teeth could break bones. Scientists think adults reached a length of 40 feet (12 m) or more. And it could have weighed over 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg).

Teen Rex is a significant discovery. That’s because most T. rex fossils are adults. There aren’t many juveniles in the fossil record. Researchers need more juveniles to compare them, so they can better understand how these ferocious creatures grew and developed during their teenage years to adulthood.

The Teen Rex fossil was a partial skeleton consisting of sections of the skull, tail, leg and hip. It’s only about 30% of the total skeleton, but there’s still a lot scientists can learn from it.

The Teen Rex fossil is an incomplete skeleton consisting of a section of the skull, tail, leg and hip. Those parts are shaded blue in this diagram of a T. rex skeleton. Image via Scott Hartman.

Answers from the T. rex skeleton

For instance, how did they know that Teen Rex was a juvenile? Its tibia (or shin bone) provided the first clue. It measured about 32 inches (81 cm). A full-grown T. rex’s tibia would have measured about 44 inches (112 cm). Teen Rex’s teeth were also smaller than that of an adult.

In addition, based on the size of the bones, researchers think Teen Rex measured about 25 feet (7.5 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) tall. They believe the dinosaur weighed about 3,500 pounds (1,590 kg). But that’s just an initial estimate. They’ll need to recover more bones to get a more accurate idea of Teen Rex’s size.

Paleontologist Tyler Lyson is pictured here with the 3 young fossil hunters who found Teen Rex: Liam Fisher, Jessin Fisher and Kaiden Madsen. Image via Kirk Johnson.

Bottom line: A family fossil hunting in the North Dakota badlands stumbled across an intriguing fossil that was later identified as a rare juvenile T. rex.

Via:

Denver Museum of Nature & Science Online Magazine

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Press Release and Media Kit

The post Rare juvenile T. rex discovered by young fossil hunters first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/g8ux2OZ

Cicadas are emerging across parts of the U.S.

This man is eating cicada gumbo at Cicadapalooza, a festival of cicadas at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Yum or yech? Watch the video above for more scenes from the festival.

• Trillions of cicadas are now emerging across parts of the U.S.
• Cicadas follow 13- and 17-year cycles. This rare double cicada mega-brood emergence happens only once every 221 years.
• Cicadas are harmless to humans. Though sometimes confused with locusts, their potential harm to plants isn’t too serious. No need to break out the insecticides. On the other hand, cicadas can be loud. Their buzzing reaches up to 106.7 decibels.

The cicadas are here

Cicadas don’t emerge in the spring until the soil 8 inches (20 cm) from the surface reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (17 C). So now it’s time. The cicadas are here! So if you haven’t already seen a red-eyed, chirping, winged insect near you, then you don’t live in an area prone to them. Even within states that have cicadas, the swarms can be hit or miss.

This year’s cicada emergence has seen a lot of press, because two broods are emerging, both a 13-year and 17-year brood. However, the two broods don’t all come out at once or even in the same region. The only overlap is in a small region of Illinois.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Laura Hasenyager of Rockton, Illinois, shared this image from June 2, 2024. Laura wrote: “Newly hatched cicada (center) and one that has been around, plus an exoskeleton (right). Our front porch area on leaves.” Thank you, Laura!

The what, when and where of 2024’s cicadas

Cicadas – members of the order Hemiptera along with stink bugs, bedbugs and aphids – spend as long as 17 years underground before emerging as adults. This year, the bugs will dig their way to freedom across 1.5 million acres throughout the Eastern U.S., an area roughly the same size as the state of Delaware.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut (UConn) said:

If we accept an estimate of a million cicadas per acre and if the total combined area of a periodical cicada emergence is roughly the size of Delaware, then more than a trillion cicadas will be involved. For 2024, since cicadas will emerge from Maryland to Oklahoma, Illinois to Alabama, clearly, trillions of adult cicadas will be present, but not all in the same place at the same time.

Here are the active periodical cicada broods in the United States. The 2 broods emerging in spring 2024 are Brood XIII (brown) in northern Illinois and Brood XIX (light blue) scattered across the Midwest and Southeast. Image via U.S. Forest Service/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Rare double cicada mega-brood emergence

Cicada Safari says 2024 is a banner year for cicadas, as two of the biggest broods emerge in bordering areas of the Midwest:

The 17-year Brood XIII will emerge in northern Illinois, while the 13-year Brood XIX will emerge in parts of the southeastern United States. It is not common to have a dual emergence between Broods XIII and XIX. They occur once every 221 years, and the last time these two broods emerged together was in 1803.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, and Lewis and Clark started their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.

The areas where Brood XIII and Brood XIX occur mostly don’t overlap, according to the cicada experts at UConn. However, there could be small areas where both broods are active:

The greatest likelihood of contact between these broods is around Springfield, Illinois. … While there may be scattered woods in which both broods are present, there will be no broad overlap, and it will be impossible, in 2024, to identify any areas of overlap, large or small.

Cicada Safari offers tips on where to see cicadas, all kinds of cicada facts and figures, and has a cicada tracking app so amateur entomologists can get in on the cicada action.

This spring, parts of the United States will see trillions of cicadas in a double emergence. This critter is the red-eyed pharaoh cicada (Magicicada septendecim) from an emergence in 2016. It’s been more than 200 years since these 2 broods – Brood XIII (consisting of 3 species, including the cicada seen here) and Brood XIX (4 species) – emerged at the same time. Image via Pexels/ Michael Kropiewnicki.

Cicadas are subterranean math wizards

A common misconception is cicadas are a kind of locust or grasshopper. They aren’t. With their large red eyes and long body, the insects do resemble locusts but instead are “true insects” of the order Hemiptera.

Cicadas appear on every continent but Antarctica. There are 190 varieties of the insects in North America, and about 3,400 varieties recorded worldwide so far. Some kinds of cicadas appear every year, while the periodic cicadas appear on 13- and 17-year cycles.

As fryrsquared explains via TikTok, 13 and 17 are prime numbers that can’t be factored. This means Brood XIII with its 17-year cycle and Brood XIX with its 13-year cycle can only emerge together every 221 years.

@fryrsquared The big news story of 2024 that literally no one is talking about ? #2024 #math #maths #circada ? original sound – fryrsquared

Don’t spray the cicadas!

Cicadas are loud but basically harmless to humans and the environment, so there’s no need to break out the insecticide. When they emerge, the only thing they’re interested in is mating and laying eggs, says UConn:

Cicadas do not possess special defensive mechanisms; they do not sting or bite. The ovipositor is used only for laying eggs and the mouthparts are used only for feeding on twigs; thus, periodical cicadas can hurt you only if they mistake you for a tree branch!

Cicadas will fly off when they feel threatened, and the males will make their iconic buzz. That buzz – produced when males flex drum-like organs called tymbals – is loud, reaching up to 106.7 decibels, about the same as a chainsaw.

The male cicadas sing during the day to attract females. Dog-day (annual) cicadas tend to sing more in late afternoon and evening. Each cicada species has its own distinctive sound to avoid attracting the wrong cicada. Typically, periodical cicada emergences consist of three species that can be distinguished by the male songs as well as by slight differences in their appearance. The nymphs of these cicadas feed on the roots of trees and shrubs.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cal Odom in Lexington, North Carolina, spotted this cicada on April 26, 2024. Thanks, Cal!

Insects are disappearing

Leaving all insects alone is probably a good idea these days. According to a peer-reviewed study by German biologists published in 2017, the biomass of winged insects has declined by 76% since 1990. The researchers warn this decline in insect populations could have devastating effects across the entire global environment:

For example, 80% of wild plants are estimated to depend on insects for pollination, while 60% of birds rely on insects as a food source. The ecosystem services provided by wild insects have been estimated at $57 billion annually in the U.S. Clearly, preserving insect abundance and diversity should constitute a prime conservation priority.

If you take any photos of the cicadas, send them to us!

Bottom line: The cicadas are here! Have you seen – and heard them – in your neighborhood? Cicadas may be plentiful and loud, but they’re basically harmless.

Read more: Insects have declined worldwide since 1925

The post Cicadas are emerging across parts of the U.S. first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/VvAdkWb

This man is eating cicada gumbo at Cicadapalooza, a festival of cicadas at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Yum or yech? Watch the video above for more scenes from the festival.

