Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 31, 2015

THE WORLD AROUND US

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 31, 2015 


GIGANTIC RING SYSTEM AROUND PLANET J1407B

Astronomers at the Leiden Observatory (The 
Netherlands) and the University of Rochester (USA) 
have discovered that the ring system that they see 
eclipse the very young Sun-like star J1407 is of 
enormous proportions, much larger and heavier 
than the ring system of Saturn. The ring system—
the first of its kind to be found outside our solar 
system—was discovered in 2012 by a team led by 
Rochester’s Eric Mamajek.

 The astronomers analyzed data from the 
SuperWASP project—a survey designed to detect 
gas giants that move in front of their parent star. In 
2012, Mamajek and colleagues at the University of 
Rochester reported the discovery of the young star 
J1407 and the unusual eclipses, and proposed that 
they were caused by a moon-forming disk around a 
young giant planet or brown dwarf.

 A new analysis of the data, led by Leiden’s 
Matthew Kenworthy, shows that the ring system 
consists of over 30 rings, each of them tens of 
millions of kilometers in diameter. Furthermore, 
they found gaps in the rings, indicating that satellites 
(“exomoons”) may have formed. The result has 
been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical 
Journal.

 “The details that we see in the light curve are 
incredible. The eclipse lasted for several weeks, 
but you see rapid changes on time scales of tens of 
minutes as a result of fine structures in the rings,” 
says Kenworthy. “The star is much too far away 
to observe the rings directly, but we could make 
a detailed model based on the rapid brightness 
variations in the starlight passing through the ring 
system. If we could replace Saturn’s rings with the 
rings around J1407b, they would be easily visible at 
night and be many times larger than the full Moon.”

 “This planet is much larger than Jupiter or Saturn, 
and its ring system is roughly 200 times larger than 
Saturn’s rings are today,” said co-author Mamajek, 
professor of physics and astronomy at the University 
of Rochester. “You could think of it as kind of a 
super Saturn.”

 In another recent study also led by Kenworthy, 
adaptive optics and Doppler spectroscopy were 
used to estimate the mass of the ringed object. Their 
conclusions based on these and previous papers on 
the intriguing system J1407 is that the companion 
is likely to be a giant planet—not yet seen—with a 
gigantic ring system responsible for the repeated 
dimming of J1407’s light.

 The light curve tells astronomers that the diameter 
of the ring system is nearly 120 million kilometers, 
more than two hundred times as large as the rings 
of Saturn. The ring system likely contains roughly 
an Earth’s worth of mass in light-obscuring dust 
particles.

 Mamajek puts into context how much material is 
contained in these disks and rings. “If you were to 
grind up the four large Galilean moons of Jupiter 
into dust and ice and spread out the material over 
their orbits in a ring around Jupiter, the ring would 
be so opaque to light that a distant observer that saw 
the ring pass in front of the Sun would see a very 
deep, multi-day eclipse,” Mamajek says. “In the case 
of J1407, we see the rings blocking as much as 95 
percent of the light of this young Sun-like star for 
days, so there is a lot of material there that could 
then form satellites.”

 Astronomers expect that the rings will become 
thinner in the next several million years and 
eventually disappear as satellites form from the 
material in the disks.

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


BOOK REVIEW: THE GLASS CASTLE

CITY OF SIERRA MADRE LEGAL NOTICE

By Christopher Nyerges 

 I was recently given a copy 
of “The Glass Castle” by 
Jeanette Walls and told “Just 
read it. You’ll like it. It’s about 
self-reliance, sort of, and 
homelessness, sort of, but I 
think you’ll find it fascinating.” 

 I took the book and began 
reading it little by little. It’s 
Jeanette Walls’ true story of 
growing up with her siblings, 
and their life constantly on 
the move. It was gritty and 
unpleasant to read about a 
father who was very skillful and 
knowledgeable, but exaggerated 
and drank too much. And the 
mother was always trying to 
make the best of a bad situation, 
and seemed too willing to 
do too little to resolve a bad 
situation. As usual, the children 
get the short end of the stick. 

 We read how the children 
figured out how to feed, clothe, 
and protect themselves under 
these difficult conditions. 

 The father, though very 
talented and skilled, couldn’t 
seem to hold a job. Due to the 
father’s fear of authorities, and 
lack of bill-paying, the family 
would frequently pack up in 
the middle of the night and 
“skedaddle” to a new home. 
When they had to do the 
skedaddle, they’d just bring the 
essentials: a big black cast-iron 
skillet, the Dutch oven, some 
Army surplus tin plates, a few 
knives, the father’s pistol, and 
the mother’s archery set. 

At age four, Jeanette asked her 
sister, “How many places have 
we lived?” 

 “That depends on what you 
mean by ‘lived.’ If you spend 
one night in some town, did you 
live there?” responded her sister 
Lori. “What about two nights? 
Or a whole week?” 

 They determined that 
they lived somewhere if they 
unpacked, and though they lost 
count of how may places they 
lived after eleven. 

