Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 21, 2016

THE WORLD AROUND US

10

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 21, 2016 


DWARF PLANET HAUMEA’S LUNAR SYSTEM SMALLER THAN ANTICIPATED:

Haumea, a dwarf planet on the edge of our solar 
system, doesn’t have the same kind of moons 
as its well-known cousin Pluto, according to 
a new study. This is despite original evidence 
that suggested they both formed in similar giant 
impacts and adds to the mystery shrouding how 
these icy bodies formed.

 Haumea, named for the Hawaiian goddess 
of fertility and childbirth, has two known 
satellites, an unusually high spin rate, and is 
also the “parent” of a large family of icy bodies 
in the outer solar system that used to be chunks 
of its surface, but which now orbit the Sun on 
their own. These unique features are indicative 
of an ancient collision and make Haumea one 
of the most interesting objects in the Kuiper 
Belt, said Darin Ragozzine, assistant professor 
of physics and space sciences at Florida Institute 
of Technology and leader of the study.

 Pluto and Haumea are the only outer solar 
system bodies with more than one moon. Pluto 
boasts the very large Charon and four tiny 
moons. The other known Kuiper Belt dwarf 
planets, Eris and Makemake, have a medium 
and tiny moon, respectively. Makemake’s moon 
was discovered in April.

 But beyond its two known medium-size 
satellites, Haumea doesn’t seem to have small, 
icy moons similar to Pluto’s. “While we’ve 
known about Pluto’s and Haumea’s moons 
for years, we now know that Haumea does not 
share tiny moons like Pluto’s, increasing our 
understanding of this intriguing object,” says 
Ragozzine.

 The observations also seem to imply that, 
despite some similarities, the satellite systems 
of the icy dwarf planets had different pathways 
to their formation. Even with the new result, 
Ragozzine emphasizes that both Pluto and 
Haumea moon systems have the planetary 
science community stumped. “There is no self-
consistent formation hypothesis for either set of 
satellites.”

 The Haumea observations were made with the 
Hubble Space Telescope, which was focused on 
a ten-consecutive-orbit sequence in 2010. The 
hunt for extra moons around Haumea relied on 
a novel technique labeled the “non-linear shift-
and-stack” method, an approach that may be 
useful for other satellite searches or detecting 
yet-unknown Kuiper Belt objects.

 As continued analyzes of NASA New Horizons 
observations of Pluto roll in, Ragozzine is 
seeking funding to try to get to the bottom of 
Haumea. The new understanding that the dwarf 
planet doesn’t have tiny moons and exhibits 
other unusual characteristics adds to the puzzle.

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


A comparison of the four icy dwarf planets and their moons, with all objects to scale. These large bodies in the outer solar system share many 
similarities, but one difference is that only Pluto has a collection of tiny moons shown near the center. Credit: D. Ragozzine (FIT), NASA, JHU, 
SwRI.


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

LEARNING ABOUT MUSHROOMS

MY AMAZING FASCINATION 

WITH SUMMER


Recently, when my 
“Foraging Oregon” book 
was released, one person 
criticized that it did not 
include mushrooms in the book because “mushrooms 
are part of foraging.” Obviously, the person didn’t 
actually read the book, and so he missed my reasons 
for not including mushrooms in the book. Yes, some 
mushrooms are easily identified, like chicken of the 
woods, yet there are many lesser-known related species 
in the “safe” groups can cause sickness if not processed 
right.

 Mycology was the science that obsessed me the most, 
before botany, and back in the early ‘70s, mycologists 
were few and far between. Besides getting every book 
on the subject, I also joined the Los Angeles Mycological 
Association, and spent many weekends in fields and 
wild areas looking for mushrooms, and learning how 
to identify them. 

 Though I’ve written over a dozen books on wild 
foods and self-reliance, I’ve never written a book 
exclusively on mushrooms. The reason is because there 
are many specialists out there who’ve already written 
some excellent mycology books. I admit, I shared 
some basics of mycology in my “Testing Your Outdoor 
Survival Skills” book, and I’ve used my mushroom quiz 
for the basis of many lectures.

