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THE WORLD AROUND US
Mountain Views News Saturday, May 12, 2012
VISTA VIEWS A VAST BALL OF STARS
A new image of Messier 55
from the European Southern
Observatory’s VISTA infrared
survey telescope shows tens
of thousands of stars crowded
together like a swarm of bees.
Besides being packed into a
relatively small space, these stars
are also among the oldest in the
universe. Astronomers study
Messier 55 and other ancient
objects like it, called globular
clusters, to learn how galaxies
evolve and stars age.
Globular clusters are held
together in a tight spherical
shape by gravity. In Messier
55, the stars certainly do keep
close company: approximately
one hundred thousand stars are
packed within a sphere with a
diameter of only 25 times the
distance between the Sun and
the nearest star system, Alpha
Centauri.
About 160 globular clusters have been spotted encircling our galaxy,
the Milky Way, mostly toward its bulging center. The two latest
discoveries, made using VISTA, were recently announced (http://
www.eso.org/public/news/eso1141/). The largest galaxies can have
thousands of these rich collections of stars in orbit around them.
Observations of globular clusters’ stars reveal that they originated
around the same time—more than 10 billion years ago—and from
the same cloud of gas. As this formative period was just a few
billion years after the Big Bang, nearly all of the gas on hand was the
simplest, lightest and most common in the cosmos: hydrogen, along
with some helium and much smaller amounts of heavier chemical
elements such as oxygen and nitrogen.
Being made mostly from hydrogen distinguishes globular cluster
residents from stars born in later eras, like our Sun, that are infused
with heavier elements created in several generations of stars. The
Sun first began to shine about 4.6 billion years ago, making it only
about half as old as the elderly stars in most globular clusters.
The chemical makeup of the cloud from which the Sun formed is
reflected in the abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and
helium (such as oxygen, carbon, silicon, and iron) found throughout
our Solar System—in asteroids and in the planets—as well as in our
own bodies.
Sky watchers can find Messier 55
in the constellation of Sagittarius
(The Archer). This notably large
cluster appears nearly two-thirds
the width of the full Moon, and
is not at all difficult to see in a
small telescope, even though it
is located at a distance of some
17,000 light-years from Earth.
The French astronomer
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille
first documented this stellar
grouping around 1752, and some
26 years later another French
astronomer, Charles Messier,
included the cluster as the 55th
entry in his famous astronomical
catalogue—giving it its common
name, Messier 55 (or M55).
The object is also cross-listed as
NGC 6809 in the New General
Catalogue, an often-cited and
more extensive astronomical
catalogue created in the late
nineteenth century.
The new image was obtained in infrared light by the 4.1-meter
Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at
ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile.
In addition to the stars of Messier 55, this VISTA image also records
many galaxies lying far beyond the cluster. A particularly prominent
spiral galaxy, seen edge-on, appears to the upper right of the center
of the picture.
You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.
A new image of Messier 55 from ESO’s VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a
swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers
study Messier 55 and other ancient objects like it, called globular clusters, to learn how galaxies evolve and stars age.
PET UNDERTAKER
The only thing sadder than watching a pet die is watching your loved ones watch a
pet die. Fred, our beloved parrot of 20-odd years passed last week. Although I’m sad
about Fred, I’m grateful my parents didn’t have to see him like that. They left for a
short vacation and asked me to watch the house and feed the birds. My dad jokingly
said, “If a check from the IRS comes, let me know. If a notice from the IRS comes, or
if Freddie dies, lie to me.” Fred had been declining for some time, but I hoped he’d
make it a few more years for my parents’ sake, and also because Jocko, his cage-mate,
was so attached to him. Unfortunately, I returned to find him stretched out under a
hanging food bowl the second afternoon. Jocko didn’t seem bothered, and probably
thought Fred was practicing self hypnosis or got stuck in a weird yoga position.
It was a little difficult removing him from the cage, because Jocko has a nasty tendency of lunging at
me with his needle sharp beak (I like him, but the feeling isn’t mutual). He squawked and squawked
as I removed Fred wrapped in a paper towel to the backyard. The whole scene must’ve really confused
him. I came straight from work and had to dig a little pit wearing my fake leather flats. I packed
down the dirt to make sure no night animal would try to steal the body, and lied to my parents when
they phoned that night, “Everyone’s fine...”