• Trillions of cicadas are now emerging across parts of the U.S.
• Cicadas follow 13- and 17-year cycles. This rare double cicada mega-brood emergence happens only once every 221 years.
• Cicadas are harmless to humans. Though sometimes confused with locusts, their potential harm to plants isn’t too serious. No need to break out the insecticides. On the other hand, cicadas can be loud. Their buzzing reaches up to 106.7 decibels.

The cicadas are here

Cicadas don’t emerge in the spring until the soil 8 inches (20 cm) from the surface reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (17 C). So now it’s time. The cicadas are here! So if you haven’t already seen a red-eyed, chirping, winged insect near you, then you don’t live in an area prone to them. Even within states that have cicadas, the swarms can be hit or miss.

This year’s cicada emergence has seen a lot of press, because two broods are emerging, both a 13-year and 17-year brood. However, the two broods don’t all come out at once or even in the same region. The only overlap is in a small region of Illinois.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Laura Hasenyager of Rockton, Illinois, shared this image from June 2, 2024. Laura wrote: “Newly hatched cicada (center) and one that has been around, plus an exoskeleton (right). Our front porch area on leaves.” Thank you, Laura!

The what, when and where of 2024’s cicadas

Cicadas – members of the order Hemiptera along with stink bugs, bedbugs and aphids – spend as long as 17 years underground before emerging as adults. This year, the bugs will dig their way to freedom across 1.5 million acres throughout the Eastern U.S., an area roughly the same size as the state of Delaware.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut (UConn) said:

If we accept an estimate of a million cicadas per acre and if the total combined area of a periodical cicada emergence is roughly the size of Delaware, then more than a trillion cicadas will be involved. For 2024, since cicadas will emerge from Maryland to Oklahoma, Illinois to Alabama, clearly, trillions of adult cicadas will be present, but not all in the same place at the same time.

Here are the active periodical cicada broods in the United States. The 2 broods emerging in spring 2024 are Brood XIII (brown) in northern Illinois and Brood XIX (light blue) scattered across the Midwest and Southeast. Image via U.S. Forest Service/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Rare double cicada mega-brood emergence

Cicada Safari says 2024 is a banner year for cicadas, as two of the biggest broods emerge in bordering areas of the Midwest:

The 17-year Brood XIII will emerge in northern Illinois, while the 13-year Brood XIX will emerge in parts of the southeastern United States. It is not common to have a dual emergence between Broods XIII and XIX. They occur once every 221 years, and the last time these two broods emerged together was in 1803.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States, and Lewis and Clark started their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.

The areas where Brood XIII and Brood XIX occur mostly don’t overlap, according to the cicada experts at UConn. However, there could be small areas where both broods are active:

The greatest likelihood of contact between these broods is around Springfield, Illinois. … While there may be scattered woods in which both broods are present, there will be no broad overlap, and it will be impossible, in 2024, to identify any areas of overlap, large or small.

Cicada Safari offers tips on where to see cicadas, all kinds of cicada facts and figures, and has a cicada tracking app so amateur entomologists can get in on the cicada action.

This spring, parts of the United States will see trillions of cicadas in a double emergence. This critter is the red-eyed pharaoh cicada (Magicicada septendecim) from an emergence in 2016. It’s been more than 200 years since these 2 broods – Brood XIII (consisting of 3 species, including the cicada seen here) and Brood XIX (4 species) – emerged at the same time. Image via Pexels/ Michael Kropiewnicki.

Cicadas are subterranean math wizards

A common misconception is cicadas are a kind of locust or grasshopper. They aren’t. With their large red eyes and long body, the insects do resemble locusts but instead are “true insects” of the order Hemiptera.

Cicadas appear on every continent but Antarctica. There are 190 varieties of the insects in North America, and about 3,400 varieties recorded worldwide so far. Some kinds of cicadas appear every year, while the periodic cicadas appear on 13- and 17-year cycles.

As fryrsquared explains via TikTok, 13 and 17 are prime numbers that can’t be factored. This means Brood XIII with its 17-year cycle and Brood XIX with its 13-year cycle can only emerge together every 221 years.

@fryrsquared The big news story of 2024 that literally no one is talking about ? #2024 #math #maths #circada ? original sound – fryrsquared

Don’t spray the cicadas!

Cicadas are loud but basically harmless to humans and the environment, so there’s no need to break out the insecticide. When they emerge, the only thing they’re interested in is mating and laying eggs, says UConn:

Cicadas do not possess special defensive mechanisms; they do not sting or bite. The ovipositor is used only for laying eggs and the mouthparts are used only for feeding on twigs; thus, periodical cicadas can hurt you only if they mistake you for a tree branch!

Cicadas will fly off when they feel threatened, and the males will make their iconic buzz. That buzz – produced when males flex drum-like organs called tymbals – is loud, reaching up to 106.7 decibels, about the same as a chainsaw.

The male cicadas sing during the day to attract females. Dog-day (annual) cicadas tend to sing more in late afternoon and evening. Each cicada species has its own distinctive sound to avoid attracting the wrong cicada. Typically, periodical cicada emergences consist of three species that can be distinguished by the male songs as well as by slight differences in their appearance. The nymphs of these cicadas feed on the roots of trees and shrubs.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cal Odom in Lexington, North Carolina, spotted this cicada on April 26, 2024. Thanks, Cal!

Insects are disappearing

Leaving all insects alone is probably a good idea these days. According to a peer-reviewed study by German biologists published in 2017, the biomass of winged insects has declined by 76% since 1990. The researchers warn this decline in insect populations could have devastating effects across the entire global environment:

For example, 80% of wild plants are estimated to depend on insects for pollination, while 60% of birds rely on insects as a food source. The ecosystem services provided by wild insects have been estimated at $57 billion annually in the U.S. Clearly, preserving insect abundance and diversity should constitute a prime conservation priority.

If you take any photos of the cicadas, send them to us!

Bottom line: The cicadas are here! Have you seen – and heard them – in your neighborhood? Cicadas may be plentiful and loud, but they’re basically harmless.

Read more: Insects have declined worldwide since 1925

The post Cicadas are emerging across parts of the U.S. first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/VvAdkWb

The ecliptic is the sun’s path in our sky

Animated depiction of Earth (the blue ball) orbiting the sun (the yellow ball), showing the projection of Earth-sun plane – the ecliptic – onto the background stars. Image via Tfr000/ Wikimedia Commons.

The ecliptic is the sun’s path

Maybe you’ve noticed that the moon and planets follow the sun’s path across your sky? Unless you live in the high Arctic or Antarctic, you see the sun arc across your sky each day from east to west. The moon follows the sun’s path as well. And so do the major planets in our solar system. This imaginary track across our sky is the ecliptic. Technically speaking, it’s a projection of the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun, traced onto our sky. Practically speaking, the ecliptic forms a great circle around the sky and is a useful tool for stargazers.

Why do the moon and planets follow the sun’s path? It’s mainly because, long ago – before there was a solar system as we know it today – there was a vast cloud of gas and dust in space. This cloud was spinning, and, as it spun, it flattened out. Our sun formed in the center of this cloud. The major planets (including Earth) and most other solar system objects formed in the flat disk surrounding the sun. The ecliptic is this flat disk of planets in our sun’s family – our solar system – translated onto our sky.

Planets follow the ecliptic

So the major planets – and many of the minor planets, aka asteroids – orbit the sun in more or less the same plane. We can speak of this plane as defined by Earth’s orbit around the sun: the ecliptic.

If we could watch the solar system from far above the Earth’s North Pole, we’d see the planets, moons, asteroids and some of the comets (but not all of them) rushing around the sun counterclockwise in this plane, like marbles rolling around a flat dish. In fact, the major planets are more within the dish than on it. They’re within the plane of the ecliptic, more or less.

They retain the outline of the original cloud in space from which they were born, and their movement around the sun is an echo of the original spin of the cloud.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ji-Hoon Kim in Gyeongju, South Korea, shared this photo that illustrates the planets lined up along the ecliptic. Ji-Hoon wrote: “Here was the great planetary union. This photo was taken at the tomb of King Munmu the Great in Gyeongju, Korea, on April 25, 2022, at around 4 a.m. In the old days, King Munmu of Silla, after the unification of the 3 kingdoms, made a Buddhist-style cremation for his body and buried his ashes in the East Sea to become a dragon and prevent Japanese invaders from entering.” Thank you, Ji-Hoon!

