Astronomers Spot Faraway Uranus-Like Planet

Columbus OH (SPX)
Oct 16, 2014

Our view of other solar systems just got a little more familiar, with the discovery of a planet 25,000 light-years away that resembles our own Uranus.

Astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets around the Milky Way, including rocky planets similar to Earth and gas planets similar to Jupiter. But there is a third type of planet in our solar system-part gas, part ice-and this is the first time anyone has spotted a twin for our so-called "ice giant" planets, Uranus and Neptune.

An international research team led by Radek Poleski, postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University, described the discovery in a paper appearing online in The Astrophysical Journal.

While Uranus and Neptune are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, they both contain significant amounts of methane ice, which gives them their bluish appearance. Given that the newly discovered planet is so far away, astronomers can't actually tell anything about its composition. But its distance from its star suggests that it's an ice giant-and since the planet's orbit resembles that of Uranus, the astronomers are considering it to be a Uranus analog.

Regardless, the newly discovered planet leads a turbulent existence: it orbits one star in a binary star system, with the other star close enough to disturb the planet's orbit.

The find may help solve a mystery about the origins of the ice giants in our solar system, said Andrew Gould, professor of astronomy at Ohio State.

"Nobody knows for sure why Uranus and Neptune are located on the outskirts of our solar system, when our models suggest that they should have formed closer to the sun," Gould said. "One idea is that they did form much closer, but were jostled around by Jupiter and Saturn and knocked farther out."

"Maybe the existence of this Uranus-like planet is connected to interference from the second star," he continued. "Maybe you need some kind of jostling to make planets like Uranus and Neptune."

The binary star system lies in our Milky Way galaxy, in the direction of Sagittarius. The first star is about two thirds as massive as our sun, and the second star is about one sixth as massive. The planet is four times as massive as Uranus, but it orbits the first star at almost exactly the same distance as Uranus orbits our sun.

The astronomers spotted the solar system due to a phenomenon called gravitational microlensing-when the gravity of a star focuses the light from a more distant star and magnifies it like a lens. Very rarely, the signature of a planet orbiting the lens star appears within that magnified light signal.

In this case, there were two separate microlensing events, one in 2008 that revealed the main star and suggested the presence of the planet, and one in 2010 that confirmed the presence of the planet and revealed the second star. Both observations were done with the 1.3-meter Warsaw Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile as part of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE).

Poleski led the analysis, which entailed combining the two OGLE observations. When he did, he was able to calculate the masses of the two stars and the planet, and their distances from one another-a feat that he says can only be done via microlensing.

"Only microlensing can detect these cold ice giants that, like Uranus and Neptune, are far away from their host stars. This discovery demonstrates that microlensing is capable of discovering planets in very wide orbits," Poleski said.

"We were lucky to see the signal from the planet, its host star, and the companion star. If the orientation had been different, we would have seen only the planet, and we probably would have called it a free-floating planet," he added.

The 2008 and 2010 events are part of the OGLE database, which contains 13,000 microlensing events that have been recorded since the project began. Part of Poleski's job at Ohio State entails writing software to mine the database for other possible connections that could lead to additional planet discoveries-including more ice giants.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_Spot_Faraway_Uranus_Like_Planet_999.html.

Getting To Know Super-Earths

Pasadena CA (SPX)
Oct 16, 2014

"If you have a coin and flip it just once, what does that tell you about the odds of heads versus tails?" asks Heather Knutson, assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech. "It tells you almost nothing. It's the same with planetary systems," she says.

For as long as astronomers have been looking to the skies, we have had just one planetary system-our own-to study in depth. That means we have only gotten to know a handful of possible outcomes of the planet formation process, and we cannot say much about whether the features observed in our solar system are common or rare when compared to planetary systems orbiting other stars.

That is beginning to change. NASA's Kepler spacecraft, which launched on a planet-hunting mission in 2009, searched one small patch of the sky and identified more than 4,000 candidate exoplanets-worlds orbiting stars other than our own sun. It was the first survey to provide a definitive look at the relative frequency of planets as a function of size.

That is, to ask, 'How common are gas giant planets, like Jupiter, compared to planets that look a lot more like Earth?'Kepler's results suggest that small planets are much more common than big ones. Interestingly, the most common planets are those that are just a bit larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune-the so-called super-Earths.

