EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?THE MARS SOCIETY
ICY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14
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CONTENTSICY SCIENCE: DIGITAL MAGAZINE QTR 1 2014
6 One Year Mission to the ISS13 IT’S FIBONACCI’S BIT - SEEDING THE UNIVERSE WITH 0 AND 1
22 F = MA28 KNOWLEDGE OBSERVATORY STARGAZING LIVE EVENT
43 Comet Ison’s Demise44 Origin of Life On Earth62 Climate Change - A Global Catastrophe or a Figment of our Imagination?66Antarctica73 My Favorite Motions
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83 MarsExplorationRoverOpportunity Celebrates 10 Years Work-ing on Mars90 OurReturntotheMoon98 Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawai
102 In the News
top image provided by Caroline Scott
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Special ThanksCian O’ReganT: @irishspaceblog
W: irishspaceblog.blogspot.ie
Anthony RyanT: @AntRyanET
W: AntRya.nET
Julian OnionsT: @julianonions
W: http://ou-know.blogspot.co.uk/
Knowledge ObservatoryT: @KnowledgeObsAst
W: http://www.theknowledgeobservatory.co.uk/
Henna KhanT: @henna_khan
W: https://www.facebook.com/UniverseSimplified
Dan Lucus
T: @dan__lucas
John GarrettW: www.temeculavalleyastronomers.com
Denise Hemphill aka Zantippy SkiphopT: @ZantippySkiphop
Caroline Scott
T: Astro_Caz
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Contact:E: [email protected]
TWITTER: @DavesAstronomyW: www.icyscience.com
WELCOME to another Icy Science magaizine.
This quarter we are packed with Astronomy, Space and
plenty of Science. Form a look at our origins to climate
change. We have another look at numbers and a look
at the last year on he ISS. From the cold of space to the
freezingcoldofAntarctica. We visit a Stargazing Live
event with the Knowledge Observatory and a look at
humankinds retun to the moon.
NEXT EDITION MAY 2014
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ONE YEAR MISSION TO THE ISS
In March 2015, one astronaut and one cosmonaut will launch from Ka-zakhstan to spend one year living and working in space aboard the Inter-nationalSpaceStation.
NASAastronautScottKellyandRussianFederalSpaceAgencycosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, will launch atop a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with fellow cosmonaut Gen-nady Padalka, scheduled for March 2015. Kelly and Kornienko will live aboardtheorbitingcomplexforoneyear,beforereturningtoEarthin2016.
Kornienko and Kelly will spend one year living on
the International Space Station in 2015
TheoneyearmissionwillallowscientiststoseehowthehumanbodywilladapttothemicrogravitylivingandworkingconditionsfoundaboardtheISS,aswellasexaminingthepsychologicaleffectsoflivingofftheplanetforoneyear.ThescientificcommunitywillalsobecarefullywatchinghowKellyandKornienkore-adapttolifebackonEarthafterspendingayearinlow-Earthorbit.Changesinvisionarejustoneofthemanysideeffectsthathavebeenobservedinsomeastronautsreturningfromlong-duration
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spaceflights,andresearcherswanttolearnmoreaboutitsrootcausesanddevelop countermeasures to minimize this risk.
The duo will also have to combat bone and muscle loss (which happens to everyastronautwhentheyflyinspaceforseveralmonths)byexercisingfor2.5hourseachday,usingthestation’streadmills,bikemachineknownasCEVIS(standsforCycleErgometerwithVibrationIsolationandStabilizationSystem)andaweightsmachinecalledARED(standsforAdvancedResistiveEx-erciseDevice).Forasixmonthmission,astronautscanloseupto15%musclevolume.
Justincaseyouwerewondering,thiswillnotbethefirsttimehumanbeings will be sent into orbit for a year-long mission. In 1994, cosmonaut Valeri Polyakovspentover437dayslivingaboardtheRussianspacestationMir,beforereturningtoEarthin1995.Despitesufferingfromacleardeclineinmoraleforthefirsttwomonthsofhismission,Polyakovwasabletoregainhispre-flightmoodfortherestofthemission.
ScottKellywithRobonaut2duringExpedition26
UponreturningtoEarthinhisSoyuzcapsuleafterasuccessfulmission,Polyakovdecidedhewouldratherwalkthesmalldistancefromhisspacecrafttoanearbyrecliningchair,demonstratingthathumanswouldbeabletowalkonthesurfaceofMarsafterseveralweightlessmonthsintransitfromEarth.Thisextra-longdurationmissionshowedthatthehumanbodycoulddealwiththestrainsandstressesoflivinginspaceforsuchanextendedperiodoftime.However,KellyandKornienkowillbethefirstspacefarerstospendayearliv-ingontheInternationalSpaceStation.
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I feel we need to know more about what
happens to the body and what happens to the mind when you stay in space for a long time, so I think that now is a good time and I think we should do it.
DOUG WHEELOCK SAYS
I think the greatest chal-lenge will be managing the physiology &
psychology of isolation, emotion, & senses... it is critical to stay in the mo-ment
RecentlyIbeganaskingastronautswhohavespenttimeliv-ing and working aboard the ISS about the one year mission, and what they thought the biggest challenges will be for Kelly and Kornienko.
ESAastronautandExpedition26/27FlightEngineerPaoloNespoli, who spent six months living on the ISS in 2010 & 2011,toldmethatnowisagoodtimetoanattemptamission of this nature:
also asked Doug Wheelock, who, like Nespoli, lived aboard theISSalongsideScottKelly,abouthisthoughtsontheup-coming mission, and what challenges would be faced by the one year crew. He went on to say that the biggest obstacles wouldbedealingwiththementalstressesoflivingofftheplanetforsuchalongtime:
Finally,IrecentlyspokewithExpedition35/36FlightEngi-neerChrisCassidy,whoreturnedfromtheInternationalSpaceStationbackinSeptember2013,abouthisthoughtson the one year mission:
“In my experience on coming home day, as we were closing the hatch I thought to myself “What would I think if I was halfway done right now? How would I feel? What would I need? To be honest I felt a little accumulative fatigue- when you’re living at your workplace, and you can’t shut the door to work and go home in the evening and kick back and watch Monday Night Football- you’re there all the time and it eventually catches up to you”.
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Cassidy,whocompletedatotalofthreespacewalks,orEVAs,duringhismostrecentflight,alsohadafew
ideasregardinghowthecrewdoesn’tbecomefatiguedwiththeheavyworkloadthatcomeswithliving
aboardtheorbitingoutpost,suggestingalongerweekendfromtimetotimeinthesecondhalfofthemission:
“I think my recommendation would be in months 7 through 12, the second half of the year is to have a three day weekend every month because you really need a good recharge. Sunday is a really good day to have a recharge, and to have an extra Sunday thrown in the mix every now and then would go a long way”.
Allinall,itappearsthateveryoneinscienceandspaceexplorationfieldsareconfidentabouttheoneyear
mission. Both Kelly and Kornienko have lived aboard the ISS before, so it’s fair to say that we have a very
experienced crew on our hands, logging a total of 356 days in space between them.
It is hoped that data recorded from this 2015 mission will assist teams on the ground in their understand-
ingoftheeffectsoflongtermsweightlessnessonthebody,andwhatitmaybelikeforhumansiftheywere
sentonamissiontoMarsinthefuture.AfterKellyandKornienkoreturntoEarthin2016,wewillnodoubt,
beonesmallstepclosertothehumanexplorationoftheRedPlanet.
GODSPEED........
Words: Cian O’Regan
Images: Wikipedia & NASA
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Binocular Astronomy, 2nd Edition
BinocularAstronomy,2ndEditiongoesfardeeperthansimilarbooksintothevaryingopticalcharacteris-
ticsofbinoculars,givingnewcomersandadvancedastronomerstheinformationneededtomakeinformed
choicesonpurchasingapair.Italsocoversrelevantaspectsofthephysiologyofbinocular(asin“botheyes”)
observation.Thefirsteditionofthisbookwaspraisedforitssuggestedobjectsforobservationandespe-
ciallyforthefinderchartsforeachobject.Inthissecondedition,thissectionisexpandedinthreeways.
Therearenewobjects,moreinformationoneachobject,andare-organizationoftheobjectsforbinocu-
larsforeasierselection.
BinocularAstronomy,2ndEditionputsanemphasisonunderstandingbinocularsandtheiruse.Theaddi-
tionalcontentreflectsthelatestdevelopmentsintechnology,newtestingtechniques,andpracticalideas
forbinocularuse.Italsorespondstothesubstantiallypositivereviewsofthefirstedition,andisnoweven
bettersuitedtoitstargetreadership.
ItisavailableinprintandKindleeditions.
Springer:http://www.springer.com/astronomy/popular+astronomy/book/978-1-4614-7466-1
AmazonUKPrint:http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1846283086/1944
AmazonUKKindle:http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00EITWQE2/1944
AmazonUSAPrint:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00EITWQE2/tonkinsastronomy
AmazonUSAKindle:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00EITWQE2/tonkinsastronomy
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Image Credit: Ant
Ryan
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Abstract.JohnWheelersuggestedthatinformationisfundamentaltophysics,resultingintheverynatureofwhatweobserve.However,anyinformationthatpassesbeyondaneventhorizonbecomesempiricallylost. What happens to it? Here, I explore the fundamentals of how infor-mationisexchangedinreality,howitchanges,andanypotentialforittobedestroyed.RemarkablytheFibonaccisequence,appearingsoofteninnature, is revealed from this voyage, bringing with it possible answers to Wheeler’squestion.
Wheeler’s 0’s and 1’s
John Wheeler suggested that everything we observe in the known Universe
(theit)islessfundamentalthantheinformationthatproducesit(thebit);bit
short for Binary Digit, in turn owing to the Binary code used to store informa-
tionincomputing.IaskcouldtheUniversehaveabase2systemwith0and
1atitsfoundation.
Wheeler was also known for popularising the term ‘Black Hole’, which is a
greatplaceforQuantumGravitytoemergeandinformationtohide.Isuggest
inthisessaythatthefoundationsforrealitybeginwithemergenceof0and
1dimensionalityatasingularityresultingintheUniverseweliveinandin
whichinformationisprocessed.
IT’S FIBONACCI’S BIT - SEEDING THE UNIVERSE WITH 0 AND 1
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Fibonacci’s 0 and 1’s
Bydefinition,thefirsttwonumbersintheFibonaccisequenceare0and1,andeachsubsequentnumber
is the sum of the previous two.