 And along they way they 
learned plenty of survival skills. 
They could go days without 
eating, and they learned to 
find food: foraging for cactus 
and wild plants, in trash cans, 
gleaning in fields. They learned 
to deal with extreme heat and 
cold since their homes never 
had cooling or heating. They 
learned how to fight and face 
down a threat, how to do 
without when necessary, how to 
cook, how to build things from 
scratch. They learned how to 
sew, but realized it was cheaper 
to just buy clothes at a thrift 
store. 

 In the pages of “The Glass 
Castle,” we begin to despise 
a very predictable father, but 
Jeanette still loves him. It’s her 
father, after all. 

 Eventually, Jeanette Walls 
realizes that her best escape 
from that world was to go to 
school, which she did, and to 
get a job, which she did. She 
discovered that the “real world” 
was very different from the 
isolationist world of fear and 
alcohol that her father had 
described to her. 

 “The Glass Castle” was on the 
New York Times bestseller list. 
It made me count my blessings. 
If I ever thought that I had it 
rough growing up in suburban 
Pasadena, this book convinced 
me that I emphatically did not. 
Plus, the book is worth reading 
for the occasional, practical, 
hard-earned survival tips, in 
the context of a family’s daily 
struggle for sheer survival. 

 Walls explains that her 
mother taught them to get by 
on next to nothing. How to 
use wild edible plants. How to 
find water where there seemed 
to be none. How to get by on 
very little water. How to clean 
up with just a cup of water. The 
mother “said it was good for 
you to drink unpurified water, 
even ditch water, as long as 
animals were drinking from 
it. Chlorinated city water was 
for namby-pambies, she said. 
Water from the wild helped 
build up your antibodies. She 
also thought toothpaste was 
for namby-pambies,” teaching 
the children to use baking soda 
instead. 

 The book will make you 
laugh in parts, but mostly it will 
make you cry, and appreciate 
whatever it is that you have in 
life. I highly recommend this 
book. [“The Glass Castle” is 
published by Scribner, 2005]

 

[Nyerges has been teaching wild 
food and survival classes since 
1974, and is the author of “Guide 
to Wild Foods,” “How to Survive 
Anywhere,” and other books. He 
can be reached at School of Self-
reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, 
CA 90041]


ORDINANCE NO. 1360-U

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE, CALIFORNIA ESTABLISHING AN INTERIM 
MORATORIUM ORDINANCE PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858 ON THE DEMOLITION, IN PART OR IN 
WHOLE, OF SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES AND DUPLEXES CONSTRUCTED PRIOR TO A DESIGNATED DATE AND DECLARING 
THE URGENCY THEREOF

WHEREAS, the City of Sierra Madre, which was incorporated over 107 years ago, is proud of its eclectic mix of residential architectural styles reflected in its 
existing neighborhoods, predominated by the natural terrain and mountain view, which lend to is character as the “village of the foothills;” and

WHEREAS, this existing housing stock—some examples of which have been deemed a historic resource and many of which may be considered potential historic 
resources--help to create the identify and atmosphere of community, and the City actively encourages historic preservation through the use of Mills Act contracts; and

WHEREAS, the historic and potentially historic quality and character of Sierra Madre’s neighborhoods directly contributes to a healthy and safe life for residents, who 
walk, congregate, play and want to live in neighborhoods that have character and history; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that 77% of the existing housing stock within Sierra Madre is 45 years old or older, thus reflecting the community’s value in preservation; 
and 

WHEREAS, in recognition of this resource, the City Council has authorized the request for proposals for the preparation of a “historic resources survey,” by a 
professional consultant and such historic resources survey is not anticipated to be ready until mid-2015 or early 2016; and

WHEREAS, the City is simultaneously updating its General Plan and reviewing its existing zoning and development codes for protection of its resources, including 
water given the extraordinary drought conditions, and during this period, no new construction or development on property which does not already have existing water 
service connections is permitted; and 

WHEREAS, the City has observed a trend in the San Gabriel Valley where developers purchase property and demolish the existing home, regardless of the home’s 
potential historic value, in favor of new construction which, due to its style and lot coverage, does not preserve or reflect the community character and values or its 
potential historic resources; and

WHEREAS, in 2014, the City of Sierra Madre received applications for 14 demolitions—more than twice the average it has experienced in prior years; and in January 
2015, the City has already received four applications to demolish four residential structures, including structures over 100 years old; and

WHEREAS, the City Council intends to review and update the provisions of its development and zoning code to implement new zoning and development requirements 
and conditions of approval which will enhance protection of its potential and historic resources, such as revisions to Chapter 17.82 regarding historic preservation and 
Chapter 15.04 regarding building code and permit requirements; and 

