We are proud to announce today that Radio-Canada is awarding its 2022 Scientifique de l’année Award to our Director, astrophysicist René Doyon, for his contribution as Principal Investigator for the Canadian instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Dr. Doyon, who also won the Scientifique de l’année Award in 2008 with his colleagues Christian Marois and David Lafrenière for taking the first-ever image of an exoplanetary system, wins it for a second time this year: a first for a winner!
Dr. Doyon’s main areas of expertise are the study of exoplanets and the development of astronomical observation instruments. As Principal Investigator of the Canadian participation in the James Webb Space Telescope project, he enabled a large Canadian team to provide one of the four scientific instruments of the telescope, an observing instrument, as well as a guidance device essential to its proper operation. Designed in particular to study the atmosphere of exoplanets and determine their chemical composition, the James Webb Space Telescope is already helping to push back the boundaries of our knowledge. After more than 20 years of development and construction, it delivered its first images of the Universe last July, revealing the splendor and immensity of the cosmos with unequaled precision.
Loïc Albert, NIRISS Instrument Scientist who has worked with M. Doyon for 25 years. Credit: É. Artigau.
René Doyon has built a strong team that includes many key members, many of whom played crucial roles in the James Webb Telescope adventure. One of them is researcher Loïc Albert, who works in particular on the JWST’s NIRISS scientific instrument. He provides a testimony on his work with Mr. Doyon, which started in 1999: “René is really passionate about science. His enthusiasm crosses time and the different projects he leads. It is in the most critical moments that he comes up with unexpected solutions that only he can come up with. Although he stands out for his leadership and his energy to lead projects to observe the sky, René remains with both feet on the ground. For he is a warm, friendly human being who listens to the people around him. Bravo René!”
René Doyon (right) with Radio-Canada’s senior vice president, Michel Bissonnette, Credit: Martin Ouellet-Diotte.
Radio-Canada’s senior vice-president, Michel Bissonnette, underlines René Doyon’s exceptional contribution to science in these terms: “Mr. René Doyon is one of those researchers who has the ability to give us hope, to make us dream. Through his quest, he tries to answer fundamental questions such as the one everyone is asking: are we alone in the Universe? No one has the answer, but the unprecedented power of the telescope to which he contributed could reveal many secrets.”
On January 29 at noon, Dr. Doyon will be interviewed by host Sophie-Andrée Blondin in a one-hour interview recorded live in front of a live audience on ICI PREMIÈRE’s program Les années lumière. At 6:30 p.m., on the program Découverte, on ICI TÉLÉ, host Charles Tisseyre will present a report by Gaëlle Lussiaà-Berdou and François Perré that will allow us to better understand Mr. Doyon’s exceptional contribution to science.
About the award
The Radio-Canada Scientifique de l’année Award was first presented in 1987 and is now in its 36th year. It is awarded annually to a person or team who, during the past year, has distinguished themselves by a discovery, a publication or an achievement worthy of recognition.
Armoured dinosaurs may have used their dangerous tail clubs to hit each other, not other dinosaurs, according to a Royal BC Museum researcher.
A researcher at the Royal BC Museum thinks Ankylosaurs, an armoured dinosaur with a tough tail, may have acted differently than previously thought.
Curator of palaeontology with the museum, Victoria Arbour helped name the stout dinosaur, calling it a ‘destroyer of shins’. After recent studies of its well-preserved fossil, she thinks it may not have hit shins, but used its mighty tail to hit other Ankylosaurs.
READ LAST WEEK’S THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: Scientists want to determine what a ‘healthy population’ of crabs is to help preserve B.C.’s fishing industry
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The night sky is getting about 10 per cent brighter each year due to light pollution, a new study finds — a trend that imposes steep costs to humans and animals alike.
Connie Walker of the US-based NOIRLab co-authored a study in Science last week on trends in light pollution detected by the Globe at Night project.
Light pollution is extraneous artificial light at night, Walker said. It confuses migratory birds, lures turtle hatchlings away from the ocean to their doom, and makes it harder to see the stars at night.
“It affects every single living thing on Earth.”
While scientists have used satellites to measure light pollution, Walker said those measurements miss out on light from sources not pointed at the sky, such as windows and illuminated signs, and the blue-tinted light from LED bulbs, which have proliferated in recent years.
Walker said study co-author Christopher Kyba realized they could get a better picture of light pollution using data from the Globe at Night citizen science project. Co-founded by Walker, Globe at Night asks volunteers to report how dark the night sky is at their location at a given time by comparing what they see to a series of star maps, each of which corresponds to a different level of darkness.
Walker’s team analyzed about 51,000 Globe at Night records taken between 2011 to 2022 to track changes in light pollution.
Walker’s analysis found a roughly 9.6 per cent jump in light pollution each year — far more than the 2.2 per cent a year increase reported by satellites. This was a four-fold increase in brightness in 18 years; a person who could see 250 stars at night in one spot in 2005 would see just 100 there today.
