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In Photos: A Full ‘Cold Moon’ Occults Mars On A Rare And Auspicious Night For Crewed Spaceflight

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That a full “Cold Moon” could “occult” a planet isn’t particularly rare, but the coincidences piled-up this week to make this event rather special—and a spellbinding view for sky-watchers.

You see, Mars wasn’t just a dot in the sky that disappeared for a few minutes. Mars is this week at its biggest, brightest and best. The red planet is an “opposition,” something that happens only every 26 months and see our faster-moving planet precisely between it and the Sun.

So on the night of Wednesday, December 7, 2022 a full Moon—having recently risen in the east in a blaze of orange—blotted-out a super-bright Mars for up to an hour it was the undoubted astronomical event of the year.

Sky-watchers saw the bright red planet disappear behind the limb of the full Moon—something that took about a minute—before reappearing on the opposite side an hour or so later. Most of North America, northern Mexico, Europe and northern Africa saw the event. A prime-time evening event on December 7 for North America, Europe and Africa saw it as a pre-dawn event on December 8.

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It all happened while Mars was in the in the constellation of Taurus, “the bull” with the red planet shining at a magnitude of -1.9. Astrophotographers capturing the event included Tom Williams, John Krauss and Andrew McCarthy.

If Mars being occulted at almost the exact moment it biggest, brightest and best since 2022 and until 2025 wasn’t enough there were plenty of other coincidences that added to the event’s appeal.

It was exactly 50 years since the night-launch of the Apollo 17 mission, the final crewed mission to land humans on the Moon. On December 7, 1972 astronauts Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Ronald Evans (as well as five live mice) left Kennedy Space Center atop a Saturn V rocket, with Cernan and Schmitt spent three days on the lunar surface at Taurus–Littrow.

On December 13 Cernan stepped back inside the lunar module with the words “As we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.”

That notable anniversary was given an a layer of meaning because as the Moon was being observed occulting Mars—a target for a crewed mission by NASA perhaps in the 2030s or 2040s—a human-rated NASA spacecraft had just passed within just 21 miles of the lunar surface.

Designed for crewed trips to the Moon and Mars, Orion has, since later November, held the record for the farthest human-rated spacecraft to travel from Earth. Its Artemis I mission has been uncrewed, but its next mission—Artemis II —will take astronauts beyond the Moon, probably in 2025.

Orion will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, but before that happens, it’s worth taking some time to look at Mars as the Moon drifts away.

With Mars at opposition it’s at its biggest, brightest and best as it rises in the east after dark, so it’s the perfect time to put a small telescope on the red planet to glimpse its redness and, if you’re lucky, its polar ice caps.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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Federal government announces creation of National Space Council | RCI – Radio-Canada.ca

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April 17, 2024

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The Canadian Space Agency also received a proposed $8.6 million for its lunar program

Posted: April 17, 2024 7:57 PM

Nicole Mortillaro (new window) · CBC News

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Canada’s space sector received a boost from the federal government in its budget, both in terms of money and vision.

The 2024 budget (new window) included a proposal for $8.6 million in 2024-25 to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (new window) (LEAP), which invests in technologies for humanity’s return to the moon and beyond.

In addition to the funding, the federal government also announced the creation of a National Space Council, which will be a new whole-of-government approach to space exploration, technology development, and research.

For Space Canada (new window), an organization comprised of roughly 80 space sector companies including some of Canada’s largest, such as Magellan Aerospace (new window), Maritime Launch (new window) and MDA Space (new window), it was a welcome announcement.

We’ve been advocating for it since the inception of our organization, and we were really very happy, and we applaud the federal government’s commitment announced in the budget, said Brian Gallant, CEO of Space Canada.

Gallant said that investment in space is an investment in Canada.

Two-thirds of space sector jobs are STEM jobs. These are good paying solid jobs for Canadians. And on top of that, we have approximately $2.8 billion that is injected into the Canadian economy because of the space sector, he said.

The U.S. formed its National Space Council in 1989, but it was disbanded in 1992 and reestablished in 2017. 

In the 2023 budget (new window), the government announced proposed spending of $1.2 billion over 13 years, that was to begin in 2024-25, to the CSA’s contribution of a lunar utility (new window) vehicle that would assist astronauts on the moon. The as–yet–developed vehicle could help astronauts move cargo from landing sites to habitats, perform science investigations or support them during spacewalks on the surface of the moon.

It also proposed to invest $150 million over five years for the LEAP program.