Defining the zodiac

Far beyond the cold edges of our solar system, we see the stars of our Milky Way galaxy. And the stars are moving, too, in great orbits around the galaxy’s center. But they’re so far away that they don’t seem to move over the course of a human lifespan. That’s why we refer to them as “fixed” stars.

Naturally, the fixed stars on the ecliptic – or sun’s path – seemed special to the early stargazers. So they identified constellations made of these stars, and used the word zodiac for the wider pathway traveled by these constellations. And so we find the sun, moon and our major planets within the constellations of the zodiac.

A clarification on the ecliptic

Now about that phrase we keep using, the phrase more or less …

The fact is, the other planets don’t orbit exactly in the Earth-sun plane. That’s because each major planet’s orbit is inclined a little bit to this plane. Some of the asteroids have orbits that are more inclined. And comets tend to have the most inclined orbits of all. See a chart at Wikipedia with the inclinations of the major planets’ orbits.

The moon and the ecliptic

Interestingly, Earth’s moon isn’t exactly on the ecliptic, either. Its orbit around Earth is tilted by about 5.15 degrees relative to the ecliptic. This means the moon spends most of its time above or below the ecliptic. It crosses it twice each orbit: once going upward and once downward from our point of view. Therefore, we usually see the moon close to, but not exactly alongside, the other solar system objects.

On the other hand, the moon sometimes passes right in front of other solar system objects, in an event called an occultation.

So there are little variations. But – for all practical purposes of skywatching – you can think of the ecliptic as a line across our sky. You can think of the sun, moon and major planets of the solar system as moving along that line.

The ecliptic and the season

One thing to remember, though. The sun’s path is high in summer and low in winter. So the location of the ecliptic in your sky shifts a bit, seasonally. Also, the angle of the ecliptic and how it connects to our horizon is different in spring and fall and in the evening versus the morning. See the charts below.

The ecliptic in June and December. Image from Stellarium.

This image shows the path of the ecliptic in the evening sky around the fall and spring equinoxes.

This image shows the path of the ecliptic in the morning sky around the fall and spring equinoxes.

Ecliptic, eclipse

If the word ecliptic sounds familiar, you’re right. That’s because it’s from the same root as the word eclipse, from the Latin and Greek meaning to “fail to appear” or “to be hidden.” Of course, the moon hides the sun during an eclipse. So the ecliptic got its name because the ancients saw that solar eclipses happen when the moon crosses the ecliptic during the new moon phase.

Later, astronomers gave the name node to the places where the moon crosses the ecliptic. If the moon traveled exactly on the ecliptic, and the other planets did, too, the moon would occult, or block out, all the planets and the sun every orbit. We’d have lunar and solar eclipses every month!

Watch the sky

If you’re able, keep an eye on the sun, the moon and the planets for a while. Watch for a few days, a few weeks, months, years, even. You’ll begin to get a feel for the ecliptic in your sky. You’ll notice the planets, sun and moon are always on or near the ecliptic, and you can use this line across your sky to help you find your way around, making your way between the constellations and stars. You’ll notice the sun’s path – the ecliptic – higher in the sky during the summer months and lower during the winter.

Eventually, you’ll be able to imagine the sun’s path in your sky, long after the sun has set.

When that happens, you’ll be able to pick out a planet from a star very quickly and easily, which is a great party trick. Mars is the red one; Saturn the yellow one; Venus the bright white one that never gets too far from the sun; Mercury the seldom-seen one; and Jupiter the very bright one (but never as bright as Venus) that often gets far from the sun.

Welcome to stargazing, friend!

View larger. | Voyager 1 created this mosaic of images of our solar system on February 14, 1990. Read more about this image via NASA PhotoJournal.

Bottom Line: The ecliptic is the path the sun takes across our sky. In fact, it’s the Earth-sun plane. And, more or less, it’s the plane of the orbits of the major planets and their moons, and some asteroids. Here’s a stargazing tip: Learn the whereabouts of the ecliptic in your sky. And you’ll always find the sun, moon and planets on or near it.

The post The ecliptic is the sun’s path in our sky first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/DQem3Pk

Animated depiction of Earth (the blue ball) orbiting the sun (the yellow ball), showing the projection of Earth-sun plane – the ecliptic – onto the background stars. Image via Tfr000/ Wikimedia Commons.

The ecliptic is the sun’s path

Maybe you’ve noticed that the moon and planets follow the sun’s path across your sky? Unless you live in the high Arctic or Antarctic, you see the sun arc across your sky each day from east to west. The moon follows the sun’s path as well. And so do the major planets in our solar system. This imaginary track across our sky is the ecliptic. Technically speaking, it’s a projection of the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun, traced onto our sky. Practically speaking, the ecliptic forms a great circle around the sky and is a useful tool for stargazers.

Why do the moon and planets follow the sun’s path? It’s mainly because, long ago – before there was a solar system as we know it today – there was a vast cloud of gas and dust in space. This cloud was spinning, and, as it spun, it flattened out. Our sun formed in the center of this cloud. The major planets (including Earth) and most other solar system objects formed in the flat disk surrounding the sun. The ecliptic is this flat disk of planets in our sun’s family – our solar system – translated onto our sky.

Planets follow the ecliptic

So the major planets – and many of the minor planets, aka asteroids – orbit the sun in more or less the same plane. We can speak of this plane as defined by Earth’s orbit around the sun: the ecliptic.

If we could watch the solar system from far above the Earth’s North Pole, we’d see the planets, moons, asteroids and some of the comets (but not all of them) rushing around the sun counterclockwise in this plane, like marbles rolling around a flat dish. In fact, the major planets are more within the dish than on it. They’re within the plane of the ecliptic, more or less.

They retain the outline of the original cloud in space from which they were born, and their movement around the sun is an echo of the original spin of the cloud.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ji-Hoon Kim in Gyeongju, South Korea, shared this photo that illustrates the planets lined up along the ecliptic. Ji-Hoon wrote: “Here was the great planetary union. This photo was taken at the tomb of King Munmu the Great in Gyeongju, Korea, on April 25, 2022, at around 4 a.m. In the old days, King Munmu of Silla, after the unification of the 3 kingdoms, made a Buddhist-style cremation for his body and buried his ashes in the East Sea to become a dragon and prevent Japanese invaders from entering.” Thank you, Ji-Hoon!

Defining the zodiac

Far beyond the cold edges of our solar system, we see the stars of our Milky Way galaxy. And the stars are moving, too, in great orbits around the galaxy’s center. But they’re so far away that they don’t seem to move over the course of a human lifespan. That’s why we refer to them as “fixed” stars.

Naturally, the fixed stars on the ecliptic – or sun’s path – seemed special to the early stargazers. So they identified constellations made of these stars, and used the word zodiac for the wider pathway traveled by these constellations. And so we find the sun, moon and our major planets within the constellations of the zodiac.

A clarification on the ecliptic

Now about that phrase we keep using, the phrase more or less …

The fact is, the other planets don’t orbit exactly in the Earth-sun plane. That’s because each major planet’s orbit is inclined a little bit to this plane. Some of the asteroids have orbits that are more inclined. And comets tend to have the most inclined orbits of all. See a chart at Wikipedia with the inclinations of the major planets’ orbits.

The moon and the ecliptic

Interestingly, Earth’s moon isn’t exactly on the ecliptic, either. Its orbit around Earth is tilted by about 5.15 degrees relative to the ecliptic. This means the moon spends most of its time above or below the ecliptic. It crosses it twice each orbit: once going upward and once downward from our point of view. Therefore, we usually see the moon close to, but not exactly alongside, the other solar system objects.

On the other hand, the moon sometimes passes right in front of other solar system objects, in an event called an occultation.

So there are little variations. But – for all practical purposes of skywatching – you can think of the ecliptic as a line across our sky. You can think of the sun, moon and major planets of the solar system as moving along that line.

The ecliptic and the season

One thing to remember, though. The sun’s path is high in summer and low in winter. So the location of the ecliptic in your sky shifts a bit, seasonally. Also, the angle of the ecliptic and how it connects to our horizon is different in spring and fall and in the evening versus the morning. See the charts below.

The ecliptic in June and December. Image from Stellarium.

This image shows the path of the ecliptic in the evening sky around the fall and spring equinoxes.

This image shows the path of the ecliptic in the morning sky around the fall and spring equinoxes.