However, despite being common in our local corner of the galaxy, there are no examples of super-Earths in our own solar system. Our current observations tell us something about the sizes and orbits of these newly discovered worlds, but we have very little insight into their compositions.

"We are left with this situation where super-Earths appear to be the most common kind of exoplanet in the galaxy, but we don't know what they're made of," says Knutson.

There are a number of possibilities. A super-Earth could be just that: a bigger version of Earth-mostly rocky, with an atmosphere. Then again, it could be a mini-Neptune, with a large rock-ice core encapsulated in a thick envelope of hydrogen and helium. Or it could be a water world-a rocky core enveloped in a blanket of water and perhaps an atmosphere composed of steam (depending on the temperature of the planet).

"It's really interesting to think about these planets because they could have so many different compositions, and knowing their composition will tell us a lot about how planets form," Knutson says. For example, because planets in this size range acquire most of their mass by pulling in and incorporating solid material, water worlds initially must have formed far away from their parent stars, where temperatures were cold enough for water to freeze.

Most of the super-Earths known today orbit very close to their host stars. If water-dominated super-Earths turn out to be common, it would indicate that most of these worlds did not form in their present locations but instead migrated in from more distant orbits.

In addition to thinking about exoplanets, Knutson and her students use space-based observatories like the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes to learn more about the distant worlds.

For example, the researchers analyze the starlight that filters through a planet's atmosphere as it passes in front of its star to learn about the composition of the atmosphere. Molecular species present in the planet's atmosphere absorb light at particular wavelengths.

Therefore, by using Hubble and Spitzer to view the planet and its atmosphere at a number of different wavelengths, the researchers can determine which chemical compounds are present.

To date, nearly two dozen planets have been characterized with this technique. These observations have shown that the enormous gas giant exoplanets known as hot-Jupiters have water, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, helium-and potentially carbon dioxide and methane-in their atmospheres.

However, right now super-Earths are the hot topic. Unfortunately, although hundreds of super-Earths have been found, only a few are close enough and orbiting bright enough stars for astronomers to study in this way using currently available telescopes.

The first super-Earth that the astronomical community targeted for atmospheric studies was GJ 1214b, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Based on its average density (determined from its mass and radius), it was clear from the start that the planet was not entirely rocky. However, its density could be equally well matched by either a primarily water composition or a Neptune-like composition with a rocky core surrounded by a thick gas envelope.

Information about the atmosphere could help astronomers determine which one it was: a mini-Neptune's atmosphere should contain lots of molecular hydrogen, while a water world's atmosphere should be water dominated.

GJ 1214b has been a popular target for the Hubble Space Telescope since its discovery in 2009. Disappointingly, after a first Hubble campaign led by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the spectrum came back featureless-there were no chemical signatures in the atmosphere.

After a second set of more sensitive observations led by researchers at the University of Chicago returned the same result, it became clear that a high cloud deck must be masking the signature of absorption from the planet's atmosphere.

"It's exciting to know that there are clouds on the planet, but the clouds are getting in the way of what we actually wanted to know, which is what is this super-Earth made of?" explains Knutson.

Now Knutson's team has studied a second super-Earth: HD 97658b, in the constellation Leo.

They report their findings in the current issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The researchers used Hubble to measure the decrease in light when the planet passed in front of its parent star over a range of infrared wavelengths in order to detect small changes caused by water vapor in the planet's atmosphere.

However, again the data came back featureless. One explanation is that HD 97658b is also enveloped in clouds.

However, Knutson says, it is also possible that the planet has an atmosphere that is lacking hydrogen. Because such an atmosphere could be very compact, it would make the telltale fingerprints of water vapor and other molecules very small and hard to detect.

"Our data are not precise enough to tell whether it's clouds or the absence of hydrogen in the atmosphere that's causing the spectrum to be flat," she says.

"This was just a quick first look to give us a rough idea of what the atmosphere looked like. Over the next year, we will use Hubble to observe this planet again in more detail. We hope those observations will provide a clear answer to the current mystery."It appears that clouds are going to continue to pose a real challenge in studies of super-Earths, so Knutson and other researchers are working to understand the composition of the clouds around these planets and the conditions under which they form. The hope is that they will get to the point where they can predict which worlds will be shrouded in clouds.

"If we can then target planets that we think should be cloud-free, that will help us make optimal use of Hubble's time," she says.

