The World Around Us | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, October 15, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE WORLD AROUND US 10 Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 15, 2016 PROXIMA CENTAURI: MORE SUN-LIKE THAN WE THOUGHT? In August, astronomers announced that the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, hosts an Earth-sized planet (called Proxima b) in its habitable zone. At first glance, Proxima Centauri seems nothing like our Sun. It’s a small, cool, red dwarf star that’s only one-tenth as massive and one-thousandth as luminous as the Sun. However, new research shows that it is Sun-like in one surprising way: It has a regular cycle of starspots. Starspots (like sunspots) are dark blotches on a star’s surface where the temperature is a little cooler than the surrounding area. They are driven by magnetic fields. A star is made of ionized gases called plasma. Magnetic fields can restrict the plasma’s flow and create spots. Changes to a star’s magnetic field can affect the number and distribution of starspots. Our Sun experiences an 11-year sunspot activity cycle. At the solar minimum, the Sun is nearly spot- free. At solar maximum, typically more than 100 sunspots cover less than one percent of the Sun’s surface. The new study finds that Proxima Centauri undergoes a similar cycle lasting seven years from peak to peak. However, its cycle is much more dramatic. At least a full one-fifth of the star’s surface is covered in spots at once. Also, some of those spots are much bigger relative to the star’s size than the spots on our Sun. “If intelligent aliens were living on Proxima b, they would have a very dramatic view,” says lead author Brad Wargelin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). Astronomers were surprised to detect a stellar activity cycle in Proxima Centauri because its interior is expected to be very different from the Sun’s. The outer third of the Sun experiences a roiling motion called convection, similar to water boiling in a pot, while the Sun’s interior remains relatively still. There is a difference in the speed of rotation between these two regions. Many astronomers think the shear arising from this difference is responsible for generating the Sun’s magnetic activity cycle. In contrast, the interior of a small red dwarf like Proxima Centauri should be convective all the way into the star’s core. As a result, it shouldn’t experience a regular cycle of activity. “The existence of a cycle in Proxima Centauri shows that we don’t understand how stars’ magnetic fields are generated as well as we thought we did,” says Smithsonian co-author Jeremy Drake. The study does not address whether Proxima Centauri’s activity cycle would affect the potential habitability of the planet Proxima b. Theory suggests that flares or a stellar wind, both of which are driven by magnetic fields, could scour the planet and strip away any atmosphere. In that case, Proxima b might be like Earth’s Moon—located in the habitable zone, but not at all friendly to life. “Direct observations of Proxima b won’t happen for a long time. Until then, our best bet is to study the star and then plug that information into theories about star-planet interactions,” says co-author Steve Saar. The team detected the activity cycle using ground- based observations from the All Sky Automated Survey combined with space-based X-ray measurements by several missions, including Swift, Chandra, and XMM-Newton. You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@ MtnViewsNews.com. OUT TO PASTOR A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder CHRISTOPHER Nyerges GROWING THE “LAZY-MAN’S” GARDEN WHERE HAVE ALL THE CLOWNS GONE? The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were getting ourselves situated in the living room with some after supper coffee while watching the little bit of TV. These days, a little bit of TV is about all a person can handle. Nothing quite measures up to a nice hot cup of coffee after a scrumptious supper and if anybody can scrumpturize a supper, it is the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Every once in a while she will point out the fact that I am not as skinny as I once was. My response to her is simply this, “It’s your fault for being such a wonderful cook.” That stops the conversation; she smiles, sits back and thinks about what I just said. I sit back and smile thinking that I have gotten out of another bit of a pickle. It is very hard to keep up with the news today because we have such technology that whatever happens anywhere in the universe we have an immediate story about it. I do not know about anybody else, but I am just a little bit tired of the news these days. My wife and I were shocked this week to see a news report about, of all things, clowns. These clowns, so the reporter went on, were scaring people and committing crimes like robbery. Really? Then they had some footage of somebody dressed up as a clown, frightening people and threatening to do bodily harm. Now, some places are forbidding clowns to show up. Even during the Halloween season, some stores are not selling clown costumes. How far have we gone in our culture when clowns are a threat to our culture? It was not always that way. In high school, for example, I was often referred to as the class clown. That was a title of deep reverence and pride. To be the class clown meant you were doing things that made other people laugh. You were joking and clowning around and creating a great deal of merriment. With the tension many of our high school teachers created in class, the class clown had an important job of bringing down the tension. If there were awards for being the class clown, I certainly would have gotten one in high school. They only have awards for scholarship and athletics. I say nothing is more important in a class than the class clown. There should be some kind of recognition in this area. Then when I was growing up, my mother kept telling me to, “Stop clowning around!” At the time, I really did not understand what she was trying to say. In high school, it was a measure of acceptance, but in the home, it was something inappropriate. Although I do respect my mother, I have yet to “stop clowning around.” Now, I have my wife telling me to, “Stop clowning around.” I have often wondered if this is not some kind of gene passed on to every woman. There was not just one news story about these fallacious clowns doing all sorts of criminal activity, but it seemed to be as if a trend was developing. I have a friend of mine who is a professional clown and does all kinds of work with children’s and charity activities. You would not find a nicer person in all the world than my good clown friend. I have not talked to him about this new development in clownville, but I am sure he has a good take on it. The purpose of the clown is to make people laugh. That’s all. Now even a certain fast food chain has given their clown a vacation until some of this nonsense passes over. I think this is stupid. I believe that if somebody is misusing the clown motif for “naughty activities,” the people who are affected the most should