Ecliptic, eclipse

If the word ecliptic sounds familiar, you’re right. That’s because it’s from the same root as the word eclipse, from the Latin and Greek meaning to “fail to appear” or “to be hidden.” Of course, the moon hides the sun during an eclipse. So the ecliptic got its name because the ancients saw that solar eclipses happen when the moon crosses the ecliptic during the new moon phase.

Later, astronomers gave the name node to the places where the moon crosses the ecliptic. If the moon traveled exactly on the ecliptic, and the other planets did, too, the moon would occult, or block out, all the planets and the sun every orbit. We’d have lunar and solar eclipses every month!

Watch the sky

If you’re able, keep an eye on the sun, the moon and the planets for a while. Watch for a few days, a few weeks, months, years, even. You’ll begin to get a feel for the ecliptic in your sky. You’ll notice the planets, sun and moon are always on or near the ecliptic, and you can use this line across your sky to help you find your way around, making your way between the constellations and stars. You’ll notice the sun’s path – the ecliptic – higher in the sky during the summer months and lower during the winter.

Eventually, you’ll be able to imagine the sun’s path in your sky, long after the sun has set.

When that happens, you’ll be able to pick out a planet from a star very quickly and easily, which is a great party trick. Mars is the red one; Saturn the yellow one; Venus the bright white one that never gets too far from the sun; Mercury the seldom-seen one; and Jupiter the very bright one (but never as bright as Venus) that often gets far from the sun.

Welcome to stargazing, friend!

View larger. | Voyager 1 created this mosaic of images of our solar system on February 14, 1990. Read more about this image via NASA PhotoJournal.

Bottom Line: The ecliptic is the path the sun takes across our sky. In fact, it’s the Earth-sun plane. And, more or less, it’s the plane of the orbits of the major planets and their moons, and some asteroids. Here’s a stargazing tip: Learn the whereabouts of the ecliptic in your sky. And you’ll always find the sun, moon and planets on or near it.

The post The ecliptic is the sun’s path in our sky first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/DQem3Pk

Earliest sunrises (or sunsets) come before June solstice

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The earliest sunrises happen before the summer solstice. Ann Murray of Frederiksted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, captured this image on April 23, 2023. Beautiful! Thank you, Ann.

The June solstice brings the longest day for the Northern Hemisphere. But the earliest sunrises come before it.

When to look: The exact dates of the earliest sunrises vary with latitude. For example, for the Northern Hemisphere, the earliest sunrises can come as early as late May. For much of the United States, the earliest sunrises happen in the week or so before the summer solstice. Southern Hemisphere? Your earliest sunsets happen a week or so before the June solstice.
When is June solstice? The June solstice – summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere – will fall at 20:51 UTC (3:51 p.m. CDT) on Thursday, June 20, 2024. Read: All you need to know about the June solstice.
For the Northern Hemisphere: Have you noticed how early your sunrises are? Plus, the dawn light is beautiful. And you can spot Jupiter this month in the morning twilight.
For the Southern Hemisphere: If you relish the daylight, as many do, you’ll be glad to know your sunsets will soon be shifting later! The earliest sunsets of the year take place around now for those at mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. And, that’s even though your winter solstice – and shortest day – aren’t for another week.

The sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean from St. Simons Island, Georgia. Image via Marcy Curran.

Earliest sunrises vary with latitude

The exact date of earliest sunrise (and earliest sunset) varies with latitude. At 40 degrees north latitude – the latitude of, say, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, the Mediterranean Sea and northern Japan – the earliest sunrise of the year happens on or near June 14. Likewise, for that same latitude, the latest sunset of the year falls on or near June 27. Meanwhile, the longest day of the year – the day containing the greatest amount of daylight, overall – comes on the solstice on June 20.

So it is for other Northern Hemisphere latitudes, as well. The dates of earliest sunrise and latest sunset don’t coincide exactly with the solstice. In fact, appreciably south of Philadelphia’s latitude, the earliest sunrise has already come and gone (in late May or early June) and the latest sunset occurs at a later date (sometimes as late as July). In Hawaii, for instance, the earliest sunrise precedes the June solstice by about two weeks, and the latest sunset comes about two weeks after. On the other hand, farther north, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset happen closer to the June solstice. Check it out at your latitude, using links on our almanac page.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Rupesh Sangoi captured separate images of the sunrise showing the sun’s movement along the horizon between the June and December solstices and on the equinoxes. Rupesh wrote: “Did this for over a year, at sunrise.” Glorious composite, Rupesh! Thank you.

Why aren’t the earliest sunrises on the solstice?

The earliest sunrises come before the summer solstice because the day is more than 24 hours long at this time of the year. Likewise, in the Southern Hemisphere, the earliest sunsets of the year come before the winter solstice for the same reason.

Also, in June, 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 on the June solstice than it does one week before. Therefore, the sunrise and sunset times also come later by the clock, as the tables below help to explain.

Chart data via Timeanddate.com.

Why before the summer solstice, not after?

The primary reason for the earliest sunrise preceding the summer solstice (and the earliest sunset preceding the winter solstice) is the inclination of the Earth’s rotational axis. For example, the earliest sunrise or sunset would take place before the solstice even if the Earth went around the sun in a circular orbit.

However, the Earth’s elliptical orbit does affect the severity of the phenomenon. At the June solstice, Earth in its orbit is rather close to aphelion – its farthest point from the sun – which lessens the effect. On the other hand, at the December solstice, Earth is rather close to perihelion – its closest point to the sun – which accentuates it.

At middle latitudes, however, the earliest sunrise/sunset comes about one week before the June summer/winter solstice, and the latest sunset/sunrise about one week after the June solstice.

Yet, at the other end of the year, at middle latitudes, the earliest sunset/sunrise comes about two weeks before the December winter/summer solstice, and the latest sunrise/sunset about two weeks after the December solstice.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Elizabeth June of Clarklake, Michigan, captured this image on May 23, 2023, and wrote: “I am a ‘sunset’ person and take sunset photos almost every night … I stand at the end of our dock. I don’t have a fancy camera, just the camera on my iPhone!” Thank you, Elizabeth.

Bottom line: Are you an early riser? If so – and you live in the Northern Hemisphere – you might know your earliest sunrises of the year are happening now. Southern Hemisphere? Your earliest sunsets are around now.

EarthSky astronomy kits are perfect for beginners. Order today from the EarthSky store

The post Earliest sunrises (or sunsets) come before June solstice first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1uoilv0

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The earliest sunrises happen before the summer solstice. Ann Murray of Frederiksted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, captured this image on April 23, 2023. Beautiful! Thank you, Ann.

The June solstice brings the longest day for the Northern Hemisphere. But the earliest sunrises come before it.

When to look: The exact dates of the earliest sunrises vary with latitude. For example, for the Northern Hemisphere, the earliest sunrises can come as early as late May. For much of the United States, the earliest sunrises happen in the week or so before the summer solstice. Southern Hemisphere? Your earliest sunsets happen a week or so before the June solstice.
When is June solstice? The June solstice – summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere – will fall at 20:51 UTC (3:51 p.m. CDT) on Thursday, June 20, 2024. Read: All you need to know about the June solstice.
For the Northern Hemisphere: Have you noticed how early your sunrises are? Plus, the dawn light is beautiful. And you can spot Jupiter this month in the morning twilight.
For the Southern Hemisphere: If you relish the daylight, as many do, you’ll be glad to know your sunsets will soon be shifting later! The earliest sunsets of the year take place around now for those at mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. And, that’s even though your winter solstice – and shortest day – aren’t for another week.

The sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean from St. Simons Island, Georgia. Image via Marcy Curran.

Earliest sunrises vary with latitude

The exact date of earliest sunrise (and earliest sunset) varies with latitude. At 40 degrees north latitude – the latitude of, say, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, the Mediterranean Sea and northern Japan – the earliest sunrise of the year happens on or near June 14. Likewise, for that same latitude, the latest sunset of the year falls on or near June 27. Meanwhile, the longest day of the year – the day containing the greatest amount of daylight, overall – comes on the solstice on June 20.

So it is for other Northern Hemisphere latitudes, as well. The dates of earliest sunrise and latest sunset don’t coincide exactly with the solstice. In fact, appreciably south of Philadelphia’s latitude, the earliest sunrise has already come and gone (in late May or early June) and the latest sunset occurs at a later date (sometimes as late as July). In Hawaii, for instance, the earliest sunrise precedes the June solstice by about two weeks, and the latest sunset comes about two weeks after. On the other hand, farther north, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset happen closer to the June solstice. Check it out at your latitude, using links on our almanac page.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Rupesh Sangoi captured separate images of the sunrise showing the sun’s movement along the horizon between the June and December solstices and on the equinoxes. Rupesh wrote: “Did this for over a year, at sunrise.” Glorious composite, Rupesh! Thank you.