Looking to the future, Knutson says there is only one more known super-Earth that can be targeted for atmospheric studies with current telescopes. But new surveys, such as NASA's extended Kepler K2 mission and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), slated for launch in 2017, should identify a large sample of new targets.

Of course, she says, astronomers would love to study exoplanets the size of Earth, but these worlds are just a bit too small and too difficult to observe with Hubble and Spitzer. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch in 2018, will provide the first opportunity to study more Earth-like worlds.

"Super-Earths are at the edge of what we can study right now," Knutson says. "But super-Earths are a good consolation prize-they're interesting in their own right, and they give us a chance to explore new kinds of worlds with no analog in our own solar system."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Getting_To_Know_Super_Earths_999.html.

ISS Spacewalkers Replace Power Regulator, Move Equipment

Washington DC (SPX)
Oct 16, 2014

Two NASA astronauts wrapped up a 6-hour, 34-minute spacewalk at 2:50 p.m. EDT Wednesday to replace a failed power regulator. Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore also relocated equipment on the station's exterior to begin setting the stage for a reconfiguration of the orbiting complex to accommodate future commercial crew vehicles.

Wiseman, the lead spacewalker for Wednesday's excursion, and Wilmore switched their suits to battery power at 8:16 a.m. EDT, signaling the start of the spacewalk.

For the highest priority task of the spacewalk, Wiseman and Wilmore exited from the Quest airlock and translated out to the starboard side of the station's integrated truss structure. There they replaced a failed power regulator known as a sequential shunt unit, which failed in May. The unit regulates power from the 3A solar array.

The station has since operated normally on seven of its eight power channels, but replacing the unit provides the station team with more flexibility and redundancy in managing the primary power system and assures enough power for all the planned science.

Timing was a factor for the replacement of the sequential shunt unit. The spacewalkers needed to remove the failed suitcase-sized unit and install its replacement while the station passed through the Earth's shadow and electricity was not being generated by the solar array.

The remainder of the spacewalk focused on moving equipment installed on the port side of the station's truss in preparation for the relocation of the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, currently expected to take place next summer.

The relocation of the PMM and the installation of international docking adapters scheduled to be delivered to the complex in 2015 will configure the station for future commercial crew vehicles and provide an additional berthing port for commercial cargo spacecraft.

Wiseman and Wilmore removed an external TV camera from the bottom of the P1 truss segment. Since that camera had lost its zoom capability, the spacewalkers replaced it on the top of P1 with a new camera.

The astronauts then detached an articulating portable foot restraint and tool stanchion from P1 and moved it inward to the centerpiece of the station's truss structure, the S0 truss, to get it out of the way for the relocation of Leonardo.

Finally, the Wireless Video System External Transceiver Assembly, or WETA, which receives all the video signals from spacewalking crew members, was transferred from the P1 truss to the top of the Harmony node.

Wednesday's spacewalk was the 183rd in support of station assembly and maintenance. This was the first spacewalk for Wilmore. Wiseman, who joined Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency for a 6-hour, 13-minute spacewalk on Oct. 7, completed his second spacewalk.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/ISS_Spacewalkers_Replace_Power_Regulator_Move_Equipment_999.html.

Russian doctor rebellion causes headache for Putin

November 28, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Dr. Semyon Galperin spent a decade in medical research in Russia and as much time in the United States, working at top hospitals and research companies. Despite his expertise, Galperin was recently given a stark ultimatum from the Moscow hospital where he works: Leave or stay on as a lowly hospital attendant.

Galperin's job is being eliminated as part of a sweeping reform in which at least 28 Moscow hospitals are to be closed and up to 10,000 medical staff fired, an overhaul that officials say is needed to modernize a decrepit Soviet-era health system. On Sunday, thousands of doctors and their patients are set to march against the reform as part of the first mass social protest in Russia in nearly a decade — a threat to President Vladimir Putin who faced down a wave of political protests launched in 2011 and is now struggling with a faltering economy.

The doctors' rebellion started early this month, when thousands took to the streets to protest the layoffs and hospital closures. Last time a similar protest happened in 2005, Putin became so alarmed that within a week he overturned the scrapping of social benefits for millions of pensioners and the disabled, and in fact doubled pensions instead.

Aware of the potential fall-out of this protest, Putin last week asked the Moscow government to reconsider the reform as his human rights council hosted a round table discussion with prominent doctors and trade unions that were not consulted when the reform was launched.