ThesequenceFnofFibonaccinumbersisdefinedbytherecurrencerelation:
Fn=Fn-1+Fn-2with seed values
F0 = 0, F1 = 1BoththeFibonaccisequenceandWheeler’sfoundationalquestionrelyupon0and1.DespiteWheeler’s
0and1beingmainlysymbolic,thebasicideaof0andsomethingasalternativeanswerstoyes/noques-
tionslendstoinformation.Likewise,Fibonaccibeginswithsomethingandnothing.
FibonaccinumbersoccurinmathematicsasthesumsofshallowdiagonalsinPascal’striangle,theycan
befoundindifferentwaysinthesequenceofbinarystrings,andarerelatedtotheGoldenratio.Every
secondFibonaccinumberisthelargestnumberinaPythagoreantriple.Allpositiveintegerscanbe
writtenasasumofFibonaccinumbers.Fibonaccisequencesappearinbiologicalsettings,intwoconsec-
utiveFibonaccinumbers,suchasbranchingintrees[1],arrangementofleavesonastem,thefruitletsof
apineapple[2],thefloweringofartichoke,anuncurlingfernandthearrangementofapinecone[3].The
Fibonaccinumbersarealsofoundinthefamilytreeofhoneybees[4].
Perhapsitisn’ttoomuchofaleapoffaithtoincludereality’srelationshipwithinformation,“ItfromBit”,
asanotherofFibonacci’sattributes.
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ThelinkbetweenFibonacciandWheelermayseemspeculativehoweverIwillshowalogicalrelationship
whichtheFibonaccisequencehaswithbothinformationandreality.
Athoughtexperiment:DescentintoaBlackHole(andbackout)
Interaction,observationandbeingobserved,iskeytoallofphysics,andinformationisattheheartofthis.
Normal4-dimensionalspace-timecomprises3spatialdimensionswhichallowthepassageofinforma-
tion,astimepasses,betweenseparatepointsinspace-time.Thatis,aparticle,forinstance,canobserve,
inwardlyreceivinginformation3-dimensionally,whileoutwardlyrevealinginformation3-dimensionally.
Usingthistrainofthought,ataBlackHole’seventhorizon,informationisnotsofreeinallspatialdirec-
tions–nopathwaysleadoutwards.Informationcanbereceived3-dimensionallyfromoutside,butno
informationfrominsidetheblackholecanbereceived.Likewiseattheeventhorizoninformationcan
be revealed 3-dimensionally towards the singularity, but nothing can be revealed outwards away from
theblackhole,becausenopathwayspointoutwards.Theonlydirectionwhereinformationcanbeboth
received and revealed is 2-dimensionally across this 2-dimensional horizon.
OnceinsidetheBlackHole,pathwaystendtowardsgreaterandgreaterspaghettification,beforethe
0-dimensionalspaceisreachedatthesingularity,atsomecriticalpoint,informationcanonlyberevealed
1-dimensionally.Finallyatthesingularityitself,informationcanonlybereceivedfromthatpoint
1-dimensionally.
Atthesingularityinformationcannotbereceivednorrevealedbecausethereare,bydefinition,0-dimen-
sionsofspaceatthatuniquepoint.Hence,wecanenvisageinformationhavingdiscreteandlimitedenvi-
ronmentsforitspassage.0and1emergeasdimensionalitiesconcernedwiththesingularityitself–quite
binary, and, as we know, the seed values for Fibonacci.
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Figure 1 shows that as we descend into a Black
Hole,different“altitudes”presentinforma-
tionwithuniqueprocessinglimitations,tothe
order,3,2,1,1,0dimensionsrespectively;this
matches the Fibonacci sequence.
Figure1.Howinformationisexchangedfollow-
ing the Fibonacci sequence when moving into
and “out” of a Black Hole.
WeknowthattheFibonaccisequencecontinues
past 0:
-3,2,-1,1,0,1,1,2,3[5]
At the singularity, knowing that no pathways
move outwards from anywhere beyond the
event horizon, we imagine what becomes of
anyattemptforinformationtoescape.Thisis
whereFibonaccireallyassistsinexplanation.
Thesequenceitselfallows-1+1=0,asimple
quantumfluctuationakintoavacuum.Iwould
suggestthatthisiswhatnakedsingularitiesdo.
In larger supermassive black holes with the
presence of an event horizon, this takes the
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sequencenearlyfullcircletohave2,-1,1,0,1,1,2,3dimensionalarenasforinformationtoexchange.
Theyareallunique,forexamplethepositivesequence2representstheeventhorizonwhenheading
intotheblackhole,thenegativesequence2,istheresultofbuildingneweventhorizon–conserving
dimensionalitywhenthesequencefollowsthroughtothispoint.Thefinalpart-3-dimensions,againcon-
servesdimensionalitybygivingtheUniverseoutsidetheBlackHoleinformation,confirmingthatabitof
3-dimensional space has fallen in, so the Universe gets -3 back out.
Entropy
TheUniverseseemstowantinformationtofallintoaBlackHole;entropyisperhapsthedrivingforcefor
this.
Asimplexisthesmallestconvexsetcontainingn+1vertexforn-dimensions,suchasa2-dimensionaltri-
anglecontaining3vertices.Ipositutilisingn+1toexploreentropy,asarepresentativeoftherespective
dimensionality’s order.
Ifweassignthen-dimensionaln-simplex,thenthenumberofverticesn+1increaseswith“decay”from
VFnVFn-1+VFn-2workingbackwardsthroughFibonacci’ssequence.Inotherwords,asinformation
falls into a Black Hole, its entropy increases more than the decrease in entropy for the outside Universe.
Table1showsanincreaseindisordermovingfromVFnVFn-1+VFn-2Thisisalwaysanincreaseof1for
thepositiveFibonaccisequence.HoweveronceFn=-1becomespartofthevertexresultthesimplerela-
tionshipislost.
Tocontinuetoachievethe+1decayresults,wemustreachastrangeconclusionthatdimensionswith
negativeFibonaccinumbersgiveasimplexvertexnumberof0,i.e.themeanofthepositiveandnegative
vertexnumbers.Ifweconsiderjustthenegativedimensionswithnegativevertexsimplexnumbers,
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wegetareductioninentropy,whichwe’dexpectmathematically.Thiswouldresultina-1change,orfall
in entropy.
Assumingpositivesimplexnumbersbasedonanaxiomthatdimensionscan’tbenegative,thenentropy
increasewouldbelarge.However,ifwetakethemeanofboththeseresults,weincreaseentropyby+1as
before.
Iwouldsuggestthatinrealterms,consideringnegativedimensionstoexistonlyasquantumfluctuations
ofasingularity(0-dimension),whichwouldthennaturallyfavourpositivedimensionalityasymmetrically,
producinganaturalarrowoftime.However,alltheseoutcomes,once0-dimensionalityisreached(and
exceeded)givethreestrangelydiversequantumlikeresults,suchas:
i) Thesingularitydoesnotreleaseinformationatall,becausecontinuingonFibonacci’ssequence
results in an entropy decrease.
ii) Thesingularitycanreleasethesameamountofinformationthatitreceives,asentropycontinues
to increase as previously.
iii) Thesingularityiscapableofreleasingvastamountsofinformation.ThiswouldoccuriftheBlack
Holewaslosingalotofmass,whichbringsustoHawkingRadiation.
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HawkingRadiation
Thepresenceof-1dimensionalityevokesthepossibilityofHawkingRadiation,wheretheBlackHolecan
losemassandaccordingtothisapproach,information.Forthenegativedimensionality,itisonlywhen
weconsiderboththepositiveandnegativesimplexvertexnumbersthatweachieveincreaseinentropy
consistentwiththatofthepositivepartofthesequence.DecayfromFn=0+1-1wouldseemingly
resultinannihilationbackto0,but+1alsohasthecapabilitytodecayto0+1.
Noticetherepeatingnatureofthe-1,1,0,1,1partofthesequence,whichallowsBlackHoleswithout
the2-dimensionaleventhorizon(nakedsingularities)toveryquicklylosemass.Theotherrouteinvolving
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2-dimensionalityretainstheself-replicating+1.LargerBlackHolesshouldloselessmass,asthereisless
chancetolose1andmaintain-1(HawkingRadiation)themore2-dimensionalityithas.
However,wheninformationescapesinthismanner,itshouldmeanthatitisconserved,albeitunrecogni-
sable from before it was massively altered inside the Black Hole.
Fn=2dimensionalityinthenegativesequencedecaystoFn=-3and5,butthesimplexvertexproduct
VFnincreasesfrom3to6(anatypicalincreaseof+3),notfollowingthesimple+1patternforthemean.The
lower result is an entropy decrease of 1, while the upper result would increase entropy by VFn = 7, result-
ing in loss of mass from the Black Hole. Hence, it seems decay onward to 5-dimensions isn’t favoured either
symmetricallyorasymmetrically,giving3-dimensionalityalimitinourrealityandininformationexchange.
Conclusion
Fibonacci,ItandBitappearequallyfundamental,asthesequencegivesinformationtorealityonhowinfor-
mationcanbeexchanged-asortof“chickenandegg”relationship.
Dimensionality number is conserved during “decay”, adhering to the reversal of the Fibonacci sequence,
whileshowinganincreaseinentropyvian-simplexvertexnumber.Thismeansthatinformationisalsocon-
served,butleftmuchlessordered,whenenteringaBlackHole.At0-dimensionsinformationcan’tbepro-
cessed.Butthesequence10,1reproduces1,sothatinformationisneverdestroyed.
Utilisingthisapproachtounderstandinformation’srelationshipwithrealityhasshownpotentialtohelpin
ourfurtherunderstandingoftheasymmetryoftime.
AnyinformationremaininginsidetheBlackholeisnotdestroyedandtheoriginaldimensionalityisalways
conservedbyfollowingtheFibonaccisequence;itmayjustbeinsomeinstancesthatitmaytakeaninfinite
amountoftimeforinformationtoescape.
Thissystemalsolendsitselftoaspatially3-dimensionalUniverseemergingfrom0-dimensionailty,because
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informationexchangeislimitedto0,1,1,and2-dimensionailtywithinaBlackHole,whichishiddenfromthe
3-dimensionality outside. In this respect Black Holes are analogies to the holographic principle in reverse.