Why aren’t the earliest sunrises on the solstice?

The earliest sunrises come before the summer solstice because the day is more than 24 hours long at this time of the year. Likewise, in the Southern Hemisphere, the earliest sunsets of the year come before the winter solstice for the same reason.

Also, in June, 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 on the June solstice than it does one week before. Therefore, the sunrise and sunset times also come later by the clock, as the tables below help to explain.

Chart data via Timeanddate.com.

Why before the summer solstice, not after?

The primary reason for the earliest sunrise preceding the summer solstice (and the earliest sunset preceding the winter solstice) is the inclination of the Earth’s rotational axis. For example, the earliest sunrise or sunset would take place before the solstice even if the Earth went around the sun in a circular orbit.

However, the Earth’s elliptical orbit does affect the severity of the phenomenon. At the June solstice, Earth in its orbit is rather close to aphelion – its farthest point from the sun – which lessens the effect. On the other hand, at the December solstice, Earth is rather close to perihelion – its closest point to the sun – which accentuates it.

At middle latitudes, however, the earliest sunrise/sunset comes about one week before the June summer/winter solstice, and the latest sunset/sunrise about one week after the June solstice.

Yet, at the other end of the year, at middle latitudes, the earliest sunset/sunrise comes about two weeks before the December winter/summer solstice, and the latest sunrise/sunset about two weeks after the December solstice.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Elizabeth June of Clarklake, Michigan, captured this image on May 23, 2023, and wrote: “I am a ‘sunset’ person and take sunset photos almost every night … I stand at the end of our dock. I don’t have a fancy camera, just the camera on my iPhone!” Thank you, Elizabeth.

Bottom line: Are you an early riser? If so – and you live in the Northern Hemisphere – you might know your earliest sunrises of the year are happening now. Southern Hemisphere? Your earliest sunsets are around now.

EarthSky astronomy kits are perfect for beginners. Order today from the EarthSky store

The post Earliest sunrises (or sunsets) come before June solstice first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1uoilv0

The last Milky Way galactic collision was a recent event

This image visualizes the Milky Way and its surrounding halo of stars. Most stars in the Milky Way lie in the disc – including the sun – but stars from past collisions end up in the halo. These halo stars are enhanced in this image, but in reality they are dim compared to the disc. The halo appears messy and wrinkly here, a sign that a galactic collision has occurred relatively recently. Our galaxy’s 2 prominent satellite galaxies (the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds) are visible to the lower right. Halo image via ESA/ Gaia/ DPAC/ T Donlon et al. Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds image via Stefan Payne-Wardenaar. Used with permission.

ESA originally published this article on June 6, 2024. Edits by EarthSky.

Galaxy collisions are not a rare event

Our galaxy has collided with many others in its lifetime. ESA’s Gaia space telescope now reveals that the most recent of these crashes took place billions of years later than we thought.

The Milky Way has grown over time as other galaxies have approached, collided with, and been torn apart as our galaxy consumed them. Each collision triggered wrinkles that still ripple through different families of stars. And it affects how they move and behave in space.

Gaia space telescope studies these wrinkles

One of Gaia’s aims is to unravel the history of our galaxy by studying these wrinkles. It’s doing this by pinpointing the positions and motions of over 100,000 stars near to our own. That’s a tiny fraction of the about 2 billion sources it observes.

? @ESAGaia reveals that the Milky Way’s last major collision was surprisingly recent!

Gaia unravels our history by studying the wrinkles created by collisions, but there's a catch. Like Benjamin Button, our galaxy is getting less wrinkly over time ? https://t.co/iD9FRU41SD pic.twitter.com/lUUYSyj7Qh

— ESA Science (@esascience) June 6, 2024

The lead author of this study, Thomas Donlon of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama, said:

We get wrinklier as we age, but our work reveals that the opposite is true for the Milky Way. It’s a sort of cosmic Benjamin Button, getting less wrinkly over time. By looking at how these wrinkles dissipate over time, we can trace when the Milky Way experienced its last big crash, and it turns out this happened billions of years later than we thought.

These galactic wrinkles were only found by Gaia in 2018. This study is the first to accurately determine the timing of the collision that made the wrinkles. The study compared observations with cosmological simulations.

Strange motions

The Milky Way’s halo contains a large group of stars with unusual orbits. Our galaxy probably adopted many of those stars during an event that astronomers call the last major merger. As the name suggests, this is the last time our galaxy experienced a significant collision with another galaxy. Researchers believe it was a massive dwarf galaxy that flooded the Milky Way with stars that pass very close to our galaxy’s center.

Scientists had dated this merger to between 8 and 11 billion years ago, when the Milky Way was in its infancy. It is known as Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). But data from Gaia – released as part of the telescope’s Data Release 3 in 2022 – suggests that another merger may have delivered the unusually moving stars.

Wrinkles suggest a more recent galactic collision

Co-author Heidi Jo Newberg, also of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, added:

For the wrinkles of stars to be as clear as they appear in Gaia data, they must have joined us less than 3 billion years ago, at least 5 billion years later than was previously thought. New wrinkles of stars form each time the stars swing back and forth through the center of the Milky Way. If they’d joined us 8 billion years ago, there would be so many wrinkles right next to each other that we would no longer see them as separate features.

The finding suggests that rather than these stars originating from the ancient GSE merger, they must have come from a more recent event dubbed the Virgo Radial Merger. That merger took place less than 3 billion years ago.

Rewriting history

There is evidence for the GSE merger taking place far back in the Milky Way’s history. However, recent work has questioned whether a massive ancient merger is needed to explain the properties of the Milky Way as we see it today. And also, whether the stars originally associated with the GSE are from the same merger event.

In 2020, Thomas led the study that identified wrinkles of stars in the Milky Way, and compared these to simulations of different possible mergers. Thomas explains:

We can see how the shapes and number of wrinkles change over time using these simulated mergers. This lets us pinpoint the exact time when the simulation best matches what we see in real Gaia data of the Milky Way today – a method we used in this new study too. By doing this, we found that the wrinkles were likely caused by a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way around 2.7 billion years ago. We named this event the Virgo Radial Merger.

A closer look at recent mergers

Since then, Thomas and colleagues have further explored this merger. They’ve been slowly refining the idea that many of the oddly moving stars and debris in the Milky Way’s inner halo were delivered to our galaxy from a much more recent galaxy collision than the GSE. They have also clarified that the stars originally associated with the GSE may have originated from multiple mergers, some ancient.

Thomas added:

The Milky Way’s history is constantly being rewritten at the moment, in no small part thanks to new data from Gaia. Our picture of the Milky Way’s past has changed dramatically from even a decade ago, and I think our understanding of these mergers will continue to change rapidly.

This result – that a large portion of the Milky Way only joined us within the last few billion years – is a big change from what astronomers thought up until now. Many popular models and ideas about how the Milky Way grows would expect a recent head-on collision with a dwarf galaxy of this mass to be very rare.

It’s likely that the Virgo Radial Merger brought in a family of other small dwarf galaxies and star clusters with it. So they would have all joined the Milky Way at around the same time. Future exploration will reveal which of these smaller objects that were previously thought to be related to an ancient GSE are related to a more recent Virgo Radial Merger instead.

Bottom line: The Milky Way has collided with many other galaxies during its history. The Gaia space telescope found that the most recent of these crashes took place billions of years later than we thought.

VIA ESA

The post The last Milky Way galactic collision was a recent event first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/sPyceQB

This image visualizes the Milky Way and its surrounding halo of stars. Most stars in the Milky Way lie in the disc – including the sun – but stars from past collisions end up in the halo. These halo stars are enhanced in this image, but in reality they are dim compared to the disc. The halo appears messy and wrinkly here, a sign that a galactic collision has occurred relatively recently. Our galaxy’s 2 prominent satellite galaxies (the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds) are visible to the lower right. Halo image via ESA/ Gaia/ DPAC/ T Donlon et al. Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds image via Stefan Payne-Wardenaar. Used with permission.