At Moscow's Hospital 11, Galperin is vowing to stay on even if that means working as an attendant: "I can't leave work because we decided to fight till the end," he said. Moscow officials say they are only complying with a 2010 Russian law designed to help hospitals complete a transition from the Soviet-era economy and make them self-reliant by cutting budget subsidies to a minimum. Moscow Health Care Department spokeswoman Elina Nikolayeva defended the firings as inevitable: "Some of the doctors who are being fired are underqualified," she said. "Some of them don't have enough workload."

The doctors' unrest is particularly problematic for Putin because almost all of them are state employees — the core of his support base. Russia has enjoyed low unemployment of about 5 percent in the last decade because of heavy subsidies to state enterprises, schools and hospitals. Following the political protests, Putin won his third term office in 2012 largely because state employees believed in his promise to increase their living standards.

Now, that very promise seems to be backfiring. Moscow officials are carrying out the health care reform in order to make good on Putin's election pledge to boost the livelihoods of public servants — including a vow to make doctors' salaries twice that of the average employee by 2018. Moscow Deputy Mayor Leonid Pechatnikov says that had it not been for Putin's pledge, the health reform would not be so fast or brutal.

Moscow's health care system is a relic of the communist health care system under which every citizen was entitled to free medical services. In a bid to save funds, Moscow health care officials are focusing on promoting neighborhood clinics that will provide comprehensive care and keep people out of hospital beds.

The reforms were not discussed with the medical community, however, and their details only became public in October following a leak in the press. Doctors and hospitals that found themselves in the vortex of the reform have not been told why they are being phased out or what is going to happen to their patients.

At Hospital 11 where Galperin works, 136 out of its 320 medical staff, mostly doctors, were given the notice and the hospital is to be shuttered by April. Grilled about the hospital's closing, Deputy Mayor Pechatnikov told a session of the presidential human rights council last week that the hospital "monopolized" the treatment of multiple sclerosis in Moscow, making it impossible to get treatment elsewhere in the city.

The health department's Nikolayeva told The Associated Press that Hospital 11's "doctors are abusing their position" and that the city does not need as many neurologists now that Moscow purchased high-tech MRI equipment making it easier to diagnose multiple sclerosis.

Galperin and his colleagues say they provide multiple sclerosis treatment that cannot be obtained elsewhere in Moscow. Their suggestion to set up a multiple sclerosis clinic on the grounds of the hospital in order to keep the expertise and equipment in one place has not received a response.

Galperin says he was probably targeted because of his union activities: He was given notice the day after he made a speech at a trade union committee, demanding a fairer pay scheme. But other doctors who kept a low profile were given the boot, too.

Meanwhile, Putin's objection to the Moscow health reform appears to be making its mark. In a statement last week, the presidential human rights council called for a halt to the layoffs and insisted that in its current form, the reform violates a constitutional right to free health care. The Moscow health department held a number of roundtables with medical professionals, while Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin offered additional severance pay of up to 500,000 rubles ($10,700) per doctor. But that has not yet translated into any concrete action.

Meanwhile, some patients fear that the reform will hurt them the most. Ales Kochevnik, 29, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago. Treatment allows her to live a more or less a normal life, albeit one interrupted by fits that can leave parts of her body temporarily paralyzed.

"They taught me to walk five times," the young artist says of Hospital 11. "It's a scary disease. It can strike at any moment. A couple of times I was sitting with friends drinking coffee, and within 15 minutes it would strike."

On a recent afternoon, Kochevnik went to Red Square to lay down on its cobbled pavement in protest. Supporters stood by, each carrying an IV drip. One held a poster reading: "A hospital without doctors is a mortuary."

Iraq death sentence to ex- PM threatens to damage ties with powerful tribe

2014-11-23

By Salam Faraj and Ammar Karim – BAGHDAD

An Iraqi court sentenced former Sunni MP Ahmed al-Alwani to death on Sunday for murder, a verdict that could damage Baghdad's ties with a powerful tribe that is battling jihadists.

"The central criminal court sentenced Ahmed al-Alwani to death... for his killing of two soldiers," judicial spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said, without saying when the murders took place.

He has a month to appeal the decision, Bayraqdar said.