 My publisher of the Falcon Guides wanted me to 
include a few mushrooms in my “Foraging California” 
book, partly because all of the other books in that 
foraging series included a few mushrooms. But I 
decided not to include even a few “simple” mushrooms, 
in part because there are really far too many members 
of each genus than are ever included in any book, and 
so amateurs really have no practical way of knowing 
these “look-alikes” even exist. I still read about experts 
who ate the wrong mushroom, and died, usually slow 
and painfully. 

 Consider that there are many more good botanists 
than mycologists because you can go out any day (more 
or less) and study the flowering plants and trees, and 
you can get to know them well. But mushrooms don’t 
last so long. They appear seemingly at random, and 
they disappear. There are therefore not as many good 
mycologists as botanists because it takes a lot more 
time and dedication to study the mostly ephemeral 
mushrooms. 

 Also, even the best mycology books do not 
include all the possible mushrooms that you might 
find in an area. At one time or another, I believe 
I have possessed every notable book published on 
mycology. Each contains verbal descriptions, and 
one or two photos. Some contain technical keys 
for differentiating the mushroom you found with 
every other mushroom. But if the mushroom in 
your hand is not found in the book in which you 
are now looking, you might be tempted to conclude 
that what’s in your hand must be this one or that one 
in the book. Maybe, maybe not. No harm done if 
you’re just trying to identify the mushroom, and if 
you don’t intend to eat it. But it’s an entirely different 
ball game if you intend to eat the wild mushroom.

 We’ve all heard the old rule: there are old mushroom 
hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but 
there are no old and bold mushroom hunters. Sad, but 
true.

 When I was just starting out learning mycology, 
I insisted on eating every mushrooms that the old 
experts identified to me as being edible. Some were 
good, some were not. I had at least a few unpleasant 
vomiting sessions. I no longer care to try every “edible” 
mushroom.

 In other words, there are a LOT of mushrooms out 
there, and not all of them are described in books. If 
you want to eat wild mushroom, learn mycology first 
(the study of mushrooms) and then learn mycophagy 
second (the study of how to eat wild mushrooms). 
Learn by taking a class where you will see the actual 
mushrooms, hopefully in the field at least some of the 
time. Join a local mushroom society where you can go 
on field trips. Then, use internet sites, and videos, and 
books as the back up to your direct field experience.

 

BOOKS

 And yes, there are some really good books out there.

 Here are just a few of the books that I highly 
recommend for those of you who choose to pursue the 
science of mycology, without losing your life:

 “California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive 
Identification Guide,” by Desjardin, Wood, and Stevens 
(Timber Press, 2015). This new book is expensive, 
hard-cover, all color photos, up-to-date, and useful well 
beyond just California. You get a good comprehensive 
overview of the world of mycology, with all the types 
of fungi broken into their categories with keys to help 
you identify the mushroom in hand. Well worth the 
money. This over-sized book is over 550 pages.

 “Mushrooms Demystified,” by David Arora (Ten 
Speed Press, 1986). David Arora is perhaps the man 
when it comes to mycology. A thick book with 2000 
species, over 800 photos, mostly black and white but 
many in color. If this is the only book you had, you’d 
do well, and you’d learn that patience is part of studying 
mycology. Nearly 1000 pages.

 “The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms” by 
Lamaison and Polese (Konemann, 2005). This is an 
English version of a German original, really more of 
a coffee table book that is a very good introduction 
to mycology. A very good pictorial overview, and 
if you master this, you’re ready for one of the other 
books.

 “The Mushroom Manual” by Pearson 
(Naturegraph, 2014) Both amateurs and 
professionals will enjoy this book. It does not 
purport to tell you everything you ever wanted to 
know about mushrooms. It does, however, give the 
reader an excellent overview of fungi. It includes the 
“foolproof four” that anyone can identify and eat, 
the fatal five (deadly mushrooms), the nine basic 
groups, and mushroom identification keys.

It comes as a great relief to me that winter is 
over and summer has stepped up and taken 
its rightful place. I really love summer. I am 
fascinated with all aspects associated with 
summer.

 Some people, like the Gracious Mistress of 
the Parsonage, enjoy the aspects of winter, 
primarily the cold. I just do not like the cold. 
I will accept a cold shoulder occasionally, but 
that is as far as I will go in the area cold.