ESA originally published this article on June 6, 2024. Edits by EarthSky.

Galaxy collisions are not a rare event

Our galaxy has collided with many others in its lifetime. ESA’s Gaia space telescope now reveals that the most recent of these crashes took place billions of years later than we thought.

The Milky Way has grown over time as other galaxies have approached, collided with, and been torn apart as our galaxy consumed them. Each collision triggered wrinkles that still ripple through different families of stars. And it affects how they move and behave in space.

Gaia space telescope studies these wrinkles

One of Gaia’s aims is to unravel the history of our galaxy by studying these wrinkles. It’s doing this by pinpointing the positions and motions of over 100,000 stars near to our own. That’s a tiny fraction of the about 2 billion sources it observes.

? @ESAGaia reveals that the Milky Way’s last major collision was surprisingly recent!

Gaia unravels our history by studying the wrinkles created by collisions, but there's a catch. Like Benjamin Button, our galaxy is getting less wrinkly over time ? https://t.co/iD9FRU41SD pic.twitter.com/lUUYSyj7Qh

— ESA Science (@esascience) June 6, 2024

The lead author of this study, Thomas Donlon of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama, said:

We get wrinklier as we age, but our work reveals that the opposite is true for the Milky Way. It’s a sort of cosmic Benjamin Button, getting less wrinkly over time. By looking at how these wrinkles dissipate over time, we can trace when the Milky Way experienced its last big crash, and it turns out this happened billions of years later than we thought.

These galactic wrinkles were only found by Gaia in 2018. This study is the first to accurately determine the timing of the collision that made the wrinkles. The study compared observations with cosmological simulations.

Strange motions

The Milky Way’s halo contains a large group of stars with unusual orbits. Our galaxy probably adopted many of those stars during an event that astronomers call the last major merger. As the name suggests, this is the last time our galaxy experienced a significant collision with another galaxy. Researchers believe it was a massive dwarf galaxy that flooded the Milky Way with stars that pass very close to our galaxy’s center.

Scientists had dated this merger to between 8 and 11 billion years ago, when the Milky Way was in its infancy. It is known as Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). But data from Gaia – released as part of the telescope’s Data Release 3 in 2022 – suggests that another merger may have delivered the unusually moving stars.

Wrinkles suggest a more recent galactic collision

Co-author Heidi Jo Newberg, also of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, added:

For the wrinkles of stars to be as clear as they appear in Gaia data, they must have joined us less than 3 billion years ago, at least 5 billion years later than was previously thought. New wrinkles of stars form each time the stars swing back and forth through the center of the Milky Way. If they’d joined us 8 billion years ago, there would be so many wrinkles right next to each other that we would no longer see them as separate features.

The finding suggests that rather than these stars originating from the ancient GSE merger, they must have come from a more recent event dubbed the Virgo Radial Merger. That merger took place less than 3 billion years ago.

Rewriting history

There is evidence for the GSE merger taking place far back in the Milky Way’s history. However, recent work has questioned whether a massive ancient merger is needed to explain the properties of the Milky Way as we see it today. And also, whether the stars originally associated with the GSE are from the same merger event.

In 2020, Thomas led the study that identified wrinkles of stars in the Milky Way, and compared these to simulations of different possible mergers. Thomas explains:

We can see how the shapes and number of wrinkles change over time using these simulated mergers. This lets us pinpoint the exact time when the simulation best matches what we see in real Gaia data of the Milky Way today – a method we used in this new study too. By doing this, we found that the wrinkles were likely caused by a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way around 2.7 billion years ago. We named this event the Virgo Radial Merger.

A closer look at recent mergers

Since then, Thomas and colleagues have further explored this merger. They’ve been slowly refining the idea that many of the oddly moving stars and debris in the Milky Way’s inner halo were delivered to our galaxy from a much more recent galaxy collision than the GSE. They have also clarified that the stars originally associated with the GSE may have originated from multiple mergers, some ancient.

Thomas added:

The Milky Way’s history is constantly being rewritten at the moment, in no small part thanks to new data from Gaia. Our picture of the Milky Way’s past has changed dramatically from even a decade ago, and I think our understanding of these mergers will continue to change rapidly.

This result – that a large portion of the Milky Way only joined us within the last few billion years – is a big change from what astronomers thought up until now. Many popular models and ideas about how the Milky Way grows would expect a recent head-on collision with a dwarf galaxy of this mass to be very rare.

It’s likely that the Virgo Radial Merger brought in a family of other small dwarf galaxies and star clusters with it. So they would have all joined the Milky Way at around the same time. Future exploration will reveal which of these smaller objects that were previously thought to be related to an ancient GSE are related to a more recent Virgo Radial Merger instead.

Bottom line: The Milky Way has collided with many other galaxies during its history. The Gaia space telescope found that the most recent of these crashes took place billions of years later than we thought.

VIA ESA

The post The last Milky Way galactic collision was a recent event first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/sPyceQB

Like people, elephants use names for each other

A new study involving African elephants shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, much as humans do. Video via Michael Pardo/ George Wittemyer/ Ron Bend/ SCU/ YouTube. Published here with permission.

• Elephants in family units and social groups can identify each other by name, according to new study from Colorado State University.
• The elephants use new sounds for names instead of just imitating the sounds from other elephants. The use of specific names is rare among non-human animals. It’s thought, for example, that dolphins can use “names” also, but are basically mainly parroting what is said to them.
• We may or may not ever be able to actually talk to elephants, but if we could, we could help warn them of dangers such as poachers.

Elephants use names for each other

Elephants are highly intelligent and expressive animals. They are very communicative within their family units and social groups. Now, there’s new evidence that elephants can communicate with each other by name. Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU), Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices worked together on a new study. They said yesterday (June 10, 2024), that they called wild African elephants by name … and the elephants called back.

The research team spent four years studying elephant vocalizations. As part of their work, they followed the elephants for 14 months and recorded them, in Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park, both in Kenya. Overall, the researchers captured 470 distinct calls from 101 unique callers. Those callers corresponded with 117 unique receivers.

The researchers published their fascinating peer-reviewed findings in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on June 10, 2024.

Not just imitation

Some animal species, such as dolphins, also use “names” for each other. But in those cases, they are believed to be parroting what a human said to them. But the African elephants appeared not simply to imitate, but instead use arbitrary communication. That’s where a vocalized sound represents an idea, but doesn’t just imitate other sounds. It’s a new sound.

Michael Pardo is the lead author and NSF postdoctoral researcher at CSU and Save the Elephants. As he explained:

Dolphins and parrots call one another by ‘name’ by imitating the signature call of the addressee. By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver’s calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work.

Arbitrary communication is uncommon

Arbitrary communication is uncommon among animals. But for those that can use it – humans of course, and now elephants – it greatly expands the ability to communicate. As co-author George Wittemyer, a professor at CSU, noted:

If all we could do was make noises that sounded like what we were talking about, it would vastly limit our ability to communicate.

The paper stated:

Personal names are a universal feature of human language, yet few analogues exist in other species. While dolphins and parrots address conspecifics by imitating the calls of the addressee, human names are not imitations of the sounds typically made by the named individual. Labeling objects or individuals without relying on imitation of the sounds made by the referent radically expands the expressive power of language.

The researchers used machine learning – a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) – to determine that the vocal calls the elephants made really were like names, and not just imitations of other sounds. They played back recorded calls to the elephants. And indeed, the elephants responded by either calling back or approaching the sound speaker. Notably, the elephants reacted less when a call was meant for other elephants.

In other words, an elephant knew when a call was meant specifically for itself.

View larger. | 3 female African bush elephants in Tanzania, East Africa. Amazingly, elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like people do. Image via Ikiwaner/ Wkimedia Commons (GFDL 1.2).

Why do elephants use names?

So why did elephants develop the ability to use arbitrary communication? The answer likely lies in the fact that elephants have complex social groups and family units, much like humans. The researchers said that this likely encouraged the development of using abstract sounds as names. Wittemyer said:

It’s probably a case where we have similar pressures, largely from complex social interactions. That’s one of the exciting things about this study, it gives us some insight into possible drivers of why we evolved these abilities.

And elephants’ communications are complex overall, too. They also use sight, scent and touch as well as vocalizations. With all of these, they can even discuss things like identity, age, sex, emotions and behavior with each other. Elephants’ vocalizations alone cover a wide spectrum, from trumpeting to low rumbling. They can even produce infrasonic sounds, which the human ear cannot hear. Think of a silent dog whistle.