Walker said this pollution was a consequence of population growth, building construction, and the spread of LED lights.
“LEDs have good points to them,” she said, in that they use less energy. But because they produce more light in the blue spectrum than other bulbs, they cause more light pollution.
St. Albert astronomer Murray Paulson agreed that there has been a considerable jump in light pollution in St. Albert in the last 33 years — he could easily spot Pluto from his backyard with a telescope in the 1990s, but can’t see it at all today because of ambient light.
“It’s not the sky I used to have in this town,” Paulson said.
In addition to various health impacts in humans, Walker said light pollution has profound effects on human culture.
"There’s a sort of irreplaceable awe that the natural night sky, a sky without any light pollution, provides. It inspires you and connects you to all the wonders of the cosmos,” she said.
“If we lose the night sky, we lose a part of ourselves.”
Walker and Paulson said it is easy to prevent light pollution: put shields on streetlights so they don’t shine into the sky, turn off unnecessary lights, and use lower temperature LED bulbs that produce less blue light.
Bon Accord has passed a light-efficient community standards bylaw as part of its commitment to being an International Dark Sky Community, said economic development officer Jenny Larson. The town has cut its light pollution by about one per cent since 2015 and is now a popular spot for astronomy.
“We want to protect the beautiful dark skies that we have,” Larson said.
Walker’s study can be found in the Jan. 20 edition of Science.
(Pikisuperstar / Freepik)
On Monday, a pair of scientists at Peking University in Beijing published a research paper, “Multidecadal variation of the Earth’s inner-core rotation.” Exciting news for geophysicists, but not so zippy as a headline.
It sounds better as “Earth’s Core May Be Spinning in Reverse,” which is how a lot of news outlets summed up the study’s findings.
Forbes’ science contributor Eric Mack dug deeper than most mainstream media reporters and explained the nuances of the research. In short: Earth’s core sometimes spins faster than the planet’s outer layers, and sometimes it spins slower. But it doesn’t reverse course. And no one really knows if the core’s spinning speed matters or not.
But hey, for a minute there, everyone was paying attention to science.
Here’s what else grabbed our attention this week.
Astronomy
The trajectory of 2023 BU compared with orbiting satellites. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Hollywood loves a good asteroid-hurtling-toward-Earth story. The reality is usually far less dramatic (except for that time a space rock killed all the dinosaurs).
Less than a week ago, a near-Earth asteroid dubbed 2023 BU was discovered by an observer in Crimea. Faster than you can say Leonardo DiCaprio, NASA analyzed the data and determined there was no risk of an impact.
But 2023 BU was projected to come within 2,200 miles of Earth, a distance that given the vastness of outer space qualifies as a near-miss. For context, there are satellites orbiting Earth positioned further away than 2023 BU’s expected fly-by.
“In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded,” said Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at Jet Propulsion Lab.
If the asteroid had taken aim at our big blue marble, scientists say it would have disintegrated in the atmosphere. Phew!
Even if it had survived the descent, at an estimated measurement of 11.5 to 28 feet across, 2023 BU is no Chicxulub. That dinosaur-killer was nine miles wide.
Here it is asteroid 2023 BU, safely coming extremely close to us in a couple of days (10.000km from Earth0s center, 1/4 of the distance of geostationary sats). We capture it minutes ago and will show it live to you at the flyby time!
more: https://t.co/S1QX9cCC2C pic.twitter.com/rL2ubGJ6R4— Virtual Telescope (@VirtualTelescop) January 24, 2023
Climate Change
Melting ice in the Arctic has opened up new shipping routes in waters that were previously frozen.
With the added traffic comes increased underwater noise — studies indicate it’s doubled in intensity in the past six years — and the narwhals have had it with the loud neighbors.
The Inuit people say the noise caused by ships — as loud as an underwater rock concert — is driving away the narwhals, which the Inuit have relied on for centuries as food.
A coalition of Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia is asking the United Nations for relief. Voluntary guidelines to reduce noise aren’t working, the Inuit say, and they want the UN’s International Maritime Organization to adopt mandatory measures.
Advocacy
The Sierra Club’s new executive director, Ben Jealous, spent his first official day on the job Jan. 23.
A former president and CEO of the NAACP, Jealous becomes the first person of color to lead the 100-year-old conservation organization, which came under fire in 2021 for fostering a “culture lacking accountability for abuse and misconduct.” A damaging report led to the resignation of Jealous’ predecessor Michael Brune.
Jealous plans to spend his first month undertaking a nationwide listening tour, meeting with volunteers, community partners and chapter leaders.
Parks
There are people in Chicago still arguing over the Lucas Museum: Great opportunity the city should have embraced wholeheartedly or mistake on the lake mercifully avoided?
Let’s fan the flames.
The Los Angeles Times has published a photo essay of the billion-dollar Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts, expected to open in 2025.