 Winter has no aspects of fascination for me. 
I do not like being cold, shivering and my nose 
tingling with frostbite. Winter is certainly not 
for me.

 During the wintertime, I have to wear all 
kinds of clothing and coats and sweaters. In 
the summer time, I can relax, sit on the back 
porch with a glass of iced tea and enjoy the 
butterflies floating through the flowers. Ah, 
what a wonderful time summer is.

 This brings up the sharp difference between 
my wife and me. For some reason she loves 
winter. This may have something to do with 
her growing up in upper state New York where 
it is snowy and wintry all the time. I remember 
visiting once in August and just about froze to 
death.

 But she enjoys chilly temperatures. She 
enjoys when the temperature falls below 70.

 I have a basic rule in life. When the 
temperature falls below my age, I’m cold. Each 
year it seems to be getting a little higher.

 The thing about summer is simply this; when 
it gets really, really hot, I simply turn on the air 
conditioner, which truly works. Not so much 
in the winter. No matter how cold it is I cannot 
seem to get the temperature high enough to 
ward off that chilly, frosty feeling.

 I know in the middle of winter we have a 
holiday called “Christmas.” Have you ever 
noticed how Santa Claus dresses?

 He is extremely overweight, all that 
insulation under his skin, plus he wears a huge 
red coat with a hat. Most of the time he is also 
wearing gloves. If he really enjoyed winter, he 
would experience winter in the beauty of its 
rawness.

 However, summer for me has many 
amenities. For example, you can tell your wife 
that you are going fishing and never actually 
get to the lake to do any fishing. Along the way, 
you see a nice area where people are having 
picnics and just sitting under some lovely trees. 
Basking in the sunlight of summer is worth all 
that it is made up to be.

 Summer is also the time for picnics.

 It begins with Memorial Day, which is the 
first picnic day of the summer. From then on 
there is a picnic day set for every month of the 
summer. In fact, in July, I make sure there are 
two picnic days just in case I miss the first one.

 The beautiful thing about a picnic is you can 
eat with your fingers. In the house, the wife 
wants me to eat with forks and spoons and all 
of that kitchenware stuff. Out on the picnic 
table I can eat as I am supposed to eat: with my 
fingers.

 Summer is the time to chill out. During the 
winter you are running here and there and 
trying to catch up with this holiday and that 
holiday. Summer is the time to slow down and 
enjoy the sunshine.

 I am not sure why there are more holidays 
throughout the winter than there are during 
the summer, but I sure am grateful for the 
person who set up that calendar. Summer is 
not celebrating this holiday and that holiday; 
summer is enjoying the outdoors as much as 
possible.

 Just the other day I was heading out the door 
and the wife called after me and said, “Where 
are you going?”

 I thought about that for a moment, smiled 
and said, “I don’t know where I’m going.”

 There was a slight pause and then she said, 
“Can I go with you?”

 The beautiful thing about summer is that you 
can go somewhere without going anywhere. 
Nothing is more pleasant than having nowhere 
to go and taking your time getting there.

 If I had anything to do with it, and I certainly 
don’t, I would make sure there would be 
summer the year round. I will never, ever get 
tired of the summer time.

 Sitting on the porch one afternoon the wife 
came out and said, “What are you doing? Don’t 
you have something to do?”

 I rocked back and forth three times without 
even looking at her and said, “I’m doing 
nothing and liking every moment of it.”

 She then joined me in doing nothing and we 
did nothing for the rest of the afternoon. I had 
things to do. She, of course, had things to do. 
But we just joined our hearts in doing nothing 
together. Nothing is better than a summer 
afternoon when you can do nothing together 
and enjoy every moment of it.

 I like with the preacher said, “I said in mine 
heart, God shall judge the righteous and the 
wicked: for there is a time there for every 
purpose and for every work” (Ecclesiastes 
3:17).

 If there is a time for work, then there should 
be plenty of time for rest. If I don’t get my rest, 
how can I do the work that I have to do?

 The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the 
Family of God Fellowship, in Silver Springs 
Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail 
jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is 
www.whatafellowship.com.

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