References
[1]Douady,S;Couder,Y(1996),“PhyllotaxisasaDynamicalSelfOrganizingProcess”(PDF),Journalof
TheoreticalBiology178(178):255–74,doi:10.1006/jtbi.1996.0026
[2]Jones,Judy;Wilson,William(2006),“Science”,AnIncompleteEducation,BallantineBooks,p.544,ISBN
978-0-7394-7582-9
[3]Brousseau,A(1969),“FibonacciStatisticsinConifers”,FibonacciQuarterly(7):525–32
[4]TheFibonacciNumbersandtheAncestryofBees
[5]Knuth,Donald(2008-12-11),“NegafibonacciNumbersandtheHyperbolicPlane”
WORDS:ANTHONYRYAN
Science Fiction & Fact Writer. Atheist. Would be
Physicist; did wrong degree. Quantum Gravity.
Animal Loving. Vegetarian. Fan of #DrWho #GoT
et al.
UK · AntRya.nET
FOLLOW ANTHONY ON TWITTER
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F = maThisisperhapsthesecondmosticonicequationinphysics,afterE=mc2whichprettymucheveryonehas
heard of, this is the next most likely one you’ll have heard of.
It’s famously embodied as Newton’s second law. However it’s really not an obvious law at all.
Soletsstartbydefiningterms-wehave:
● F-theforce,basicallyyoucanthinkofthisashowhardyouhavetopushsomething.Thestandard
unit of force is the newton - appropriately enough.
● m-themass-massisatrickything,asitcansortofmeantwothings.Youcangetawaywiththinking
of it as the weight of something and whilst not precise, it will do for most everyday cases.
● a-acceleration-andthistellsyouhowquicklyyougetquicker(orslower),
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So-thisissayingthatforce,massandaccelerationareallintimatelyrelated.Anequationisabalance,
so if you add something to one side you have to balance it on the other side, or if there is more than one
thingonasideyoucantradeoneoffattheexpenseoftheother.
So lets say we have a mass of 1kg, around about a bag of sugar. What does this formula tell you about
things?Itsaysifyougiveitapush,itwillaccelerate.Ifitsstandingstillitwillstarttomove.Nowthisisall
well and good, but it doesn’t meet with our everyday experience.
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Place a bag of sugar on the table, and gently push it. The sugar starts to move, BUT crucially when you stop
pushing it, it generally stops moving. Now if F=ma is true, this shouldn’t happen. We should give it a push,
anditwillstarttoaccelerate,sayfrom0m/sto1m/sto2m/s.Ifwepushitharder,wemightgetitto3m/s,
butitwillstillstopinshortorder.
SothislooksmuchmorelikeF=mv-(visvelocity-orspeedineverydaylanguage)theharderyoupushsome-
thing the faster it goes, and it you keep pushing with the same force, it will keep going at the same speed.
Thatisn’twhatNewtonsaidthough,accordingtohimaquickpushwillsetsomethinginmotion,anditwill
movealonghappilyforeverafter.Infactthisishisfirstlaw,whichroughlytranslates(partially)assomething
at rest will stay at rest unless you give it a push.
Oureverydayexperienceiscloudedbyahiddenforce,theforceoffriction.Thisisaforcethatresistsmotion.
Itcanbefrictionbetweenabagofsugarandatable,awheelandtheroad,oranaircraftandtheair.All
theseacttoresistthemotion.Inaperfectvacuum,sayoutinspace,thisisallsomucheasiertosee.Give
anastronautapush,andhewillkeepmoving,whichisbothwonderfullyliberating(Iimagine)andapain
intheneckafterawhile.
Soanyway,ittookinsighttoseethatrealequationisF=maandnotF=mv,andtothendoexperimentswhere
frictionisfactoredouttoproveit.
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Givenwe’vegottheequation,wecanseelotsofthings.Inacar,ifyouwanttoplayfirstawayfromthetraffic
lights(whichisgettingbetteracceleration)youcandotwothings.Youcangiveitabiggerpush,withalarger
engine. Otherwise you can reduce the mass, make it out of lightweight materials. Of course, a bigger engine
isoftenheavier,soyougetmoreforce,butmoremass.Thisisevenmorecrucialinthingslikeaircraft,where
you’rewantingtocounteracttheforceofgravitytoo.
NowthisREALLYcomesintoitsownwhenyouconsiderarocket.Itstrueformostpoweredthings,buteven
more so for rockets. Most of a rockets weight is its fuel. However as the rocket launches it burns up its fuel.
Soassumingtheenginesgenerateaconstantthrust(force)thingsaregoingtochange.
Letsassumetherocket isgenerating1newtonof thrust,and
weighs one kg. We can work out how fast it will accelerate
F = m * a
1 = 1 * a
solve for a - well it has to be 1. So this rocket will accelerate at 1
m/s/s.However,ashorttimelater,itmayhaveburnt½akilogram
offuel.Sonowtherocketweight½akg.Sonowit’s
1=½*a
solvefora-itsnow2m/s/s.Whenit’sburned¾ofakilogramof
fuel, its now
1 = ¼ * a
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solvefora,andnowitsacceleratingat4m/s/s.Sothisiswhyit’scalledrocketscience!It’sacontinuingvari-
ableequation,whichneedscalculustosolveitfully.
However what’s true of a rocket is also true of anything that moves. So your car takes more force to move
when it’s full of petrol, or when it is full of passengers, or full of luggage, or even just yourself if you’ve put
on some pounds over Christmas.
Words: Julian Onions
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BBC Stargazing LIVE event
Our 2014 Stargazing LIVE event, which took place on January 11th 2014 at The Heath Business and Technical
Park,wasa12hourdayandeveningextravaganzaofstargazing!
TKO Ambassadors Jacqueline Lightfoot
and Emma Doward, the welcoming face
ofourevents,worktirelesslyatthefront
of house.
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Our‘AstronomyforEveryone’programmewasdesignedspecificallytoengagethelocalcommunityinHalton
andmoreparticularlyfamiliesandcompletebeginnerstogivethemtheopportunitytoexplore,investigate
andhaveagoatwhathasbecomeahugelypopularactivity.
Publicityandmarketing
It was, without doubt, challenging to deliver an event so early in January, with schools, businesses and the
general public focusing on Christmas. In the weeks leading up to the event many places were closed, just at
thetimewhenwewouldnormallybepromotingandmakingcontactwiththosewewishedtoengage.
We did have the advantage of the publicity generated by both being accepted as part of the BBC Stargazing
LIVE events around the country and the screening of the Stargazing LIVE shows, now hugely popular with the
general public.
WehittheshopstheweekendafterNewYearkindlysupportedbyKarlClawley,themanageroftheRuncorn
Shopping Centre and we spent 2 days with our telescopes, planisphere’s, books and our fabulous TKO Ambassadors
John Liggins and Emma Doward.
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The tremendous interest and excitement shown by the children and adults alike made it a very reward-
ing weekend. We lost count of the number of people who exclaimed that they had ‘bought a telescope
recentlyorhadoneintheloftbuthadnoideahowtouseit’or‘Ihavealwayswantedtoknowwhatto
look for, I would love to learn more’. All those that we spoke to expressed delight in having the oppor-
tunity to learn and to experience observing the sky with help from astronomers.
AndrewwasabletopromotethedayonhismonthlyAstronomyshowonHaltonCommunityRadio,a
showwithworldwidelisteners!Wehanddelivered500flyerstolocalschools,groups,libraries,shops
andbusinessesandagainworkedTwitterandFacebookhard,tospreadtheword.
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WehadalsoinvitedBrowniepacksfromRuncorntoattend,providingachancetogaintheirStargazingbadge.They
enthusiasticallytookuptheopportunityandawellorganisedcrowdof30inthemorningand25intheafternoon
livenedupourdayimmensely!
Dear Sue
Can you give our thanks to all those who were involved in organising and present-ing the event today. We took a group of 8 Brownies this morning and had a great time. It was both educational and fun. Everyone was so helpful and engaged with the Brownies really well. There were plenty of activities to do. We loved the planetarium particularly and covered so much of the stargazers badge work just at that one ‘experience’
Thank you again
Barn Owl with 7th Runcorn Brownies
On the day
Ourprogrammeforthedayincludedshortpresentationsof20–25minutesonsubjectschosenfortheirappealtoa
wideaudienceofadultsandchildren.Wewantedtoencourageasmanypeopleaspossibletoenjoythepresentations,
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nottobeintimidatedandfeelthattheywere‘highbrowandtooacademic’.
Just to say that I thought it was great to see so many families and individuals at the stargazing event
onSaturday.ConsideringthatthiswasthefirstsucheventinRuncorn,Ithoughttheturnoutwas
prettygood.
I was very happy to be able to support the event, and it goes without saying I’m more than happy
to support any future such events. Anything that helps to inspire & enthuse kids, and raise their life
opportunities&expectationsisagoodthing!Email-DrPaulSapple
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Thepresentations,givenbyourownAndrewDavies,AdeleHortonandNeilPhillipsonfrom
Astronomia, Dr Paul Sapple from the University of Liverpool and Gerard Gilligan from the
Liverpool Astronomical Society, were an overwhelming success. With a full house and groups
ofchildrensittingonthefloor,theonlymistakewemadewasunderestimatingthetimings
of each session. We had deliberately kept sessions short to maintain interest but neither pre-
sentersnoraudiencewantedtostopandbytheafternoonsessionswewereoverrunningby
anhour.Mindyouno-onewascomplaining!
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
In addition to the presentations we had an events hall full of activities.
Stacey Haberghan, Dr Jon Marchant
andtheteamfromtheNationalSchools
Observatory at Liverpool John Moores
and from the Ogden Trust, had a won-
derfularrayofactivitiesandhandson
science.With theMoonsaicactivity,
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
celebrity match-up quiz, Liverpool Telescope, other wavelengths, spectroscopes and lamps, plasma ball and
thescaleofthesolarsystemactivity.Adultsandchildrenwerefascinatedbythedisplaysandexperiments
and all delighted by the chance to have a go.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
MissMolyneuxandtheBalshawScienceAmbassadorsandEmperorscaptivatedchildrenandadultsalike,
withflyingteabags,edibleconstellations,strawrocketsandballoonkebabs,theirskillandpassionalwaysa
hugehitwiththeaudience!
