As sun-grazing comet ISON approaches the sun, it's getting progressively brighter ? and might even flare into a dazzling object bright enough to be visible in broad daylight.
By Joe Rao / April 25, 2013
Comet ISON was photographed by the Hubble telescope on April 10, 2013 when the comet was 386 million miles from the Sun (slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit). Around the time the 'comet of the century' makes its closest approach to the Sun, on November 28, it may briefly become brighter than the full Moon, say NASA researchers.
NASA Hubble telescope / Courtesy of NASA / Reuters
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An exceptional comet flying ever closer to the sun may offer an amazing naked eye sight to Earth dwellers this fall as it gradually brightens.
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As comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) continues to approach the sun, it is slowly responding to the increasing warmth of the sun and getting progressively brighter. The comet is getting considerable scrutiny from both amateur and professional scientists because it's a rare sungrazing comet, destined to approach to within 730,000 miles (1.17 million kilometers) of the surface of the sun on Nov. 28. Because of this extremely close approach, comet ISON holds the "potential" to flare into a dazzling object ? possibly becoming bright enough to be briefly glimpsed in broad daylight.?
Still, at this early stage in the comet's development, we can't be sure if this will actually happen.
A Swift look
Although still quite far from the sun and very faint, the comet has been imaged by two orbiting observatories. Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park and Lowell Observatory used NASA's Swift satellite to check out the comet during January and February. Using images acquired from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, the team was able to make initial estimates of the comet's water and dust production and then used these values to determine the size of ISON's icy nucleus. ?These observations revealed that each minute ISON was shedding about 56 tons (51,000 kg) of dust, or about two-thirds the mass of an unfueled space shuttle. Jets powered by sublimating ice also release dust, which reflects sunlight and brightens the comet.
By contrast, however, the comet was producing only about 130 pounds (60 kg) of water every minute, or about four times the amount flowing out of a residential sprinkler system. At the time, however, the comet was nearly half a billion miles from the sun. Typically, a comet's water content remains frozen until it comes within about three times Earth's distance to the sun ? about 280 million miles (450 million km) away. ISON won't be this close to the sun until early July at which time the water production rate should markedly increase.
The water and dust production rates from Swift were used to estimate the size of ISON's icy body. Comparing the amount of gas needed for a normal comet to blow off dust at the rate observed for ISON, the scientists estimate that the nucleus is roughly 3 miles (5 km) across, a typical size for a comet. This assumes that only the fraction of the surface most directly exposed to the sun, about 10 percent of the total, is actively producing jets.
Hubble's turn
More recently, Planetary Science Institute research scientist Jian-Yang Li led a team that imaged comet ISON with the Hubble Space Telescope on April 10 using the Wide Field Camera 3. At this point, the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter at 386 million miles (621 million kilometers) from the sun and 394 million miles (634 million kilometers) from Earth.
Researchers determine where best to place defibrillatorsPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Lavender terry.lavender@utoronto.ca 416-978-4498 University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
TORONTO: Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest. And MIE Professor Tim Chan, working with Dr. Laurie Morrison at St. Michael's Hospital, has developed a formula to determine where best to place these costly but life-saving devices.
In a paper published in Circulation, Chan and Morrison note that publicly registered AEDs in Toronto are not in the best locations to help victims of cardiac arrest. In fact, less than one in four of all cardiac arrests had an AED close by (within 100 metres is the required distance). The average distance to the nearest AED was closer to 300 meters.
Current guidelines suggest areas associated with the highest risk of cardiac arrest should be targeted for AED deployment, after they have been placed in obvious high-traffic areas such as transportation hubs or major sports venues. But it's not clear how to identify these "cardiac hot spots."
Timothy Chan and Morrison looked at the locations of all 1,310 public cardiac arrests in Toronto between December 2005 and July 2010 and the locations of all 1,699 AEDS registered with Toronto Emergency Medical Services.
They found that 304 cardiac arrests occurred within 100 metres of at least one AED (23 per cent).One hundred metres was chosen as the yardstick because it's the approximate distance a bystander could transport an AED in a 1.5-minute walkthe maximum recommended by the American Heart Association.
There were almost three times as many public cardiac arrests in downtown Toronto as the rest of the city 3.5 per square kilometer per year vs. 0.4 said Chan. Almost half of all downtown cardiac arrests were near an existing AED compared to only 17 per cent those outside of downtown.
Chan then looked at the 1,006 cardiac arrests that did not take place near an AED. He said that be placing AEDs in the top 30 cardiac arrest "hot spots," they could have covered an additional 112 historical arrests, or 32 per cent. The average distance between a cardiac arrest and an AED would fall to 262 metres from 281 meters.