justly punish him. And by that, I mean children and people who still are acting like children. If any of these people dressed in a clown outfit should be caught doing something that is unclownish there should be some very dire circumstances administered in an appropriate way. Like a pie in the face. At one time, no circus was complete without a whole bunch a clowns keeping the merriment going strong. All of these false clowns should be gathered together and dealt with rather brutishly. After all, if you are going to defame such a sacred character in the American culture, you need to be dealt with very severely. How dare somebody do this sort of thing to an iconic figure of American society? Why is it we have some people who will take something that is very precious to certain people, turn it around and make it a very negative and nasty thing? There should be a law against that sort of thing. Where is the politician that is going to put his or her foot down against this kind of travesty in our society? Is nothing sacred anymore in our country? I think the apostle Paul had something like this in mind when he wrote, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1:15). Why will some people take something that other people get pleasure from and turn it into something negative? Only a corrupt mind would do this. Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, Ocala, FL 34483, where he lives with his wife. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web site is www. jamessnyderministries.com. [Nyerges is the author of “Extreme Simplicity:Homesteading in the City,” “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Guide to Wild Foods,” and other books. He can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.] Are you like me – a lazy gardener? I’m not really lazy-lazy – it’s just that there are so many things in life that require our attention. Still, I marvel at my friends who seem to have all day to create beautiful gardens with beautiful rows with wind chimes and special bricks lining the paths and vegetables that should be on the cover of some magazine. I admire such gardens, but I do not spend the time that it takes to create such showplace gardens, where you can invite friends and community to regale in your productivity. Nevertheless, I seem to be the type of person who cannot live without a garden. A garden of some sort, even if all the vegetables are in pots and tubs in a tiny back yard. I insist on all organic, and I love variety. And wherever possible, I like to grow those plants that require the least amount of work for the return. Years ago, when I taught an “Integral Gardening” class at a local junior college, students constantly wanted to know why certain plants did not grow well in their yard. They asked about roses, petunias, lettuce, corn, broccoli, and on and on. In general, when they wanted to know why a particular plant did not grow well, I directed them to the Sunset Gardening book where they could analyze their plant. Or I directed them to the Rodale book which shows pictures of which bugs are eating your plants, and which leaf discolorations indicate which mineral deficiencies, or other problem. However, I always tried to impress upon the student two basic principles of my lazy man’s guide to gardening. One, wherever you live, look at your yard. Each plot of soil is unique because of the slope of the land, the way the sun and wind affect that land, the type of soil, and the types of trees already growing there, such as eucalyptus, for example. Observe what already grows well in your yard. Then, as you begin to plant various herbs and vegetables, you will observe that some do well, and some do not do well. Focus on those which do well. Those that consistently do not grow well in your yard are perhaps not suited for your area. Second, rather than focus on the specific needs of individual plants, focus always on improving the soil. Quality soil is the basis of good agriculture. Add compost, add earthworms, use mulch, whatever it takes. THE PERENNIAL GARDEN Over the years, I have encouraged those garden plants that take care of themselves. That means they are hardy, insect-repellant, and mostly perennials. For those of you who are non-gardeners, an annual plant means you plant it in the spring and it is dead by fall. A perennial means you plant it once and it is like the Eveready bunny-- it just keeps going and going, year after year. I love perennials, especially if it is a plant that I enjoy eating. When I first began gardening at my parents’ home many years ago, I grew Jerusalem artichokes. These are sunflowers which are native to eastern North America. They produce volumes of underground tubers, which are good raw, or cooked like potatoes. Unless you have lots of gophers, most anyone can grow Jerusalem artichokes, also called sunchokes. Potatoes are easy to grow. I usually take potatoes from the store which have sprouted, and then plant them in a big mulch pile. They grow and grow, and when they die back,you dig into the pile and harvest the big potatoes. You keep the little ones in the ground and so the potato patch continues to grow, year after year. Onions are another easy crop which is easy to grow, and they are perennial if you only pinch off the greens and leave the roots for multiplication. In fact, when left in the ground, onion bulb multiply every season, and you can separate them to increase the size of your onion patch. You can eat some of the bulbs when you do this division. A benefit of onions is that they tend to be highly insect-resistant for the garden. Any members of this family can be grown likewise: onions, chives, leeks, etc. Swiss chard was one of the first plants I used to grow in my garden. Though not technically a perennial, the plant will readily produce seed and reseed itself if you leave a few plants growing each season. Though the subsequent seasons will produce smaller leaves, you can still create an endless source of the chard leaves. One of my favorite experiments in gardening was with New Zealand spinach. I originally dug up a small plant on the fringe of a beach near Malibu, and planted it in the hillside garden. This is a constantly sprawling perennial plant, and over the course of several years, it covered at least a thousand square feet in a succulent, edible groundcover. Unlike regular garden spinach (which is an annual), New Zealand spinach leaves can be harvested year- round, a little here, a little there. It is even tastier than regular spinach, and can be added to salads, soups, sandwiches, stews. My aunt and uncle in Ohio introduced me to the asparagus plant, which is a beautiful ferny plant most of the year, producing little red (not-edible) fruits in the fall. In the spring, the rootstock of the asparagus produces the young shoots, which you cut and eat. And guess what? Once you have a good productive rootstock of asparagus, it will produce shoots for about 50 years! That’s a great lazy-man’s garden plant. This just scratches the surface of the plants to grow in a perennial garden. If you have questions, please write to me c/o this paper. Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||