The planetarium was so incredibly popular that Paul and Alan from STFC ran 11 full capacity sessions
from10.00amuntil8.30pm!Suchstaminaandpatienceandsomanydelightedvisitors!
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Our own amazing TKO ambassadors Jonathen and John were the perfect double act in our beginner’s corner.
Offeringhelp,adviceandanopportunitytohaveagowithawidevarietyoftelescopesandprovidinguseful
tipsandhintsandlessonsonusingaplanisphere,theyhadapermanentcrowdofattentivelearners.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Adele and Neil from Astronomia had a varied selec-
tionofbeginnertelescopesandbinocularsanda
superb range of books and astronomy resources.
There was plenty of sound advice for those seeking
tobuytheirfirsttelescopeandhelpforthosewho
werejuststartingtheirjourneyintothefascinating
world of astronomy.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Weweresoincrediblyluckythatbylunchtime,the
skies cleared and the sun shone so that Neil’s solar
observingpresentationwasdeliveredoutsidewith
the solar scope. So popular was the session that
Neil was press ganged into doing it all again later
intheafternoon!
paulatancock@paulatan1972Jan11
@KnowledgeObsHadagreatdaytoday,found
outlotsofinterestingfacts!Manythanks
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Our own Knowledge Observatory stand had
informationaboutourastronomycourseand
the family club we hoped to start. We spoke to
many people who were so keen to get going that
wemaynotbeabletodelaythestartuntilafter
Easter.Wehavemorethanenoughapplications
tostartatleastonelocalcourseafterEasterand
ahugelyenthusiasticgroupofpeopletobegina
family astronomy club. We are thrilled with such
interestandwillinvestigatepotentialvenuesfor
boththecourseandtheclubinacentralRuncorn
location.
Inaddition,wehadprovidedsomeofourastron-
omy teaching resources and material, quizzes,
wordsearch,puzzles,gamesandactivities.The
1000piecejigsawprovedtoodifficultforeven
the most accomplished puzzlers so we shall
investinafewlesscomplexoptionsforthenext
event!
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
In the evening
Wehadkepttheeveningsessionflexiblewithpresentationsandactivitiesonhandshouldtheweathernot
be kind enough to allow night sky observing. Incredibly, the sky stayed clear through the whole evening
and the quadrangle provided an excellent place to set up all the telescopes and we were delighted with
theminimallightpollutiondespitebeingintown.
We had asked visitors to bring their own telescopes and our team helped to set them up and provided
adviceandassistanceingettingthebestoutofthem.Iwasexhilaratingtohearthe‘Oohs’and‘Aahs’as
manyvisitorswereabletoseeJupiterthroughtheirowntelescopesfortheveryfirsttime.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Liveobservingwithagroupoffascinatedbeginnersisfantasticallyrewarding.Thequestionscomethickand
fastanddespitehavingadvertisedfinishingat10.00pmthescopeswerestilluplongafter11.00pm!Wewere
joinedbytwolocalPoliceofficers,nowconvertstoastronomyandwhohavesignedupforanewlocalclub!
We had over 350 local people through the door
and the feedback has been staggering. We
have,withoutdoubt,hadasignificantimpact
on the uptake of astronomy in our community.
And the good news?
‘We are doing it all again on Saturday the 8th
MarchforNationalAstronomyWeek’
‘Just wanted to say a huge thank you for today’s
event, it was absolutely brilliant from start to
finish. My family and I learned a lot (the pre-
sentations were fantastic - please pass on our
thanks to the other speakers), and seeing the
bands on Jupiter through one of the tele-
scopes was just wonderful! We got home and
have spent the last hour or so wrapped up in
the garden checking out Jupiter’s moons, the
Orion nebula, the Seven Sisters cluster, and the
Moon with our 15x70 binoculars... I think we
may be adding a telescope fairly soon! Thanks
again for an inspiring day.’ (email Michaela)
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Comet Ison’s Demise.The Comet Ison fever reined right up to its torn demise on the morning of November 28th 2013. I
imaged the Sun’s Orb breaking the horizon over the sea surf at the volcanic Island of Fuerteventura
NorthcoastofCorralejo.MyeffortstocaptureanimageoraglimpseofcometIsonsurvivaland
patharoundtheSunwasnottobe.TheSun’sgravitationalforcesandpullprovedtoomuchfor
Ison to defy and hold together to give us the comet of the century.
We can only wait for another comet to encoun-
ter our domain and give us a chance of viewing
an awesome spectacle in the future.
SherwoodObservatoryNottinghamshire.
Images taken in prder from the top
07:29:52
07:30:00
07:30:28
Words & Images:
Michael Knowles.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Origin of Life on EarthLife is: “A self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution”
– Gerald Joyce, NASA scientist, 1994
Therearethreepossibilitieswithregardstotheoriginoflife:
1. Life arose from non-life through natural processes on Earth
2. Life arose elsewhere in the Universe and was transported to earth
3. LifearoseonEarththroughsupernaturalintervention
Thisarticleexploresthepossibilityandevidenceforthetantalizingideathatlifearoseandevolvedfromnon-
life and through natural processes.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Building blocks of life:
The most basic building block of life is a chemical element. There
are 6 elements which play a central role in the fundamental struc-
ture of all life on Earth. These are Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen,
Oxygen, Phosphorus and Sulphur.
Elements come together to form molecules wherein the atoms are
held together by chemical bonds. Carbon element is considered
as the back bone of all life on earth as it can easily bind with other
atoms to form molecules. This is why we are called carbon based
life. Some examples of molecules are amino acids and sugars.
Whensimplermoleculesattachtoeachothertoformlongchains,
more complex molecules are formed. Amino acids form proteins
while nucleic acids form DNA.
All life on earth is made up of cells. These are microscopic struc-
tureswhichallowforchemicalreactionsbetweenmoleculesto
occurforthefunctioningoflife.
ImageSource:http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/jamieprouty/502/
webquest/intro.html
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Therearethreemajorfunctionalpartsinacell:
1. Energy system - This consists of proteins which provide energy
throughmolecularchemicalreactionstoperformfunctionsoflife.
2. InformationSystem(DNA)-This isthegeneticcodewhich
allowscellstogrowandtoreproduce.Thisinformationistransferred
fromonegenerationtothenext.
3. Membrane-Amembraneenclosesallthechemicalreactions
of molecules within a cell. It is made from structures called lipids.
Requirementforlifetoarise:
1. Rawmaterialforlife–Elements
Theelementshydrogenandheliumwereformedatthetimeofthe
Big Bang, when the universe was created. All heavier elements are
created inside the core of massive stars through the process of nuclear
fusion. When these stars die in a supernova, they seed clouds of gas
and dust with these heavier elements, which in turn collapse to form
new stars and planets.
2. Water
For simple molecules to come together to form more complex mol-
ecules, we need a liquid to help them move around, such as water.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
3. Energy source
Life needs an energy source for metabolism.
The story of Origin of life
Study of zircon grains in Western Australia suggests
that water was present as early as 4.4 billion years
back on Earth.
The story of Origin of life
Study of zircon grains in Western Australia suggests
that water was present as early as 4.4 billion years
back on Earth.
Amino Acids to form Proteins:
There are three possible sources for organic molecules
such as amino acids:
1. Urey-MillerExperiment–Thishasbeenoneof
the earliest experiments conducted to test the idea
that sun-lightdriven chemical reactionsonprimi-
tiveEarthmighthaveproducedthebuildingblocks
oflife.Intheexperimentaflaskofwaterwasheated
to produce water vapour. The water vapour was then
passedthroughanotherflaskwhichcontainedgases
Urey-MillerExperiment–
Image Source
http://digitaljournal.com/image/43968
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
tosimulatetheprimitiveatmosphereofEarth.Electric
sparks were provided across the chamber to provide
energyforthechemicalreactions.Afteraboutaweek
of this experiment, it was found that amino acids and
organic molecules had formed in the container.
2. PolycyclicAromaticHydrocarbons(PAHs)–These
molecules are found in interstellar medium, in comets
and in meteorites and could be the basis of the earliest
form of life on Earth.
3. Comets/ Meteorites – Murchison meteorite
which fell in Australia in 1969 has been found to be rich
in organic molecules. Over 14,000 molecular compounds
and 70 amino acids have been found in the meteorite.
It is possible that these building blocks of life arose on
some other parent body and were transported to Earth
from elsewhere
Murchison meteoriteImage Source:http://en.wik ipedia .o r g / w i k i /Murchison_meteorite
NucleicAcidstoformDNA/RNA:AmoreprimitiveformofDNA(Dioxyribonucleicacid)istheRNA(Ribonucleicacid).RNAcanselfassemble
intoribozymeswhichcancarryoutchemicalreactionsincludingselfreplication.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
AmoreprimitiveformofDNA(Dioxyribonucleicacid)istheRNA(Ribonucleicacid).RNAcanselfassemble
intoribozymeswhichcancarryoutchemicalreactionsincludingselfreplication.
RNA as a predecessor to DNA.
Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Difference_DNA_RNA-EN.svg
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
RNAismuchsimplertomanufacturethanDNAasitonlyhas
asinglestrand.Itispossiblethatthefirstlifeonearthwas
RNAbasedwhichlaterevolvedintoDNAbasedlife.Whatwe
wouldliketoknowishowthefirstself-replicatingstrandsof
RNAcameabout.
Experiments show that several silicate minerals can act as cat-
alysts to enable complex, organic material to self assemble.
Theseinorganicmoleculeshaveaparticularmineralstructure
andtheoldestzircongrainsconfirmthatthesewereabun-
dantly available on Earth about 4.4 bn years back. Moreover,
these silicate minerals contain layers of molecules to which
organicmoleculescaneasilyattachto.Whenorganicmole-
culesattachtothemineralsurfaceinthisway,theycanbe
forced into such close proximity that they react with each
other to form long chains of molecules.
Laboratoryexperimentshaveconfirmedthatnaturalpro-
cessessuchasthiscaneasilymanufacturestrandsofRNAup
toafewdozenbasesinlength.Scientistshavediscoveredan
RNAstrandonly5baseslongwhichcanactasaribozyme.
In this way it is possible that simple ribozymes could have
been formed, which then acted as a catalyst for forming more
complexself–replicatingRNAmolecules.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
MembranesFormoleculessuchasaminoacidsandnucleicacidstoformproteinsandDNArespectively,itwasrequiredfor
themoleculestobeconcentratedtogetherforextendedperiodsoftimeandalsotobeprotectedbyharmful
ultravioletradiationfromtheSun.