MDA Space, the company behind Canadarm, was also pleased with the announcement.

Canada has an enviable global competitive advantage in space and the creation of a National Space Council is critical to Canada maintaining that leadership position, CEO Mike Greenley said in an email to CBC News.

Space is now a rapidly growing, highly strategic and competitive domain, and there is a real and urgent need to recognize its importance to the lives of Canadians and to our economy and national security.

The next project for MDA is Canadarm3, which will be part of Lunar Gateway, a international space station that will orbit the moon. It will serve as a sort of jumping-off point for astronauts heading to the moon and eventually beyond.

The Lunar Gateway is a great opportunity for Canada and for MDA Space to not only provide the next generation of Canadarm robotics but to clearly plant our flag as a core national and industry participant in the Artemis era, Greenley said.

Lunar Gateway is set to begin construction no earlier than 2025 (new window), according to NASA.

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Paleontologists unearth what may be the largest known marine reptile – Science Daily

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2 hours ago

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April 17, 2024

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The fossilised remains of a second gigantic jawbone measuring more than two metres long has been found on a beach in Somerset, UK.

Experts have identified the bones as belonging to the jaws of a new species of enormous ichthyosaur, a type of prehistoric marine reptile. Estimates suggest the oceanic titan would have been more than 25 metres long.

Father and daughter, Justin and Ruby Reynolds from Braunton, Devon, found the first pieces of the second jawbone to be found in May 2020, while searching for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor, Somerset. Ruby, then aged 11, found the first chunk of giant bone before searching together for additional pieces.

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Realising they had discovered something significant, they contacted leading ichthyosaur expert, Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at The University of Manchester. Dr Lomax, who is also a 1851 Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, contacted Paul de la Salle, a seasoned fossil collector who had found the first giant jawbone in May 2016 from further along the coast at Lilstock.

Dr Dean Lomax said: “I was amazed by the find. In 2018, my team (including Paul de la Salle) studied and described Paul’s giant jawbone and we had hoped that one day another would come to light. This new specimen is more complete, better preserved, and shows that we now have two of these giant bones — called a surangular — that have a unique shape and structure. I became very excited, to say the least.”

Justin and Ruby, together with Paul, Dr Lomax, and several family members, visited the site to hunt for more pieces of this rare discovery. Over time, the team found additional pieces of the same jaw which fit together perfectly, like a multimillion-year-old jigsaw.

Justin said: “When Ruby and I found the first two pieces we were very excited as we realised that this was something important and unusual. When I found the back part of the jaw, I was thrilled because that is one of the defining parts of Paul’s earlier discovery.”

The last piece of bone was recovered in October 2022.

The research team, led by Dr Lomax, revealed that the jaw bones belong to a new species of giant ichthyosaur that would have been about the size of a blue whale. Comparing the two examples of the same bone with the same unique features from the same geologic time zone supports their identifications.

The team have called the new genus and species Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning “giant fish lizard of the Severn.”

The bones are around 202 million years old, dating to the end of the Triassic Period in a time known as the Rhaetian. During this time, the gigantic ichthyosaurs swam the seas while the dinosaurs walked on land. It was the titans’ final chapter, however — as the story told in the rocks above these fossils record a cataclysm known as the Late Triassic global mass extinction event. After this time, giant ichthyosaurs from the family known as Shastasauridae go extinct. Today, these bones represent the very last of their kind.

Ichthyotitan is not the world’s first giant ichthyosaur, but de la Salles’ and Reynolds’ discoveries are unique among those known to science. These two bones appear roughly 13 million years after their latest geologic relatives, including Shonisaurus sikanniensis from British Columbia, Canada, and Himalayasaurus tibetensis from Tibet, China.

Dr Lomax added: “I was highly impressed that Ruby and Justin correctly identified the discovery as another enormous jawbone from an ichthyosaur. They recognised that it matched the one we described in 2018. I asked them whether they would like to join my team to study and describe this fossil, including naming it. They jumped at the chance. For Ruby, especially, she is now a published scientist who not only found but also helped to name a type of gigantic prehistoric reptile. There are probably not many 15-year-olds who can say that! A Mary Anning in the making, perhaps.”

Ruby said: “It was so cool to discover part of this gigantic ichthyosaur. I am very proud to have played a part in a scientific discovery like this.”

Further examinations of the bones’ internal structures have been carried out by master’s student, Marcello Perillo, from the University of Bonn, Germany. His work confirmed the ichthyosaur origin of the bones and revealed that the animal was still growing at the time of death.