The machine learning helped the researchers identify exactly which elephant that another elephant was calling to. As Kurt Fristrup, a research scientist in CSU’s Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, noted:

Our finding that elephants are not simply mimicking the sound associated with the individual they are calling was the most intriguing. The capacity to utilize arbitrary sonic labels for other individuals suggests that other kinds of labels or descriptors may exist in elephant calls.

Prank calling elephants

The researchers even tried prank calling the elephants. As previously mentioned, the elephants responded positively to audio recordings of other elephants in their families or clans. This meant they recognized the specific names. So the researchers then used recordings of elephant vocalizations that they did not know. As might happen with people, they initially seemed confused, Pardo said:

They were probably temporarily confused by the playback but eventually just dismissed it as a strange event and went on with their lives.

Interestingly, there are other dynamics involved as well. The elephants didn’t always use individual names. They usually did that when communicating over long distances or when adult elephants were talking to their young calves.

A new study involving African elephants shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like humans do. Video via Michael Pardo/ SCU/ YouTube. Used with permission.

Do elephants use names for other things too?

Since elephants can use names for each other, could they do that also for other things they interact with on a daily basis? We don’t know yet. As Wittemyer put it:

Unfortunately, we can’t have them speak into microphones.

If we could though, what would they say? This brings up the possibility of one day being able to actually talk to elephants and converse with them. That day may be a long way off, if it ever comes. Wittemyer noted that if we somehow could talk to elephants, then we could help them survive. This is especially true regarding poaching and habitat loss. These magnificent animals are now listed as an endangered species. Wittemyer said:

It’s tough to live with elephants, when you’re trying to share a landscape and they’re eating crops. I’d like to be able to warn them, ‘Do not come here. You’re going to be killed if you come here.’

Bottom line: Elephants are highly intelligent and social animals. And now, a new study shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like humans.

Source: African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls

Via Colorado State University

Read more: Do elephants make alarm call that means ‘humans!’?

Read more: Elephants reassure other elephants in distress

The post Like people, elephants use names for each other first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/ac9HADn

A new study involving African elephants shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, much as humans do. Video via Michael Pardo/ George Wittemyer/ Ron Bend/ SCU/ YouTube. Published here with permission.

• Elephants in family units and social groups can identify each other by name, according to new study from Colorado State University.
• The elephants use new sounds for names instead of just imitating the sounds from other elephants. The use of specific names is rare among non-human animals. It’s thought, for example, that dolphins can use “names” also, but are basically mainly parroting what is said to them.
• We may or may not ever be able to actually talk to elephants, but if we could, we could help warn them of dangers such as poachers.

Elephants use names for each other

Elephants are highly intelligent and expressive animals. They are very communicative within their family units and social groups. Now, there’s new evidence that elephants can communicate with each other by name. Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU), Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices worked together on a new study. They said yesterday (June 10, 2024), that they called wild African elephants by name … and the elephants called back.

The research team spent four years studying elephant vocalizations. As part of their work, they followed the elephants for 14 months and recorded them, in Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park, both in Kenya. Overall, the researchers captured 470 distinct calls from 101 unique callers. Those callers corresponded with 117 unique receivers.

The researchers published their fascinating peer-reviewed findings in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on June 10, 2024.

Not just imitation

Some animal species, such as dolphins, also use “names” for each other. But in those cases, they are believed to be parroting what a human said to them. But the African elephants appeared not simply to imitate, but instead use arbitrary communication. That’s where a vocalized sound represents an idea, but doesn’t just imitate other sounds. It’s a new sound.

Michael Pardo is the lead author and NSF postdoctoral researcher at CSU and Save the Elephants. As he explained:

Dolphins and parrots call one another by ‘name’ by imitating the signature call of the addressee. By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver’s calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work.

Arbitrary communication is uncommon

Arbitrary communication is uncommon among animals. But for those that can use it – humans of course, and now elephants – it greatly expands the ability to communicate. As co-author George Wittemyer, a professor at CSU, noted:

If all we could do was make noises that sounded like what we were talking about, it would vastly limit our ability to communicate.

The paper stated:

Personal names are a universal feature of human language, yet few analogues exist in other species. While dolphins and parrots address conspecifics by imitating the calls of the addressee, human names are not imitations of the sounds typically made by the named individual. Labeling objects or individuals without relying on imitation of the sounds made by the referent radically expands the expressive power of language.

The researchers used machine learning – a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) – to determine that the vocal calls the elephants made really were like names, and not just imitations of other sounds. They played back recorded calls to the elephants. And indeed, the elephants responded by either calling back or approaching the sound speaker. Notably, the elephants reacted less when a call was meant for other elephants.

In other words, an elephant knew when a call was meant specifically for itself.

View larger. | 3 female African bush elephants in Tanzania, East Africa. Amazingly, elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like people do. Image via Ikiwaner/ Wkimedia Commons (GFDL 1.2).

Why do elephants use names?

So why did elephants develop the ability to use arbitrary communication? The answer likely lies in the fact that elephants have complex social groups and family units, much like humans. The researchers said that this likely encouraged the development of using abstract sounds as names. Wittemyer said:

It’s probably a case where we have similar pressures, largely from complex social interactions. That’s one of the exciting things about this study, it gives us some insight into possible drivers of why we evolved these abilities.

And elephants’ communications are complex overall, too. They also use sight, scent and touch as well as vocalizations. With all of these, they can even discuss things like identity, age, sex, emotions and behavior with each other. Elephants’ vocalizations alone cover a wide spectrum, from trumpeting to low rumbling. They can even produce infrasonic sounds, which the human ear cannot hear. Think of a silent dog whistle.

The machine learning helped the researchers identify exactly which elephant that another elephant was calling to. As Kurt Fristrup, a research scientist in CSU’s Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, noted:

Our finding that elephants are not simply mimicking the sound associated with the individual they are calling was the most intriguing. The capacity to utilize arbitrary sonic labels for other individuals suggests that other kinds of labels or descriptors may exist in elephant calls.

Prank calling elephants

The researchers even tried prank calling the elephants. As previously mentioned, the elephants responded positively to audio recordings of other elephants in their families or clans. This meant they recognized the specific names. So the researchers then used recordings of elephant vocalizations that they did not know. As might happen with people, they initially seemed confused, Pardo said:

They were probably temporarily confused by the playback but eventually just dismissed it as a strange event and went on with their lives.

Interestingly, there are other dynamics involved as well. The elephants didn’t always use individual names. They usually did that when communicating over long distances or when adult elephants were talking to their young calves.

A new study involving African elephants shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like humans do. Video via Michael Pardo/ SCU/ YouTube. Used with permission.

Do elephants use names for other things too?

Since elephants can use names for each other, could they do that also for other things they interact with on a daily basis? We don’t know yet. As Wittemyer put it:

Unfortunately, we can’t have them speak into microphones.

If we could though, what would they say? This brings up the possibility of one day being able to actually talk to elephants and converse with them. That day may be a long way off, if it ever comes. Wittemyer noted that if we somehow could talk to elephants, then we could help them survive. This is especially true regarding poaching and habitat loss. These magnificent animals are now listed as an endangered species. Wittemyer said:

It’s tough to live with elephants, when you’re trying to share a landscape and they’re eating crops. I’d like to be able to warn them, ‘Do not come here. You’re going to be killed if you come here.’

Bottom line: Elephants are highly intelligent and social animals. And now, a new study shows that elephants use names when communicating with each other, just like humans.

Source: African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls

Via Colorado State University

Read more: Do elephants make alarm call that means ‘humans!’?

Read more: Elephants reassure other elephants in distress

The post Like people, elephants use names for each other first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/ac9HADn

Fastest carbon dioxide surge ever during year of extremes

NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii is one place that takes continuous measurements of carbon dioxide. CO2 peaked in May 2024 at a monthly average of 426.9 parts per million, establishing another high mark in the 66-year record of observations on the Hawaiian volcano. Image via Susan Cobb/ NOAA Research.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) originaly published this article on June 6, 2024. Edits by EarthSky.

The two-year increase in carbon dioxide peak is the largest on record

Scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego announced on June 6, 2024, that carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever. They said it is accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence.

Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory surged to a seasonal peak of just under 427 parts per million (426.90 ppm) in May 2024. May is when CO2 reaches its highest level in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s an increase of 2.9 ppm over May 2023 and the 5th-largest annual growth in NOAA’s 50-year record. When combined with 2023’s increase of 3.0 ppm, the period from 2022 to 2024 has seen the largest two-year jump in the May peak in the NOAA record.

Carbon dioxide measurements sending ominous signs

Scientists at Scripps, the organization that initiated CO2 monitoring at Mauna Loa in 1958 and maintains an independent record, calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 ppm for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023’s measurement of 423.78 ppm. For Scripps, the two-year jump tied a previous record set in 2020.

From January through April, NOAA and Scripps scientists said CO2 concentrations increased more rapidly than they have in the first four months of any other year. The surge has come even as one highly regarded international report has found that fossil fuel emissions, the main driver of climate change, have plateaued in recent years. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said:

Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms.

Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever. We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.

Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 program that manages the institution’s 56-year-old measurement series, noted that year-to-year increase recorded in March 2024 was the highest for both Scripps and NOAA in Keeling Curve history. He said:

Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever.

Each year achieves a higher maximum due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up, much like trash in a landfill.

Like a giant heat-trapping blanket

Like other greenhouse gases, CO2 acts like a blanket in the atmosphere, preventing heat radiating off of the planet’s surface from escaping into space. The warming atmosphere fuels extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, drought and wildfires, as well as heavier precipitation and flooding. About half of the carbon dioxide humans release into the air stays in the atmosphere. The other half is absorbed at Earth’s surface, split roughly equally between land and ocean.

The record two-year growth rate observed from 2022 to 2024 is likely a result of sustained high fossil fuel emissions combined with El Nino conditions limiting the ability of global land ecosystems to absorb atmospheric CO2, said John Miller, a carbon cycle scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory. The absorption of CO2 is changing the chemistry of the ocean, leading to ocean acidification and lower levels of dissolved oxygen, which interferes with the growth of some marine organisms.

A longstanding scientific partnership

For most of the past half century, continuous daily sampling by both NOAA and Scripps at Mauna Loa provided an ideal baseline for establishing long-term trends. In 2023, some of the measurements were obtained from a temporary sampling site atop the nearby Mauna Kea volcano, which was established after lava flows cut off access to the Mauna Loa Observatory in November 2022. With the access road still buried under lava, staff have been accessing the site once a week by helicopter to maintain the NOAA and Scripps in-situ CO2 analyzers that provide continuous CO2 measurements.

Scripps geoscientist Charles David Keeling initiated on-site measurements of CO2 at NOAA’s Mauna Loa weather station in 1958. Keeling was the first to recognize that CO2 levels in the Northern Hemisphere fell during the growing season and rose as plants died in the fall. He documented these CO2 fluctuations in a record that came to be known as the Keeling Curve. He was also the first to recognize that, in addition to the seasonal fluctuation, CO2 levels rose every year.

NOAA climate scientist Pieter Tans spearheaded the effort to begin NOAA’s own measurements in 1974, and the two research institutions have made complementary, independent observations ever since.

While the Mauna Loa Observatory is considered the benchmark climate monitoring station for the northern hemisphere, it does not capture the changes of CO2 across the globe. NOAA’s globally distributed sampling network provides this broader picture, which is very consistent with the Mauna Loa results.

The Mauna Loa data, together with measurements from sampling stations around the world, are incorporated into the Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, a foundational research dataset for international climate scientists and a benchmark for policymakers attempting to address the causes and impacts of climate change.

Bottom line: Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever, accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, according to scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Via NOAA

Read how animals adapt to heatwaves

Read more: What drove Snowball Earth? A drop in a greenhouse gas

Read about carbon dioxide emissions by country: See a map

Read more: Carbon capture is controversial, but it may be crucial

The post Fastest carbon dioxide surge ever during year of extremes first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/aH4KLOX

NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii is one place that takes continuous measurements of carbon dioxide. CO2 peaked in May 2024 at a monthly average of 426.9 parts per million, establishing another high mark in the 66-year record of observations on the Hawaiian volcano. Image via Susan Cobb/ NOAA Research.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) originaly published this article on June 6, 2024. Edits by EarthSky.

The two-year increase in carbon dioxide peak is the largest on record

Scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego announced on June 6, 2024, that carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever. They said it is accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence.

Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory surged to a seasonal peak of just under 427 parts per million (426.90 ppm) in May 2024. May is when CO2 reaches its highest level in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s an increase of 2.9 ppm over May 2023 and the 5th-largest annual growth in NOAA’s 50-year record. When combined with 2023’s increase of 3.0 ppm, the period from 2022 to 2024 has seen the largest two-year jump in the May peak in the NOAA record.

Carbon dioxide measurements sending ominous signs

Scientists at Scripps, the organization that initiated CO2 monitoring at Mauna Loa in 1958 and maintains an independent record, calculated a May monthly average of 426.7 ppm for 2024, an increase of 2.92 ppm over May 2023’s measurement of 423.78 ppm. For Scripps, the two-year jump tied a previous record set in 2020.

From January through April, NOAA and Scripps scientists said CO2 concentrations increased more rapidly than they have in the first four months of any other year. The surge has come even as one highly regarded international report has found that fossil fuel emissions, the main driver of climate change, have plateaued in recent years. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said:

Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms.

Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever. We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.

Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 program that manages the institution’s 56-year-old measurement series, noted that year-to-year increase recorded in March 2024 was the highest for both Scripps and NOAA in Keeling Curve history. He said:

Not only is CO2 now at the highest level in millions of years, it is also rising faster than ever.

Each year achieves a higher maximum due to fossil-fuel burning, which releases pollution in the form of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel pollution just keeps building up, much like trash in a landfill.

Like a giant heat-trapping blanket

Like other greenhouse gases, CO2 acts like a blanket in the atmosphere, preventing heat radiating off of the planet’s surface from escaping into space. The warming atmosphere fuels extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, drought and wildfires, as well as heavier precipitation and flooding. About half of the carbon dioxide humans release into the air stays in the atmosphere. The other half is absorbed at Earth’s surface, split roughly equally between land and ocean.

The record two-year growth rate observed from 2022 to 2024 is likely a result of sustained high fossil fuel emissions combined with El Nino conditions limiting the ability of global land ecosystems to absorb atmospheric CO2, said John Miller, a carbon cycle scientist with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory. The absorption of CO2 is changing the chemistry of the ocean, leading to ocean acidification and lower levels of dissolved oxygen, which interferes with the growth of some marine organisms.

A longstanding scientific partnership

For most of the past half century, continuous daily sampling by both NOAA and Scripps at Mauna Loa provided an ideal baseline for establishing long-term trends. In 2023, some of the measurements were obtained from a temporary sampling site atop the nearby Mauna Kea volcano, which was established after lava flows cut off access to the Mauna Loa Observatory in November 2022. With the access road still buried under lava, staff have been accessing the site once a week by helicopter to maintain the NOAA and Scripps in-situ CO2 analyzers that provide continuous CO2 measurements.

Scripps geoscientist Charles David Keeling initiated on-site measurements of CO2 at NOAA’s Mauna Loa weather station in 1958. Keeling was the first to recognize that CO2 levels in the Northern Hemisphere fell during the growing season and rose as plants died in the fall. He documented these CO2 fluctuations in a record that came to be known as the Keeling Curve. He was also the first to recognize that, in addition to the seasonal fluctuation, CO2 levels rose every year.

NOAA climate scientist Pieter Tans spearheaded the effort to begin NOAA’s own measurements in 1974, and the two research institutions have made complementary, independent observations ever since.

While the Mauna Loa Observatory is considered the benchmark climate monitoring station for the northern hemisphere, it does not capture the changes of CO2 across the globe. NOAA’s globally distributed sampling network provides this broader picture, which is very consistent with the Mauna Loa results.

The Mauna Loa data, together with measurements from sampling stations around the world, are incorporated into the Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, a foundational research dataset for international climate scientists and a benchmark for policymakers attempting to address the causes and impacts of climate change.

Bottom line: Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever, accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, according to scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Via NOAA

Read how animals adapt to heatwaves

Read more: What drove Snowball Earth? A drop in a greenhouse gas

Read about carbon dioxide emissions by country: See a map

Read more: Carbon capture is controversial, but it may be crucial

The post Fastest carbon dioxide surge ever during year of extremes first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/aH4KLOX