Someofthepossiblelocationswheremoleculescouldhavebeenconcentratedforchemicalreactionstotake
place are deep sea vents, impact craters, beaches, and volcanic hot springs.
ButevenifwehavethesimplemoleculescomingtogethertoformproteinsandDNA/RNA,westillneeda
structuretoholdthesemoleculestogethertoenablechemicalreactions.Elsethemoleculeswilljustdissipate
The third important structure of a cell is a membrane.
This is formed by lipids. Lipids have a head and a tail
structure.Theheadisattractedtowaterwhereasthe
tail is repulsed by water. When lipids are put in water,
they spontaneously form an enclosed membrane, trap-
ping organic molecules within it to facilitate chemical
reactions
Image: Lipids forming Cell Membranes
Source: http://www.autismcoach.com/product_p/
ar-001.htm
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Lipidshaveamazingproperties.Theycanselectivelyallowcertainmoleculestopassthroughthem.Theycan
also store energy in the form of electrical voltages across their surfaces which can be discharged to facilitate
reactionsinsidethem.Insomecasestheycangrowsobiginsizethattheybecomeunstableandsplit into
smaller spheres.
Thisishowthefirstcrudeproto-cellscouldhavebeenformedonEarthwithsimplestrandsofRNAbeing
trapped within a lipid pre-cell.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
ProtocellwithsmallRNAstrandstrappedinsideamembrane.
ImageSource:http://universe-review.ca/F11-monocell.htm
Severalproto-cellsofvariousmolecularchemicalcombinationscouldhavebeen
formed.Evolutionensuredthattheoneswhichadaptedbesttotheirenviron-
ment replicated faster while others perished. The ones which survived eventu-
ally evolved into DNA based life.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Evidence: In order to reconstruct the story of the origin of life we study the geological records
ofEarth.However,norocksfromthefirsthalfbillionyearsafterearth’sformation
have survived. What we know comes from limited geological clues and laboratory
experiments.
Three lines of fossil evidence suggest that life arose quite early on earth, earlier
than 3.5 billion years back.
1. Stromatolites–Thesearerockswhichhaveadistinctstructuredlayer.They
are formed in shallow waters by the trapping and binding of sedimentary grains
by mats of microorganisms. The oldest stromatolites which imply fossil remnants
of early life are about 3.5 billion years old. However, this line of evidence has been
undersomecontroversyasgeologicalprocessesofsedimentationcanalsomimic
their layering.
Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
2. Microfossils
MicrofossilsfromtheApexChert,arockformationinAustraliahavinganageof3.5bnyrs
Source:http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/2005/02/seeking-lifes-earthly-cradle
Morerigoroustestsneedtobeperformedonmicrofossilsbeforeanydefinitiveconclusionismadetowards
evidenceofearlylifeonearthasmentionedinarticlebelow.
Articlelink:http://phys.org/news/2011-03-overturns-oldest-evidence-life-earth.html
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
3. ChemicalSignature/IsotopesTherearetwocommonlyoccurringcarbonisotopes–carbon-12andcarbon-13.Lifepreferstousethelighterisotopeof
carbonwhichiscarbon-12.Inorganiccarbonsamplealwayscontainsasmallproportionofcarbon-13.
OnanislandoffthecoastofGreenland,rocksabout3.8bnyearsoldwithlowercarbon-13isotopehavebeenfoundsug-
gestingabiologicalorigin.Howevertheserockshavebeensubjectedtohighpressureandheat.Sothislineofevidence
alone is not conclusive.
While each line of evidence individually is subject to controversy, all three put together give us important clues about the
origin of life on earth.
References:
1. AstrobiologycourseonCoursea.org(https://www.coursera.org/course/astrobio)
2. Book:LifeintheUniversebyJ.Bennett,S.Shostak(http://www.amazon.com/Life-Universe-Edition-Jeffrey-Bennett/
dp/0321687671)
WORDS: HENNA KHAN
Mumbai, India
Owner at Universe Simplified - [email protected] -http://www.universesimplified.com/
Astronomy/ Science Educator, Skeptic, Travel Freak, Proponent of Disrupt Education
58
I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4 IMAGE: ORION BY MARY SPICER
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CLIMATE CHANGE?
Image: NASA
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
Climate Change - A Global Catastrophe or a Figment of our Imagination?
Climate change is a natural phenomena. Like many pro-
cesses on Earth it is cyclical. It has been occurring for
millionsofyearsandwillcontinuetodosoformillions
more.HurrahIheartheskepticscryout.Finallyascien-
tificpiecesupportingourpositionpublicly.Butholdon,
Donald Trump shouldn’t crack open his champagne just
yet.
The debates surrounding climate change are based
around whether or not we are having an impact on the
climate and whether or not we should act. Most skep-
ticsagreethatclimatechange ishappening,however
they argue that it is purely natural and our lifestyles have
had no impact on global warming or our climate whatso-
ever. Supporters however, argue that, although a naturally
occurringprocess,ourCO2emissionsaredramatically
increasing the rate at which global warming is occurring.
Theypointtorisingoceantemperatures,meltingicecaps,
andincreasinglyirraticweatherpatternsasevidence-all
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
ofwhichskepticsdenyasconcreteandargueinconclusiveresultswhichcanbeinterpretedinanynumber
of ways. Unfortunately for them however, this just isn’t the case. In 1988 an Intergovernmental Panel on
ClimateChange(IPCC)wasestablishedwiththeaimofindependentlyreviewingallevidencepertainingto
climatechangeinordertoadviseonwhataction,ifany,wasneeded.Sowheredotheystand?Well,they
haveconcludedwithgreaterthan90%probabilitythatmostoftheobservedwarmingsincethemid-20th
Centuryisduetohumanactivity.Theirprojectionssuggestthatwarmingoverthe21stCenturywasata
more rapid rate than at any point over at least the last 10,000 years.
SoifitisobvioustoScientiststhatsomethingishappeningasaresultofhumanactivity,whyisthereeven
needforadebate?Iftheevidenceissoclear,howcantherebeskeptics?Theanswertothatofcourseis
simpleenough...Money!
It would be very cynical of me to point out that the majority of the argument against climate change comes
frommulti-billiondollarglobalcorporationshellbentonprofiteeringatanycost,butcouldthatberight?
Couldtheseskepticsbefightingapropagandawartokeeptheirbankaccountshealthyatthecostofthe
natural world?
In its simplest form, the debate on climate change can be summarised as follows:-
• Therearetwopossiblescenarios,eitherouractionsareincreasingglobalwarmingandwreaking
havoconourclimate,orwearehavingnoadditionalimpact.Thismeansthatglobalwarmingiseithertrue,
or it is false.
• For each scenario there are two out outcomes. Either we act, or we don’t act on climate change.
The table below outlines the consequences of each outcome in each scenario in order to highlight what I
believe to be the fundamental reasoning behind the need for a debate on climate change.
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I C Y S C I E N C E | Q T R 1 2 0 1 4
TRUE FALSE
ACT Cost outweighed by benefit
Life carries on
Cost - global depression, soc ia l/economic/pol it ica l systems all fail
DON’T ACT Global Catastrophe - sea level rises, temperature rises, atmospheric changes, pollu-tion, breakdown of economy etc.
Life carries on
As you can see, the consequences of making the wrong decision could be catastrophic. If we don’t act and
our theories are correct, it could be the end of life as we know it. However, if we act when there was no
needwecouldtriggerrecessiononanunprecedentedscalewithglobalramifications.
Obviouslythere’severychancewecouldmakethecorrectdecision,butclearlyforsome,thefinancialcost
ofgettingitwrongisjusttoohighapricetopayforthecontinuedfutureofhumanity.
WORDS:DANLUCUS
DanisaregularwriteronICyScience,youcanfindDanonTwitter@dan__lucas
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nternationalSpaceStationastronautAndreKuiperscapturedspectacularaurorablazingoverAntarctica
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nternationalSpaceStationastronautAndreKuiperscapturedspectacularaurorablazingoverAntarctica
AntarcticaAntarcticaistheearth’smostsoutherlycontinent. It isacold,
windy and a dry wilderness. Despite its remote and challenging
conditionslifehasevolvedhere.Theregionisafundamentalpart
of our planets climate and eco system.
Antarcticahassomeofthebiggestseasonalchangesontheplanet.
The coastal regions in summer can hover around freezing while
the interior can drop to -20 ° C. Limited plant life will grow during
thesummermonths;howeverwinterbringsharshbittercold.
The coldest surface temperatures have been recorded here with
a staggering -89.2 ° C.
So how does Antarctica differ from the Arctic?
Thearcticismostlyfrozenseasurroundedbylandit isasemi
enclosedsea.Antarcticaislandsurroundedbysea.
ArcticAntarctica
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WildlifeThere isquiteadiverse selectionofwild-
life.Limitedbutstillabletogrowareafew
planets,whichsomeflower.Themostwell
known wildlife is of course the Penguin. The
penguin is one of the few creatures that can
live, breed and survive the cold harsh condi-
tions.Therearethreespeciesofbirdsthat
breed in theAntarctic.Otherwildlife that
make their home here or at least for some
part of the year include, whales, Colossal
Squids, fur seals,
Otherorganisms that live in theAntarctic
region are fungi, mosses, liverworts, algae,
bacteria and phytoplankton.
Climate& Temperature
Summer: The summer months are December
toFeb/March,therearetemperaturevari-
ations across the continent, generally on
coastal areas the temperatures are around
freezingandcansometimesbepositive.The
interiorhoweverismuchcolder;thisisdue
Above: Image from http://www.asoc.org/issues-and-advocacy/antarctic-wildlife-conservation
Below: Orca (Killer Whales)
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to itselevation,higher latitudeanddistancefrom
the sea. Temperatures in the interior never really get
above -20 °C.
Winter: Coastal regions can range between -10 and
-30°C,theseaaroundthecontinentfreezesadding
and increased land mass. The interior can fall below
-60 °C, with the coldest temperature recorded at the
RussianstationVostokin1983at-89.2°C.
Antarcticahasjusttwoseasons.BecausetheEarth
inspaceistiltedwhichneverchanges,duringthe
summertheAntarcticisbathedinsunlight,however
in winter the reverse happens and it is in constant
darkness.