He said: “We could confirm the unique set of histological characters typical of giant ichthyosaur lower jaws: the anomalous periosteal growth of these bones hints at yet to be understood bone developmental strategies, now lost in the deep time, that likely allowed late Triassic ichthyosaurs to reach the known biological limits of vertebrates in terms of size. So much about these giants is still shrouded by mystery, but one fossil at a time we will be able to unravel their secret.”

Concluding the work, Paul de la Salle added: “To think that my discovery in 2016 would spark so much interest in these enormous creatures fills me with joy. When I found the first jawbone, I knew it was something special. To have a second that confirms our findings is incredible. I am overjoyed.”

The new research has been published today in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Ruby, Justin and Paul’s discoveries will soon go on display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

Lomax said: “This research has been ongoing for almost eight years. It is quite remarkable to think that gigantic, blue whale-sized ichthyosaurs were swimming in the oceans around what was the UK during the Triassic Period. These jawbones provide tantalising evidence that perhaps one day a complete skull or skeleton of one of these giants might be found. You never know.”

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Pine beetles adapting to a changing climate, finds study – BC News – Castanet.net

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April 17, 2024

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Exposure to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere accelerates the reproductive cycle of mountain pine beetles, a new study has found.

The findings, published in the journal Global Change Biology, show the beetle’s typical 40-day brooding period accelerated to 30 days when they were exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the driving force behind human-caused climate change.

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Rashaduz Zaman, lead author and a PhD candidate in forest biology and management at the University of Alberta, said the results show that as the climate changes, insects like the mountain pine beetle are adapting at a time trees are becoming more vulnerable to things like drought.

“The prediction is the beetle can bounce back and attack more,” Zaman said.

Since the early 1990s, the mountain pine beetle has attacked about 18 million hectares of forest, including half of the total volume of commercial lodgepole pine in British Columbia, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Warmer winters and drier summers allowed the beetle to extend well beyond its traditional range in the boreal forests of B.C. But it remained unclear how the beetle will be affected by climate change and the rising concentrations of ozone and carbon dioxide that come with it.

Beetles learned to adapt in a simulated future climate

Climate change has pushed CO2 concentrations past 421 parts per million, substantially higher than the pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million, and less than half the 1,000 parts per million that could be achieved at some point this century.

To simulate those conditions, the University of Alberta researchers introduced male and female pairs into freshly cut lodgepole pine logs, which were placed in a controlled climate chamber.

Next, they manipulated the environment by changing levels of CO2, ozone and relative humidity between 33 per cent and 66 per cent. The researchers also introduced three species of fungus that have a symbiotic relationship with the beetles. After a month or so, the logs were returned to ambient conditions to allow the beetles’ broods to emerge.

mountain-pine-beetle-range-change
The historic range (before 2000) and expanded range (after 2000) of the mountain pine beetle in Canada. NRCan

The researchers found the lower the humidity, the more the fungi grew and the more the beetles reproduced. High CO2 concentrations were also found to speed up the growth of larvae.

But when it came to ozone — another gas whose atmospheric concentration is expected to rise over the coming decades — increased concentrations were initially found to have a negative impact on mountain pine beetle reproduction and brood fitness. ?

?In the wild, a mountain pine beetle will attack a tree by making a hole in it. Once inside, it releases pheromones to attract other beetles, while releasing fungi that blocks a tree’s own toxic defences and inhibits arboreal mechanisms for transporting water and nutrients.

In the lab, the spike in ozone gas was originally found to degrade the pheromones beetles rely on for finding a mate. At first, it seemed the gas may have evened the odds and pushed back against the effects of CO2. But over the next three to four months, the following beetle generations started to adapt.

“When we tested the ozone, the first generation that came out, they were smaller and lower weight. By the third generation, they developed resistance,” said Zaman.

Expect more outbreaks

The results could have significant results for places like British Columbia, where mountain pine beetle infestations have already wiped out millions of hectares of forest in recent decades.

Zaman said climate modelling suggests more drought in B.C.’s future, something expected to weaken pine trees and make them more susceptible to infestation.

He said years of above-average wildfire may have helped halt the beetle’s advance, but over the long-term, Zaman and his colleagues forecast the mountain pine beetle will be able to adapt to a new forest regime and once again cause “significant ecological and economic consequences.”

“B.C. has been a hot spot for the pine beetle,” Zaman said. “We expect more outbreaks.”

If there’s any good news, the scientist said more studies still need to be done to confirm what they found.

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