When they returned, my parents sorrowfully thanked me for doing the grim job. “Gee, how many
animals have you buried?” they asked. Too many
to remember. Maybe my family assumes I have a
cold heart, because I’m always the one they ask to
bury the dead animals. I buried my grandma’s dog
in her rose garden (that was the only available soil in
her yard). The ground was hard and digging among
the American Beauties was difficult. Eventually I
cleared a spot and inserted Benji under a strong rose
root (figuring that would keep him from bobbing
up to the surface during the next rainfall). “Are you
sure he’s dead?” Grandma asked me. The dog was
stiff as plywood. “Yes,” I answered, “I’m sure of it.”
My dad and I have buried numerous cats, ducks,
rabbits, and birds in the backyard. We joke that one
day we’ll hit a skeleton while burying another pet.
Fish got flushed down the loo, although I always
thought it disrespectful. I suppose a lot of people
take their animals to the vet to dispose of them.
Somehow that seems even sadder to me, having a
stranger destroying the cat or dog you’ve loved for
so long.
Since Fred’s passing we’ve spent a lot more “quality
time” with Jocko. We were afraid he would die of a
broken heart, but he appears to be taking the loss quite well. Maybe he thinks Fred went on a long
vacation. There are times when you wish animals could talk, but I’m glad we don’t have to explain
Fred’s absence to Jocko. Perhaps we humanize the animals too much. I do believe they experience
empathy, but maybe they don’t dwell on things as much as we do. Who knows? If Jocko could speak
he might just remark, “Oh, I see you bought the cheaper seeds this week. What’s up with that?”
Jocko isn’t spoiled per se, but he’s demanding. Yes, taking care of pets can be a handful at times, but
I’d prefer that to burying them any day!
GET UP, STAND UP
Social Media giant Twitter is actively and
legally resisting an attempt by prosecutors
in New York to gain access to the “tweets”
and message history of an activist who was
arrested during the Occupy Wall Street
demonstrations last fall. The popular micro-
blogging service has asked a judge to squash
a subpoena in which prosecutors had
ordered Twitter to produce several months
worth of old “tweets” sent and received by
an activist who was arrested during a march
on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1st of last
year.
Prosecutors are alleging that the activist in
question had been complicit in organizing
an unauthorized march that resulted in
hundreds of protestors being arrested. A
review of the messages in question might
reveal whether or not the activist in question
was aware that police had ordered the
protestors not to march on the bridge.
The activist at the center of the inquiry
had already tried to fight the request for
records on his own in the courts. However,
the presiding judge ruled that the activist
had no standing to fight the request as he
did not actually own the requested “tweets”,
that once he posted his messages they
became the property of Twitter and that
any constitutional protection he had over
their disclosure disappeared. In the judge’s
reasoning Twitter was free to redistribute its
customers’ tweets to anyone, any way and
for any reason it chooses.
Twitter was quick to respond to the ruling
by positing that the judge was mistaken in his
ruling due to the fact that he was mistaken
in exactly how the micro-blogging service
worked. According to Twitter, customers
don’t relinquish ownership of their messages
or photos by posting them on the service.
The company also argued that a federal law,
the Stored Communications Act, expressly
gave users of services like Twitter the right
to challenge demands for their account
records.
Prosecutors are contending that the
activist in question had no proprietary or
privacy interest in tweets that he broadcast to
every person with access to the Internet and,
as such, his records are not covered by the
provisions of the Stored Communications
Act.
This case has the potential to set precedent
for the digital communications central
to the social media services used daily by
billions of people worldwide, every single
day. While different online services proffer
different terms and conditions of services
to their respective customer bases, in this
particular case the technology company
at the center spoke up for customer rights
and is giving the little guy a leverage that he
normally lacks in these situations. We will
see what the little guy does with it from here.
THE INS AND OUTS OF
FELINE FRIENDSHIP
Several months ago, after all the excitement
of having seen 2 enormous mountain lions
sitting on the front porch of my neighbor’s
house, the question as to whether or not
kitties could be kept in became much more
pertinent to me, than ever before. Whether or
not domestic cats should be indoors “24-7“,
versus being allowed to wander in and out of
the house at will, has been an on-going debate
for many years. As for me, I guess you could
say that I am still sitting on the fence.