DidyouknowAntarcticaisadesert?
Despiteitsbrightwhiteappearancethereisverylittle
snowfallinAntarctica.Whatsnowhasfallenbecomes
layered and forms ice sheets.
Snow mainly falls in the coastal regions with limited
snow in the interior However in recent years snow fall
has increased and this can be down to global warming
of the planet.
Aurora australis lights up the winter sky at the South Pole Station, Antarctica.
Image Source: http://icestories.explor-atorium.edu/dispatches/
Below: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/fea-tures/contenthandler.cfm?id=2504
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WindsAntarcticawindscanbemoderatehowevergales
and hurricane winds do happen, the winds distrib-
uteanysnowfallwhichoveraperiodoftimeadds
to the ice sheets.
Sea IceThe sea ice plays an important role in the global
climate system and eco system. Sea ice is seasonal
and occurs mostly during the cold dark winter
season,theicesignificantlyexpandstheareasland
mass.BoththearcticandAntarcticseaicedrives
theverticaloceancirculationsystem,whichredis-
tributes heat between the equator and the poles.
This movement carries nutrients around the seas
and oceans.
Sea ice modulates exchanges of heat, moisture and
gases between the atmosphere and the ocean.
The ice itself is less salty than the sea water, salt
or brine creates tubes in the underside of the ice,
thebrinefiltersdownintothesea,thesaltwater
sinkscreatingacirculation.Algaegrowinthebrine
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tubes. Krill feed
Climate Change Recentlya researchshipgotstuck in the
Antarcticseaice,despitereportsthatthick
ice formed around the ship this is actually
untrue. The ship got stuck in area where
thefloatingseaicewasmoredenselypop-
ulated;thismadeitmoredifficultforthe
ship to navigate through.
Climate and climate change, are complex in
Antarctica,geologicallytheregionhastwo
distinctiveregions,EastAntarcticaandwest
Antarctica.SeparatedbytheTransAntarctic
Mountains but connected by the vast ice
sheet. The vast expanse makes climate
changelessuniformthanthatoftheArctic,
whereclimatechangeeffectscanbeseen
moredramatically.Theinterior icesheets
and glaciers over the past decades have
shownsignificanticeloss,thisismainlyin
westAntarctic.HoweverintheRossSeaarea
therehasbeenincreasedseaice.TheRoss
seeissituatedinWestAntarcticaborder-
ingtheTransAntarcticMountains.Possible
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causescouldbethemeltingicesheets;freshwaterflowingintotheseaareaisdilutingthesaltyseawater,
whenseaicefreezesthesaltisrejectedintheformofbrine.Bydilutingtheseawateritraisesthefreezingtem-
perature.Aswenowwaternonsaltywaterfreezesat0°whilesaltywaterstartstofreezeat-1.9°C.(NOAA)
IncreasedsnowfallhasbeenrecordedinAntarcticaespeciallyinEastAntarctica.Snowfalliscontributedby
warmertemperatures,increasedairhumiditycausesprecipitationandifconditionsandtemperaturesareright,
we have snowfall.
Below Image of a formed Brine Tube, formed in the sea ice.
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MyFavoriteMotionsI’manobserverofEarth’sorbit,myfavoritemotion.Idothisbyobservingwherethesunandmoonrise
andsetthroughouttheyear,whetherthehornsofacrescentmoontilthighorlow,orhowhightheeclip-
ticis.Trackingthesemotionshaspaidoffatleasttwice:Onceitmademerealizethatapartiallunareclipse
would peak while the moon sets behind a high ridgeline I live under, and at 4:40 am the following morning,
I took this picture from my yard:
Perhaps I guessed and got lucky.
Regardless,understandingEarth’sorbit
offersuseful tools of prediction,but
moreimportant(thesecondpayoff),it
pulled me into studying climate science.
Understanding Earth’s orbit is as much
a subject for climatologists as it is for
astronomers.Inastronomy,detections
of exoplanets, for example, must be cor-
rectedforEarth’smotion.Inclimatology,
past climate change must be interpreted with regard to Earth’s changing orbit. The orbit parameters of interest
aretilt,eccentricity,andprecession.Duetotugsfromthesun,moon,andotherplanets,theseparameterschange
onscalesofthousandsofyears,comparableinscaletomajorshiftsinEarth’sclimate.
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Figure1:Orbitalparamterstilt,
eccentricity, and precession
(Nottoscale).
Changes to Earth’s orbit alter
thedistributionofsunlightbetweenthenorthernandsouthernhemispheres.Understandingtheeffectof
subtleshiftsinthisenergydistributiongivescluestohowsensitiveEarth’sclimateistosmall,gradualchanges.
Tilt is easy for anyone to observe, as it is primary driver of seasons and of the changes of the sun and moon.
Forclimate,thedegreeoftiltdetermineshowextremethedifferencebetweenseasonscanbe.Forexample,
inFigure2,thetwoworldsmayhavethesamesunandthesameorbit,butwouldhavedrasticallydifferent
seasonsbecauseofthedifferencesintilt:
Figure:Right-EarthtodaywithahypotheticalEarthhavinga90degreetilt(nottoscale)
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Suchadifferenceinseasoncouldalsoresultindras-
ticallydifferentglobalclimates,whereoneishabit-
able by humans and the other isn’t.
Eccentricity is less obvious to the casual observer but
easy to observe with a telescope suitable for solar
observations(thatis,hasapropersolarfilter).Ifyou
observe the sun in January, it will appear larger than
thesameobservationinJuly(seeFigure3).
Whiletiltandeccentricityarediscernablefromshort-
termobservations,precession requires long term
Figure 2 Above : Earth today with a hypothetical Earth having a 90 degree tilt (not to scale)
Figure 3: Apparent difference in the size of the sun at aphelion and perihelion (orbit is not to scale)
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observations.Astronomers knowprecessionas the
changeinorientationoftheEarth’srotationalaxis.It
makes our star charts go out of date every 25 years
andhasmovedboundariesoftheconstellationssothat
theynolongerfollowthecurrentlinesofdeclination
and right ascension.
I’veobserveddiscrepanciesinthecycleattributedto
precession, and so I speculate their is common confu-
sion over the concept. This is not surprising, for “pre-
cession”hasdifferentmeaningsdependingonwhether
one is an astronomer or a climatologist. When people
say precession occurs on a cycle of 26,000 years, they
probablymeanastronomicalprocession;iftheysaya
cycle of 19,000 to 23,000, then they’re probably refer-
ingtoclimaticprecession.
Sowhatisprecession?Itisthecounter-motionyouget
whenyoutrytochangetherotationalaxisofagyro-
scope. Earth is the gyroscope whose axis currently
points toward Polaris. Earth’s equator is the wheel of
thegyroscope.Thegravitationaltugsofthesunand
moon are trying to pull the equator into line with their
orbits. As a result, Earth’s pole follows a circular path
thatrepeatsroughlyevery26,000years(seeFigure4).
Whereas astronomical precession is Earth’s moving axis
ofrotation,climaticprecessioncombinesthemoving
Figure 4: Precession of Earth’s rotational axis (not to scale)
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axis with the changing eccentricity of Earth’s orbit.
As shown in Figure 5, Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, not a true circle, and so the amount of solar energy Earth
receives varies throughout the year.
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Currently, Earth’s perihelion occurs near the northern hemisphere’s winter and the southern hemisphere’s
summer.Thus,thesouthernhemisphereinsummergetsalittlemoresolarenergythanthenorthernhemi-
spheregetsinitssummerandthereversehappensinWinter.Northernhemispherewintersgetalittlemore
solarenergythansouthernhemispherewinters.Notethatthepointsofsolsticearedeterminedbythe
directionofthetilt,andperihelionandaphelionaredeterminedbyeccentricity.Thesolsticesdonothave
to occur near perihelion and aphelion.
Now,considerprecession.PrecessiondeterminestheplacementofseasonsinrelationtoEarth’sorbit.Figure
6showstheseasonsasquartersectionsofEarth’sorbit:
Figure6:Earth’sseasonsshownasa4-colorring(nottoscale)
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Thesolstice is thepointwereEarth’saxispoints
toward or away from the sun (toward or away
dependingonwhichhemisphereyou’rein).Nowif
thisdirectionoftiltchanges(precesses),thepoints
ofsolsticeandequinoxmoveasshowninFirgure7:
Figure7Right:Precessionmovessolsticesandequi-
noxes clockwise.
Asthesolsticesandequinoxesmarktheseasons,the
seasonsmove,rotatingclockwise.Figure8shows
theseasons,equinoxes,andsolsticesrotatedclock-
wise. Imagine precession as all of these orbit ele-
mentsrotatingclockwise,foracompleteloopevery
26,000 years.
Figure 8: Seasons shown as a 4-color ring moving clockwise with precession
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Nowifclimaticprecessionconsideredthemovementoftheaxisonly,earth’ssolsticeswouldrealignwith
Earth’ssemimajoraxisevery26,000years.However,thisdoesn’thappenbecausetheorientationofthe
semimajoraxisisalsomoving,butincounterclockwisedirection.Gravitationaltugsfromotherplanets,pri-
marilyJupiter,changethedegreeofeccentricityandrotatethesemimajoraxis.Giventime,theseopposite
motionsmoveaphelionfromthesouthernhemisphere’ssummertothenorthernhemisphere’ssummer
and back again at cycles that vary from 19,000 to 23,000 years.
Figure9:Seasonsmovingclockwisewithsemimajoraxismovingcounter-clockwiseinduceaclimaticpre-
cession cylee that varies between 19,000 and 23,000 years.
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Thisisisclimaticprecession,anditislinkedtomajorshiftsinEarth’sclimatefromglacialtowarminterglacial
states. An area of intense study is understanding how this happened to the Eemian period 125,000 years ago,
andhowittriggeredthemostrecentdeglaciationstartingabout21,000yearsago.
And this only scratches a surface of this topic. The forces changing the orbit do vary, and that’s why preces-
sionvariesfrom19-23,000years.Itwouldtakesophisticatedcalculationsbeyondmyabilitiestodescribethe
exactmotions,butitisnotdifficulttoappreciatetheeffectandunderstandhowthedatacanbeusedinpub-
lished climate science.
Effortstolinkorbitandclimatehavealonghistory.Inthe1840s,JosephAdhemarproposedthattheice-sheet
inAntarcticacouldbelinkedtothesouthernhemispherewinteroccurringataphelion:a“smaller”sunresult-
ing in less sunlight which could sustain colder temperatures.