"Reducing the distance a bystander needs to travel by 20 metres or up to 40 meters in a roundtrip has the potential to save close to half a minute in response time," said Morrison, an emergency medicine specialist who heads Rescu, the largest research team of its kind in Canada dedicated to improving out-of-hospital resuscitation.
"If you have a cardiac arrest, every second counts. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest kills an estimated 300,000 people in North America annually," she said. "Only five per cent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survive to be discharged from hospital. The probability of survival decreases up to 10 per cent with each minute of delay between collapse and treatment."
Chan said his mathematical model is more accurate than a population-based model, in which AEDs are placed in areas of densest daytime population.
"Our optimization model should be viewed as a decision-support tool to help prioritize placement of AEDs, make efficient use of public, donor or private funds directed toward public access defibrillator programs, and potentially maximize survival on the basis of geographic patterns of cardiac arrest," said Chan. "Because AEDs are expensive and cannot be placed everywhere, our model allows a decision-maker to quantify the trade-off between the number of AEDS deployed and coverage."
###
About St. Michael's Hospital
St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Center, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
About University of Toronto Engineering
Founded in 1873, U of T Engineering has approximately 5,200 undergraduate students, 1,950 graduate students and 240 faculty members. U of T Engineering is at the fore of innovation in engineering education and research and ranks first in Canada and among the top Engineering schools worldwide.
For more information or to interview, please contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Phone: 416-864-6094
shepherdl@smh.ca
St. Michael's Hospital
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
http://www.stmichaelshospital.com
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stmikeshospital
Terry Lavender
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, University of Toronto
http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca
@UofTEng_Media
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Researchers determine where best to place defibrillatorsPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Lavender terry.lavender@utoronto.ca 416-978-4498 University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
TORONTO: Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest. And MIE Professor Tim Chan, working with Dr. Laurie Morrison at St. Michael's Hospital, has developed a formula to determine where best to place these costly but life-saving devices.
In a paper published in Circulation, Chan and Morrison note that publicly registered AEDs in Toronto are not in the best locations to help victims of cardiac arrest. In fact, less than one in four of all cardiac arrests had an AED close by (within 100 metres is the required distance). The average distance to the nearest AED was closer to 300 meters.
Current guidelines suggest areas associated with the highest risk of cardiac arrest should be targeted for AED deployment, after they have been placed in obvious high-traffic areas such as transportation hubs or major sports venues. But it's not clear how to identify these "cardiac hot spots."
Timothy Chan and Morrison looked at the locations of all 1,310 public cardiac arrests in Toronto between December 2005 and July 2010 and the locations of all 1,699 AEDS registered with Toronto Emergency Medical Services.
They found that 304 cardiac arrests occurred within 100 metres of at least one AED (23 per cent).One hundred metres was chosen as the yardstick because it's the approximate distance a bystander could transport an AED in a 1.5-minute walkthe maximum recommended by the American Heart Association.
There were almost three times as many public cardiac arrests in downtown Toronto as the rest of the city 3.5 per square kilometer per year vs. 0.4 said Chan. Almost half of all downtown cardiac arrests were near an existing AED compared to only 17 per cent those outside of downtown.
Chan then looked at the 1,006 cardiac arrests that did not take place near an AED. He said that be placing AEDs in the top 30 cardiac arrest "hot spots," they could have covered an additional 112 historical arrests, or 32 per cent. The average distance between a cardiac arrest and an AED would fall to 262 metres from 281 meters.
"Reducing the distance a bystander needs to travel by 20 metres or up to 40 meters in a roundtrip has the potential to save close to half a minute in response time," said Morrison, an emergency medicine specialist who heads Rescu, the largest research team of its kind in Canada dedicated to improving out-of-hospital resuscitation.
"If you have a cardiac arrest, every second counts. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest kills an estimated 300,000 people in North America annually," she said. "Only five per cent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survive to be discharged from hospital. The probability of survival decreases up to 10 per cent with each minute of delay between collapse and treatment."
Chan said his mathematical model is more accurate than a population-based model, in which AEDs are placed in areas of densest daytime population.
"Our optimization model should be viewed as a decision-support tool to help prioritize placement of AEDs, make efficient use of public, donor or private funds directed toward public access defibrillator programs, and potentially maximize survival on the basis of geographic patterns of cardiac arrest," said Chan. "Because AEDs are expensive and cannot be placed everywhere, our model allows a decision-maker to quantify the trade-off between the number of AEDS deployed and coverage."
###
About St. Michael's Hospital
St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Center, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
About University of Toronto Engineering
Founded in 1873, U of T Engineering has approximately 5,200 undergraduate students, 1,950 graduate students and 240 faculty members. U of T Engineering is at the fore of innovation in engineering education and research and ranks first in Canada and among the top Engineering schools worldwide.
