Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 12, 2012

11

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