Alwani is a member of the Albu Alwan tribe, members of which are fighting against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the Ramadi area of Anbar province, a key front in the war against IS, which has seized key parts of Iraq since June.

Sheikh Omar al-Alwani, a leader of the Albu Alwan, said that any decision about Alwani should be put on hold and that the verdict could harm the fight against IS.

"All the Albu Alwan tribe is standing against (IS) on the side of the government," but "half of the Albu Alwan fighters will withdraw if they actually executed Alwani in these circumstances," the sheikh said, adding that even the former MP's guards were fighting against IS.

He said the government should wait until the fighting is over and IS defeated, then "take any decision it considers appropriate."

Illustrating their importance, the US Department of Defense has requested that Congress authorize $18.5 million in arms, ammunition and other equipment for tribes in Anbar and a further $5.5 million in contingency funding.

The gear includes 5,000 assault rifles, 12,000 grenades, 150 heavy machineguns, 50 82mm mortars and other items, according to a document outlining the request.

"Failure to equip these forces mean a less effective armed opposition to counter the Islamic State," it said.

"Engagement from Sunni tribes is critical to the long-term defeat" of IS, the document said.

The arrest of Alwani, a prominent supporter of a now-collapsed Sunni Arab anti-government protest movement, was one of the factors that sent Anbar province spiraling into chaos.

He was detained during a raid on his house in late December 2013 that killed his brother Ali and five guards, inflaming Sunni Arab anger with the Shiite-led government, which many Sunnis view as having marginalized and unjustly targeted their community.

The defense ministry said at the time that one security forces member was also killed and five were wounded in the raid.

It said Ali was the target of the raid, but that both brothers and the guards opened fire when security forces arrived.

Ahmed had parliamentary immunity, but the constitution permits MPs to be arrested without their immunity being waived in cases of serious crime.

Just days after the raid, security forces demolished the country's main Sunni anti-government protest camp near Anbar capital Ramadi, setting off a series of events that led to the government losing control of parts of that city and all of Fallujah, farther east.

Almost 11 months later, Fallujah is still entirely out of Baghdad's control and is now a stronghold of the IS, while security forces and allied tribesmen are still battling for control of Ramadi.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=69040.

Tensions rise between Israel and Jordan over Jerusalem situation

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

The Washington Post recently highlighted the growing tensions between Israel and Jordan and commented on King Abdullah II and the Jordanian people's anger over Israel's actions in occupied Jerusalem. The current situation in the Holy City poses a threat to the peace agreement currently in effect between the two countries.

The American newspaper also noted in on its website on Monday, that a feud between Jordan and Israel could undermine the efforts of the US-led fight against Islamic extremists and it also threatens the natural gas deal worth billions of dollars for both countries.

It was also noted that Jordan had made an unusual decision by choosing to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv as a form of protest to Israel's actions in the Holy City and the escalation of conflict due to Israel's mistreatment of Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque. The Jordanian ambassador has yet to return to his post.

Jordanian officials emphasized that King Abdullah's inability to protect the Aqsa mosque is something that could undermine his credibility in his own country as his legitimacy or claim to the throne stems from the idea that he is a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad and a member of the Hashemite tribes. Jordan's inability to act in defense of al Aqsa would also undermine its image within the Muslim community as well as hinder any progress in the fight against Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15464-tensions-rise-between-israel-and-jordan-over-jerusalem-situation.

Tunisian party gives up support for Marzouki

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Tunisia's Popular Front, a coalition of democratic and left-wing forces, announced it would not support the presidential candidate Moncef Marzouki, Al-Arab Al-Yawm reported today.

The announcement came in the wake of reports that Marzouki and the leader of Nidaa Tunis Party Beji Caid El-Sebsi are going for a second round of elections.

Mohamed Al-Jamour, a senior leader of the Popular Front who made the surprise announcement, said that the Front had not yet decided on its final position. He said that the group is to meet soon and would study what it would do in light of the results of the elections. Adding that the group would take the decision that is in the country's best interests.

The Front had its own nominee in the presidential elections, Hamma Hammami, who did not have any support from the other political groups in Tunisia.

Hammami obtained nine per cent of the votes in the elections, according to the Anadolu Agency, which Al-Jamour described as an okay result.

Marzouki obtained 34 per cent of the votes in the first round of elections, while El-Sebsi attained 42 per cent.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/15461-tunisian-party-gives-up-support-for-marzouki.