For more information or to interview, please contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Phone: 416-864-6094
shepherdl@smh.ca
St. Michael's Hospital
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
http://www.stmichaelshospital.com
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stmikeshospital
Terry Lavender
Communications & Media Relations Strategist
Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, University of Toronto
http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca
@UofTEng_Media
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Apple Pop-Up Museum is a small museum in Atlanta that's on a limited run of exhibitions.
The museum chronicles one of the world's most beloved companies from its humble beginnings in the Homebrew Computer Club to the consumer electronics powerhouse it is today.?
The Apple pop up museum in Atlanta is run by Lonnie Mimms, a collector of computers since 1978. Mimms has never disposed of any of the computers he's bought over the years.
Along with his wife Ageneta Mimms and Swedish native Thereze Almstr?m?they curated the museum.?
The museum houses Apple products from the original Apple I all the way to the iPad mini.
Apple fan and developer Don Synstelien got to tour the museum recently and shared his pictures with Business Insider.?
The pop up museum will be open again Saturday May 18th and Saturday June 8th from 10 am - 5 pm at the Kings Market Shipping Center, 1425 Market Boulevard, Suite #200, Rosewell, GA 30076.
After bringing on a new global business lead from Google, Square is making another key executive hire today. The payments company is announcing that Alex Petrov, a former PayPal exec , will be the Square's Vice President of Partnerships.
Well, this is probably the blind leading the blind because I'm only a laymen as well, but my understanding, is that while a black hole will spin for a very long time, and you may somehow be able to extract energy from that (or not), eventually it will stop spinning and then evaporate. Talking about 10^50 years or more here, so a very long time depending on it's size, but eventually it will not be useful to any thing still around. Like I said, this device, will never stop, in theory.
May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...
Flowers lay on the sidewalk at the site of the first explosion at the Boston Marathon finish line after Boylston Street reopened on April 24.
By Bill Dedman and John Schoen, NBC News
In a matter of moments, the Boston Marathon bombings inflicted as much as $333 million in damage to the local economy in lost wages, retail sales and infrastructure damage, according to preliminary estimates. But the effects of the April 15 attack, which killed three people and injured 264 others, continue to send shock-waves far beyond Boylston Street.
Based on published reports and interviews with local business leaders and authorities, here are some figures that hint at the ultimate financial impacts of the bombings, and illustrate the enormous gap between the losses inflicted on the city and victims and the pocket change spent by the alleged killers:
Cost of artificial legs for the 14 people who lost limbs: $20,000 per amputation; $7,200 for a below-the-knee artificial foot up to $90,000 for microprocessor-controlled full leg; tens of thousands for rehab
Total cost of care for 70 hospitalized victims: Could exceed $9 million, according to one rough calculation
Money collected by One Fund Boston established by the city and state to aid marathon victims: $23 million
Cost to Sugar Heaven, 669 Boylston St.: $65,000*
Cost to Abe & Louie?s, 793 Boylston: $500,000**
Cost to Sir Speedy?s Printing, 827 Boylston: $150,000
Cost to Whiskeys? Smokehouse, 885 Boylston: $250,000
Elise Amendola / AP
A city transportation worker fixes a street sign in Boston's Copley Square on April 25.
Total losses from 10 hardest-hit businesses: $2.3 million
Total business losses within the Boston Police Department?s designated ?Impact Zone?: $10 million
Size of Small Business Administration loans available to businesses: Up to $2 million
Value of tickets for canceled Celtics-Pacers NBA game: $1.3 million
Value of tickets for canceled Boston Symphony concert: $175,000***
Value of tickets for three canceled Blue Man Group performances: $105,000***
Lost receipts for New England Aquarium: $130,000
Lost parking ticket revenue: $8 million
Lost fares, one day of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority: $1.56 million****
Net cost of canceled Amtrak service: $180,000
Cost of hijacked SUV: At least $47,270?
Money stolen from SUV driver: $845
List price for Ruger 9mm similar to the handgun allegedly carried by the suspects: $374 to $599
Retail cost of boat where suspect Dzohkhar Tsarnaev hid from police: $50,000
Amount raised to replace David Henneberry?s boat: $50,522.50
Cost of manufacturing six bombs from pressure cookers, elbow pipes, nails, firecrackers and glue: Less than $100 per bomb
Cost of holding a federal prisoner for one year: $25,000
Cost of holding a federal prisoner in a ?supermax? prison for one year: $75,000
*First blast was outside 671 Boylston St.
**Second blast was outside 755 Boylston St.
***Estimate based on average ticket prices
****MBTA was shut down on April 19, during the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Mark Schone and Berenice Garcia of NBC News also contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 2-May-2013
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