Inthe1870s,JamesCrollofferedanalternativehypothesis:BecauseEarthtravelsmoreslowlyasitapproaches
aphelion, the southern winter was longer by 8 days than the northern winter, thus the southern hemisphere
spendsmoretimefartherfromthesun.
Inthe1930s,MilutinMilankovitchturnedtheideaaroundbysuggestingthatorbitalparameterscreatingcool
summersandwarmwintersathighnorthernlatitudesmayexplaintheriseandfalloficesheets.Thistheoryis
currentlyheldbyclimatologists.Butthesolarenergychangesandthetimingofthesechangesisasmallpartof
theclimatepicture.Theseenergychangesalonearenotenoughtoexplaintheshiftsinclimateoverthepast
millionyears.Calculatingorbitalchangesgivesclimatologistsanestimateofhowmuchenergywasintheorig-
inalpush,buttherestofthemomentumcamefromEarthitself.Changingthedistributionofsunlightchanges
thedistributionoficesheets,whichcandisturbthemotionofoceancurrents,whichcanaltertheamountof
CO2theoceansabsorb,whichcanleadtoincreasesinatmosphericCO2,whichinturnmagnifytheinitialpush.
TheEarth’sresponsestotheinitialpushisgreatlysimplifiedhere.Fullcoverageisanon-goingtopicinseveral
professionaljournals,whereclimatologistsaddressnumerousquestionsyettobeanswered,suchaswhy
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some interglacials vary in dura-
tion,whysomearewarmerthan
others, and why orbital changes
sometimesfailtotriggerglobal
climate change. Though there are
questions,therearealsoenough
answers to know how Earth
can react to a change in energy,
whether that change is from orbit
or CO2. I invite anyone interested
in Earth’s orbit to discover what
this topic shares with climate
science,tobetterunderstandthe
basis for climate forecasts, and to
betterevaluatethenecessitypol-
iciesneededtoanticipatethese
forecasts.
Some recom-mended links from Skeptical
Science on climate science history and orbit:
History of Climate Science: www.skepticalscience.com/history-cli-mate-science.html
History of Climate Science – Interactive Timeline: www.skepticalscience.com/cshistory.php
Milankovitch Cycles: www.Milankovitch.html
The Last Interglacial (first of a 5-part series): www.skepticalscience.com/LIG1-0706.html
WORDS & IMAGES JOHN GARRETT
John Garrett is an illustrator who draws for Skeptical Science www.SkepticalScience.com and promotes astronomy through the Temecula Valley Astronomers
(www.temeculavalleyastronomers.com).
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Mars Exploration RoverOpportunity Celebrates 10 Years Working on Mars
By:NicoleWillett,EducationDirector,
The Mars Society
With all of the hype surrounding the Mars
ScienceLaboratory(MSL)Curiosity,itiseasy
forthepublictoforgettheMarsExploration
Rovers(MER)SpiritandOpportunity.The
twin rovers were each launched by a Delta
II Heavy Lifter rocket in the summer of
2003.TheOpportunityRoverlandedusing
the airbag method in Meridiani Planum
onJanuary25,2004threeweeksafterthe
SpiritRoverlanded.Thisveryindustrious
rover was planned for only a 90 day surface
missionandhasnowgone39timespastits
planned mission. On January 25, 2014 the
Opportunity rover completed 10 full Earth
years on Mars. The two rovers have made
many wonderful discoveries and they paved
the way for Curiosity. Each rover has a dis-
tinctpersonalityandeachhaveencountered
theirownchallenges.SadlyfortheMERteam,althoughSpirit
also far exceeded its mission, the last contact with Spirit was
in 2010. In honor of Opportunity and her twin, Spirit, a new
museumexhibithasopenedattheSmithsonianInstitution.
Huge wall size panoramas of Mars give visitors a sense that they
are on the surface of the planet. The exhibit also has a full scale
model of the rover as its centerpiece. The name of the exhibit
is“SpiritandOpportunity:10YearsRovingAcrossMars”The
museumofficialsstatedthatthepurposeoftheexhibit isto
combineartandscienceinamultimediaexperiencethatvisi-
torswillbeimmersedin.(Space.com)
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Ten years ago Opportunity bounced to a stop and landed in Eagle Crater. The landing site was named Challenger Memorial
StadiuminhonoroftheastronautswhoperishedintheSpaceShuttleChallengerdisasterin1986.EagleCraterisasmall
craterwithalayeredoutcroppingofgeologicalfeatures.Thiswasaserendipitousplaceforalanding,somestatingitas
an astronomical “hole-in-one”.
In keeping with NASA’s “follow the water” goal on Mars, the JPL website states the following:
“UnderstandingthehistoryofwateronMarsisimportanttomeetingthefoursciencegoalsofNASA’slong-termMars
ExplorationProgram:
• Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars
• Characterize the Climate of Mars
• Characterize the Geology of Mars
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•PrepareforHumanExploration”
To accomplish these goals, Opportunity carries a plethora of
scientificinstrumentsandcameras.Therovercarriesapan-
oramic camera, a hazard camera, and a microscopic imager.
Italsohostsasuiteofspectrometers(aninstrumentthatuti-
lizestheelectromagneticspectrumtoanalyzedata),anda
rockabrasiontool(RAT).Manyoftheseinstrumentsareat
theendofaroboticarmthatextendstosampleandanalyze
the rocks, soils, and minerals.
Images: Top Opportunity Image-NASA.gov
Left:JellyDonutImage-NASA.gov
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As the rover traverses the many craters on Mars and stops and
analyzes each area, she has made many discoveries. A major dis-
coveryatthelandingsite,asstatedbyNASAscientists,isthatthe
areawasatonetimesoakedwithwater.Thiswasdetermined
by the vast number of spherules found at the site that were later
determinedtobehematite. Thespheruleswerenicknamed
“blueberries”duetotheirshapeanddistribution.Also,inthe
falsecolorimagestheyappearedtobeabluishhue.Hematite
is found on Earth and is known to be formed in the presence
ofwateroveralongperiodoftime.Itisamineralformofiron
oxide.ThiswasamajordiscoveryfortheMERteam.
AnunexpecteddiscoverywasHeatShieldRock.ThisisaMartian
meteorite discovered near the heat shield that had fallen to the
groundaftertheroverlanded.Thiswillalwaysbeknownasthe
firstdiscoveryofameteoriteonanotherplanet.Themeteor-
itewasprettyeasytospotagainstthebackgroundofMartian
soilandrocks.The“weathering”onameteoriteisquitedistinct
comparedtoanyindigenousmatter.
Ironically the mission has been extended so long, in part due to
the weather on Mars. The rover’s power source is in the form
ofsolarpanels.ThesurfaceofMarsiscoveredinfinedustand
isverywindy. Severaltimesoverthecourseofthemission,
the solar panels have been covered in dust. The weather on
Marsoftenincludesdustdevils. Thesedustdevilshavebeen
responsible for clearing the dust covered solar panels, thereby,
Squyres speaking at the Mars Society 16th Annual Conven-tion-The Mars Society
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rejuvenatingthepowertotherover.Thiswasanunexpectedandhappyeventfortheteam.
Opportunityhasalsomadeastronomicalobservations.Theseincludethetransitsofbothnaturalsatellites,
Phobos and Deimos, across the face of the Sun. The rover’s cameras have also photographed the Earth,
whichappearsasanindistinctbrightobjectintheMartiansky.Thisremindsusofhowsmallwereallyare.
Some of the major craters that Opportunity has visited include, Endurance Crater, Erebus Crater, Victoria
Crater, and Endeavour Crater. More recently at Endeavour Crater, Opportunity discovered a bright vein of
gypsum.Thishasbeennicknamed“HomestakeVein”.Theidentificationofthissubstanceismorestrong
evidence of water on Mars in the past. Another recent discovery, in September 2012, at Endeavour Crater
isaverydenseaccumulationofspherulesthataredifferentthanthehematitespherulespreviouslydis-
covered.Itisstatedthatthespherulesinquestionhaveasoftmiddleandcrunchyouterlayer.Theyare
stillbeinginvestigatedastowhattheircompositionis.Opportunityhasenduredaharshclimateandsur-
vived,perhapsthrived.WhenIaskedDr.SteveSquyres,NASA’sPrincipalInvestigatoroftheMERmission,
aboutthehealthofOpportunityatthe16thAnnualMarsSocietyConventioninAugust2013,hestatedthat
withtheexceptionofafewminorissues,theoverallhealthisgoodandthateachdaywithOpportunity
isagift.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbr9CEjI6c)Thecreditforthismustbegiventothehun-
dredsorthousandsofpassionatescientistswhodesigned,developed,andimplementedthismission.The
OpportunityRoverismanagedbyateamattheJetPropulsionLaboratoryinPasadena,Ca.OnJanuary16,
2014,NASAheldaspecialeventtocelebratethe10yearanniversaryoftheMarsExplorationRovers(MER)
SpiritandOpportunity.ThoughwehadourlastcommunicationwithSpiritinMarch2010,Opportunityis
stillrovinganddiscovering.Squyres,spokeattheeventheldatCalTechandrevealedthelatestbignews
was that a jelly-donut-like rock seemed to have appeared out of nowhere near the rover. Squyres described
the rock as white around the edges with a dark red-center which has the size and appearance of a jelly-
donut. He stated that his team was very surprised and when they did the preliminary analysis they dis-
covereditwascomposedofsulfur,magnesium,andmanganese.Theyarediscussingthepossibilitiesof
howtherockarrivednexttotherover,twoleadingtheoriesarethatitwasflungfromunderthewheelof
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the rover or that it is a piece of impact ejecta from a nearby meteorite impact. A third possibility may be
that a dust devil carried it across the landscape and it landed by the rover. More detailed analysis of the
rockisaheadfortheMERteam.ThereismoretobeholdfromOpportunityinthefuture,staytuned……
Blueberries on Mars-Astrobio.net
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Brian B Ritchie
“This is my first RGB Jupiter, done with the C8 and ZWO ASI120MM and the Baader filter wheel at f.15. Seeing was a bit mushy. Also the colours seem a bit off. Otherwise I’m quite happy for a first attempt”.