On one hand, I acknowledge that our furry
feline friends are safer from harm and more
secure indoors than out, but on the other
hand I also realize that cats, even those
domesticated and bred to be pets, possess
the natural instinct to want to explore the
great outdoors. Are cats really happy being
pent up in a home constantly? Are they ever
truly content with taking part in the daily life
activities of only the human being? Or, are
they quite frustrated living the domestic life,
looking through a glass window and seeing
trees, grass, and other creatures, including
neighboring cats, scampering about outside
while they sit idle within the confines of four
walls? Wouldn’t they rather be out enjoying
the fresh air, sunshine, sounds and smells of
nature? And finally, would the freedom they
so naturally long for give them a healthier,
more balanced, satisfying experience in
life, and perhaps even prolong their lives
by instilling in them a stronger will to live?
These are very good questions to which I
do not claim to have the correct answers,
however I will admit that my experiences
with cat ownership have always included a
“kitty door”, and up until earlier this year, I
was very lucky to never have lost any of my
cats to a coyote or a car, nor did any of them
simply go missing…until earlier this year. For
the first time in my long life of owning pets, I
lost a kitty to the great outdoors, and it broke
my heart.
I found “Schatt” in the garden department
at Home Depot one Saturday morning while
shopping for flowers to plant in the yard. I kept
hearing a high pitched screech coming from
somewhere in the corner of the warehouse
where they keep all the gardening supplies,
and at first I was sure it was a bird in distress.
I followed the sound until I discovered the
tiniest black kitten I’d ever seen, yelling at the
top of his lungs from inside a shopping cart
covered with cardboard. Apparently one of the
ladies who worked in the garden department
found him wandering in the parking lot when
she arrived early that morning, and put him
in the cart to keep him safe until someone
came along to take him home.
When I opened the cart, that tiny kitty
jumped up on my chest and put his nose to
mine with his brilliant green eyes bulging
desperately. He then proceeded to crawl
up on my shoulders and wrapped himself
around the back of my neck. He didn’t scratch
me at all, he just muscled himself up under
my chin, then slid behind my neck with his
face hidden under my hair, as if he knew he’d
found the right person to take him home. I
was immediately smitten by that little kitten,
I must say, so I didn’t even bother calling my
husband to ask if it was OK. I just carried him
out to my car and off we went! In case you’re
wondering why his name became “Schatt”, it
was inspired by a little accident that happened
on the back seat during the ride home - use
your imagination!
Schatt lived indoors for the first couple
of days, then in keeping with my philosophy
that a cat must be a lot happier when allowed
to roam outdoors, I decided I would have
to trust this new found friend to stick
close to home, and I opened the bathroom
window just enough to allow him to go out
during the day. For several years it proved
to be a successful setup. That little cat lived
a very exciting life. He was quite the hunter,
bringing home all sorts of trophies such as
mice, rats and unfortunately a bird or two
now and then. As he grew older, he would
leave the house for longer periods of time,
but he always came home for dinner. Then,
one day he did not return home, and I called
to him until midnight. The next morning
and called to him again, but there was no
sign of my precious cat. After the second day
of his absence I started making calls to my
neighbors and placing “LOST” signs around
the block, hoping that someone had found
him and taken him in, but unfortunately
I never saw Schatt again. He was such an
important part of our lives for several years,
and he will always be missed in our home.
At first I struggled with the guilt factor
of having allowed him to run free, but I
eventually had to let it go, knowing that I
rescued him from a parking lot. What kind
of life would he have had, if not for me taking
him home to begin with? I would love to
have another cat, but I hesitate to adopt one
because I am not fully comfortable with the
idea of keeping it inside on a constant basis.
So, therein lies my dilemma.
There are a few facts that I think should
play an important part in deciding whether
or not to keep an open door policy with a
feline friend. I believe that each cat should
be understood and treated like an individual.
Some felines have a stronger sense of danger
or risk when wandering outside, while others
have a more trusting spirit and are less likely
to be aware of their surroundings. Also,
some feline breed characteristics are more
conducive to handling the challenges of
nature than others. These variables should
be considered when the final straw is drawn.
Another part of the equation is whether or
not the cat has been de-clawed. This brings on
a whole new subject matter that is constantly
under debate, I know, but one thing is for
sure, no de-clawed cat should ever be allowed
to roam free.
Every cat owner must make their own
decision as to whether they will allow their
pet to enjoy the great outdoors, or be kept
inside. Take the time to get to know your pet,
and do what you feel is right. Use consistent
commands such as the cat’s name, a specific
whistle call or a yelp that he or she gets to
know well enough to respond to. And, in
the worst case scenario that your cat does go
missing, don’t beat yourself up for it. Give
them the best life they could possibly have,
and enjoy them while they are there.
Happy Tails
by Chris Leclerc
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