WHEREAS, The dwindling number of potentially historic buildings in the City and the region, and the risk that more potentially historic buildings will be lost, 
represent a true danger to the health and safety of the community. If demolition of existing structures which may otherwise be considered potential or actual historic 
resources is allowed to occur prior to the completion of the historic resources survey and broader review of the development code (including the historic preservation 
ordinance building code and permit requirements), the loss of these potentially historic resources will be permanent and defeats the purpose of conducting a historic 
resources survey and intended preservation efforts; and

WHEREAS, these issues constitute a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, within the meaning of Government Code Section 65858; 
and

WHEREAS, Government Code Section 65858, a provision of the State Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes an interim, urgency zoning ordinance to prevent 
development which may be inconsistent with a plan under development—such as the City’s intended survey of historic resources and current update of its General Plan 
and development and zoning codes to enact regulations which are protective of the City’s need to preserve existing housing stock and potential and existing historic 
resources--pending adoption of that plan.

NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE FURTHER FINDS that the adoption of this Ordinance is necessary to protect the 
public safety, health and welfare by ensuring well-planned and water efficient development of properties in the City necessary to conserve the finite water resources for 
all customers and that it should adopt this interim urgency zoning ordinance as authorized by Government Code Section 65858 and

THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code or any other ordinance of the City of Sierra Madre, and except as otherwise 
provided in this Ordinance, no person shall cause the demolition of and no demolition permit or combined building and demolition permit shall be issued for the 
demolition, in part or in whole, of any single-family dwelling or duplex which was constructed on or prior to December 31, 1940 on any lot in any zone within the City.

For purposes of this Ordinance, “demolition” is defined as the destruction and removal, in part or in whole, of the foundation, exterior walls or roof structure, including 
supporting members of a single-family dwelling or a duplex.

Section 2. The provisions of Section 1 of this Ordinance shall not apply to any of the following:

(a) Demolition of any interior walls of any structure for the purpose of remodel, repair or maintenance, subject to any required permits;

(b) Removal and replacement, subject to any required permits, of exterior windows, doors, roof covering, foundation or exterior siding where the materials used 
for maintenance and replacement do not alter the appearance, size or character of the existing structure;

(c) Demolition, in whole or in part, where the City Engineer or Building Official or his or her designee makes a written determination that demolition is 
necessary to immediately abate an imminent hazard to public safety;

(d) Demolition of up to 25% or less of a structure built prior to 1940 for the purpose of limited remodeling/addition, when all of the following conditions exist:

 (i) the demolition is required for an addition/alteration to the structure;

 (ii) the addition is permitted at the same time as the required demolition; and

 (iii) neither the demolished portion of the structure nor the addition will be visible from the public right-of-way or any public property.

 (iv) the site plan and all required permits for the remodel have been approved by the applicable City reviewing authority.

(e) Any project for which all necessary discretionary approvals have been granted and for which a demolition permit has been issued by the Building Department 
before the close of business on the day this Ordinance takes effect;

(f) Any project for which a demolition permit application and an accompanying development proposal has been deemed complete before the close of business on 
the day this Ordinance takes effect, when all the following conditions exist:

 (i) a written historic assessment, completed at the applicant’s cost, by a licensed, certified architectural historian selected from a list maintained by the 
City. is provided which concludes that the property proposed to be demolished is not a local historically significant resource. 

Section 3. Taking. If a person can demonstrate that the application of this ordinance to his or her property would constitute a taking in violation of the federal 
or California Constitution or would otherwise be unlawful, an exception to this moratorium can be made pursuant to a variance approved under Section Chapter 17.60 of 
the Sierra Madre Municipal Code. No variance application shall be required if the Director, in consultation with the City Attorney, determines that an exception to this 
Ordinance is legally required. In such case, an approval may be granted only if the approving officer or body of the City finds that the exception is legally required.

Section 4. CEQA Finding. The City Council hereby finds that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the adoption of this Ordinance, and 
establishment of a moratorium hereby, may have a significant effect on the environment, because the moratorium will impose greater limitations on development in the 
City, and protect the aesthetic character of Sierra Madre, thereby serving to reduce potential significant adverse environmental impacts. The adoption of this ordinance is 
therefore exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review pursuant to Title 14, Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Code of Regulations.

 Section 5. Severability. Should any provision of this Ordinance, or its application to any person, parcel or circumstance, be determined by a court of competent 
jurisdiction to be unlawful, unenforceable or otherwise void, that determination shall have no effect on any other provision of this Ordinance or the application of this 
Ordinance to any other person, parcel or circumstance and, to that end, the provisions hereof are severable. 

 Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance is adopted by a 4/5 vote of the Sierra Madre City Council, shall take effect immediately upon its adoption as provided 
by Government Code Section 65858, and shall be of no further force at 11:59 p.m. on March 13, 2015, unless extended or terminated by further action of the City Council. 

 Section 7. Certification. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published or posted 
according to law.

PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED, this 27th day of January, 2015 by the following vote:

AYES: Mayor John Harabedian, Mayor Pro Tem John Capoccia, Council Members Rachelle Arizmendi, Denise Delmar, Gene Goss

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