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OurReturntotheMoonThelanderofChang’e3tookapanoramicshotofMareImbrium,theSeaofRains,withthelittlerover,Yutu,
offonanearlyjaunt.Photocredit:CNSAandKenKremer.
China’sChang’e3lunarmissionlandedonthemoonthispastDecember,2013.Thisisverylikelythefirst
stepinhumankind’scontinualactivepresenceonthesurfaceofthemoon.MareImbrium,thelandingspot,is
the largest basin on near side of the moon, just to the south and west of the north pole at 44 degrees North.
China’sfirsttwomoonmissions,Chang’e1andChang’e2,orbitedthemoontodeterminethebestterrain
and elements of interest for a landing area. Based on that data, and the data collected by the orbiters of
othercountries,MareImbriumwaschosenovertheoriginaltargetareaofSinusIridum(BayofRainbows).
Thelandingspotisanareaoflavaflowsthataredarkerthansomeflowsnearby,andthismaybeoneofthe
primereasonsthisareawaschosen.Thedarkerlavarockonthemoonisrichintitanium,whichisassoci-
atedwithhelium-3,apotentialfusionenergysource.
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Photo credit: Lick Observatory
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Lunar map showing relative amounts of titanium dioxide. Photo credit: CNSA/CLEP
It’s estimated that the moon is so rich in helium-3, it could potentially be the Earth’s mining site for our future
energy needs. The distribution of titanium dioxide (highest in the red areas on the map) is considered a good proxy
for the distribution of helium-3, since titanium dioxide traps helium-3 blown in with solar winds. This helium-3 has
been blown onto the moon and captured by the titanium dioxide for billions of years, so there is likely enough
helium-3 to fuel the Earth for a very long time, if the fusion technology becomes practical. Research into fusion
has advanced recently, with successful fusions of deuterium--helium-3, and of helium-3 with itself. There are still
some problems in building practical fusion reactors, but countries like China, and private enterprises, are actively
considering how to mine the moon’s helium-3 and bring it to Earth, to be ready to profit once the practical tech-
nology is in place.
There may also be a lot of water ice between rock and dust particles away from the poles, due to the presence
of helium-3. It’s been recently shown by astromaterials scientist Hope Ishii and her colleagues that particles in
Earth’s plasmasphere capture helium-3 from the solar wind, and this helium joins with oxygen in the particles to
form miniscule water amounts between the particles. If this is happening on the moon, the particles would look
dry to our eye but the water could possibly be extracted for use.
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Water forming in particles of interplanetary
dust. Photo credit: Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. (Right)
The poles are the most interesting spot for future
prospectors, because of the huge amounts of
water ice there. A lot of the technology being
developed right now by space entrepreneurs is
focused on the kind of support needed to build
infrastructure which will be needed for mining
water ice and for habitation on the moon. This
is going to happen, and soon - while the main
mission of Chang’e 3 is for doing scientific
research, the landing marks the beginning of
what will probably become a continual human
and machine presence on the moon. The experi-
ence of Chang’e 3’s soft landing and of the proven
ability for the robots to mostly survive the lunar
night are two of the biggest feats sought by com-
mercial companies. It’s possible that the color
camera on the lander did not survive the lunar
night, but lessons from failures are also valuable
to engineers. The data from the mission will be
used by private enterprises to help them decide
the best places and methods for mining, and
many have already booked support services with
The lander of mission Chang’e 3. Photo credit: CASC/China Ministry of Defense (Below)
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commercial spaceflight companies. Within the next few decades, humans, their robots, and their needed
infrastructure will begin to have a steady presence on the lunar surface.
China’s Chang’e 3 mission arrived on the moon on December 14, 2013. Chang’e 3 is the landing stage of
China’s multi-stage moon mission, and includes an instrumented lander and rover. Both the lander and
rover have tested and used some of the equipment, and then hibernated for their first two-week long lunar
night. Once the sun returned they got back to work, and according to the Chinese press things seemed
to be working fine. On January 24, 2014 the lander powered down to hibernate for the second lunar
night phase, but before the rover could do the same, something went wrong in communication with the
Chinese scientists, and so its instruments and solar panels couldn’t be protected before the night came
with its -180 C temperature. It had been hoped that the Yutu rover would provide ground-truth for data
collected by the orbiters of China and other countries, but if Yutu doesn’t survive the night, this will need
to wait for Yutu’s backup rover in the Chang’e 4 mission, which will be launched in 2015.
The Yutu rover has these mineral and rock analyzing instruments: Ground Penetrating Radar, Panoramic
Camera, Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, and Visible/near-Infrared Imager. These are some of the same
kind of instruments aboard the Curiosity rover, which is studying the geology in its own area on Mars.
Hopefully the Chang’e 4 rover will get to use these instruments much more than Yutu did!
Yutu rover. Photo credit: CNSA/CCTV
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Photo of Earth, taken by the
Chang’e 3 lander. This is the
first picture of Earth taken
from the moon in almost 40
years. Photo credit: Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
A photo of Earth’s plasmasphere, taken with
the camera on the Chang’e 3 lander’s Lunar
Ultraviolet Telescope. Photo credit: Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
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On board the working lander is the Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope which will be used to study the Earth’s plas-
masphere.ChinaiscooperatingwiththeInternationalLunarObservatoryAssociationtoshareaccessto
theChinesetelescopeinexchangefortimeontheILOA’stelescope,theInternationalLunarObservatory.A
smallversionoftheILO,theILO-X,willbelaunchedaboardtheMoonExpressinauguralflighttothemoon
in 2015. The larger 2-meter ILO-1 will be delivered by Moon Express to the moon’s south pole in 2017. The
ILOA will use China’s Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope for a program they call Galaxy, Astronomical Imaging for
Global21stCenturyEducation.TheILOA’sownILO-1isplannedtobethestartofalunarbaseforresearch,
prospecting,andfuturehumanhabitation.SofartheplansfortheILOincludetheGalaxyFirstLightImaging
program, and access for professional and amateur astronomers on a commercial basis. The smaller ILO-X
willbeaccessibleontheinternetandavailableforcitizenscienceprojects.Sowiththemutual,andinpart
open-accessuseofthesetelescopes,westillhavethekindofcooperationthatseesthemoonasbelonging
to all humans, even in this new phase of big commercial interest in the moon. Private enterprise is helping
nationstomovepastafewproprietarybarriers.Thismaybesimplyintheslipstreamofthedriveforprofits
since private companies are taking advantage of the lack of rules for themselves that keep countries from
claiming parts of the moon.
An artist concept of the
InternationalLunarObservatory,
shown after landing near the
moon’s south pole in 2017 by the
MoonExpressspacecraft.Photo
credit:ILOA/MoonExpress
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Bye, Yutu. Photo credit: China News.
com/Xinhua
WORDS; DENISE HEMPHILL
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Mauna Kea Observatories, Hawaii
onightisthefinalof6nightsatMaunaKeaObservatories,where
I have been an observer on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
(JCMT)atMaunaKeaObservatories.MaunaKeahastheworld’s
largest observatory with a number of telescopes operated by
variouscountriesandoperatinginvariouswavebands.JCMTis
a submillimetre-wavelength telescope run by the UK. It has a 15
metre primary mirror and is the largest submillimetre telescope in
the world.
ObserversfromtheUKcancometoJCMTforscientificresearch,
and are joined by Hawaii-based telescope operators who know how
torunthetelescopeandhowtofixitifanythinggoeswrong.The
telescopeislocatedatanaltitudeof4092metres,andthereare
accommodationfacilitiesalittlefurtherdownthemountainatHale
Pohaku(HP)at2804metresaltitude.Becauseofthehighaltitude
and the health concerns that come with it, observers are required
toacclimatisefor24hoursatHPbeforetravellingtothesummit
to work on the telescopes. This is where all astronomers from the
varioustelescopessleepduringtheirstay;therearelodgeswith
bedrooms and a main facility with a cafeteria and pool tables, ping
pong, dart boards etc.
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Onatypicalnight,staffforeachtelescopewillmeettohave
dinner at around 5pm at HP then travel up to the summit
of the mountain. We then work throughout the night and
come back at around 8am to have breakfast and then go to
sleep.SinceJCMTisnotanopticaltelescope,sunrisedoes
notaffectus.However,submillimetretelescopesareheavily
affectedbyprecipitation,andcannotoperatewhenthislevel
is too high. Last night it snowed heavily at the summit and all
telescopes were closed for the night. I have included some
photosfromtheselastfewnights–Ihopeyouenjoythem.
CarolineScott
CarolineScottisafinalyearAstrophysicsPhDstudentat
Imperial College London, and is currently doing a Pre-
doctoral Fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for
AstrophysicsandaResearchFellowshipatHarvard’sInstitute
ofAppliedComputationalScience.Twitter:Astro_Caz
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IN THE NEWSESA/NASAthespacecraftRosettawokeupafter957daysin
hibernation.Earthgotitsfirstcommunicationwhicharrived
attheESAoperationscentreinDamstadt,Germanyat19:18
localtime.Thesignalwasalsoreceivedbygroundstations
at the Goldstone,calif and Camberra,australia part of NASA’s
Deep Space Network.
The spacecraft is heading towards comet67P/
Churyumov-Gerasmonko.
Supernova, cigar galaxy
A supernova was discovered in M82 also
known as the cigar galaxy. It is 12 million
light years from Earth. It is the closest star
explosion detected in more than 20 years.
Discovered by a team led my Steve Fossey at
the University of London Observatory. The
team included stuedents, Ben Cooke, Tom
Wright,MatthewWildeandGuyPpollock.
SpaceX On Jan 6 2014 SpaceX sucessfully lunched
the THAICOM 6 satellite. The launch could
be seen live on the interenet.
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ScienceScience daily reports that deaths in Penguin chicks is directly relted to climate change. Chicks are dying from
the worlds largest Magellanic penguin colony. Heavy rains, food shortage all a result from climate change
arecontributingtothechecksdeaths.
SOURCEUNIVERSITYOFWASHINGTON
TheBBCreportedthatNeanderthalsgaveusdiseasegenes.Neanderthalsareourclosestextinctrelatives.
FoundinsouthwesterntocentralAsiaandEurope.Itisthoughtthatmodernhumanshavearound2.5%
Neanderthal DNA.
From Icy Science comes out monthly micro digital
magazineLOOKUPINWONDERaguidetothe
night sky, ISS monthly update and something for
the kds.
WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM
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