Whaddya think Chicago? Does it look more like a Rebel Alliance cruiser or Imperial Star Destroyer?
We've got some exciting updates to share—construction milestones, a growing collection, and more: https://t.co/MRLRY7pJ7t
Can’t wait to open our doors in 2025.
Credit: Video by Sand Hill Media/Eric Furie. © 2022 JAKS Productions. All rights reserved. pic.twitter.com/0YdBjwj58Q
— Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (@lucasmuseum) September 22, 2022
Get Out
If there’s at least 4 inches of snow on the ground — and the forecast is looking promising in that regard — Morton Arboretum is open for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Bring your own gear or rent on-site.
Tweet of the Week
Chicago coyotes on a snowy day pic.twitter.com/txzU8J6TIu
— Robert Loerzel (@robertloerzel) January 25, 2023
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
Asteroid 2023 BU zipped past Earth Thursday night (Jan. 26) to the delight of amateur astronomers worldwide. For skywatchers without access to a telescope or those who had their view hampered by bad weather, luckily the Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project was there to observe the event and livestream the whole thing for free.
The Virtual Telescope is a robotic telescope operated by Italian amateur astronomer Gianluca Masi near Rome, Italy. As 2023 BU hurtled toward Earth, the telescope was able to track the rock through a gap in the clouds when it was about 13,670 miles (22,000 kilometers) from the closest point on Earth's surface (about the altitude of the GPS navigation satellite constellation) and 22,990 miles (37,000 km) from the Virtual Telescope.
Masi, who shared an hour-long webcast of the observations on the Virtual Telescope website, wasn't able to capture the closest approach as clouds rolled in, however. Nonetheless, the Virtual Telescope Project was able to get a good look at the car-sized rock, seen in time-lapse above.
Related: NASA's DART asteroid impact won't make Dimorphos hit Earth — but here's what would happen if it did
The rock, discovered less than a week ago on Saturday (Jan. 21), passed above the southern tip of South America at 7:27 p.m. EST on Thursday Jan. 26 (0027 GMT on Jan. 27), at a distance of only 2,240 miles (3,600 km) at its closest point to Earth's surface.
This close approach makes 2023 BU the fourth nearest asteroid ever observed from Earth, with the exception of five space rocks that were detected before diving into Earth's atmosphere.
Only 11.5 to 28 feet wide (3.5 to 8.5 meters), 2023 BU posed no danger to the planet. If the trajectories of the two bodies had intersected, the asteroid would mostly have burned up in the atmosphere with only small fragments possibly falling to the ground as meteorites.
In the videos and images shared by Masi, the asteroid is seen as a small bright dot in the center of the frame, while the longer, brighter lines are the surrounding stars. In reality, of course, it was the asteroid that was moving with respect to Earth, traveling at a speed of 21,000 mph (33,800 km/h) with respect to Earth. As Masi's computerized telescope tracked its positionthe rock appeared stationary in the images while rendering the stars as these moving streaks.
Related stories:
The gravitational kick that 2023 BU received during its encounter with Earth will alter the shape of its orbit around the sun. Previously, the space rock followed a rather circular orbit, completing one lap around the sun in 359 days. From now on, BU 2023 will travel through the inner solar system on a more elliptical path, venturing half way toward Mars at the farthest point of its orbit. This alteration will add 66 days to BU 2023's orbital period.
The asteroid was discovered by famed Crimea-based astronomer and astrophotographer Gennadiy Borisov, the same man who in 2018 found the first interstellar comet, which now bears his name, Borisov.
Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Scientists say a truck-sized asteroid is expected to pass Earth on Thursday, within the orbit of broadcast satellites.
An asteroid the size of a truck is expected to pass by Earth in one of the closest approaches ever recorded, scientists say.
The United States federal space agency NASA said on Wednesday that the recently discovered asteroid would zip by about 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) above the tip of South America.
The asteroid, called 2023 BU, is expected to come about 10 times closer than the communications satellites that circle Earth.
But scientists insisted that there is no chance of the asteroid hitting Earth. NASA credited its Scout impact hazard assessment system with ruling out a possible collision.
“Despite the very few observations, [Scout] was nonetheless able to predict that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach with Earth,” said NASA’s Davide Farnocchia, an engineer who helped create Scout. “In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded.”
Thursday’s announcement came several months after NASA successfully tested a system in October meant to alter the path of asteroids that might be on a collision course with Earth.
The asteroid that will pass Earth on Thursday was not the subject of that programme, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). During that effort, an impactor the size of a fridge was crashed into an asteroid, successfully changing its trajectory in what the agency characterised as a promising method of planetary defence.
The current asteroid, 2023 BU, was discovered on Saturday. Scientists added that, even if the lunar rock came closer than expected, a substantial portion of the asteroid would burn up upon entering the atmosphere.
2023 BU is said to be between 3.5 meters (11 feet) and 8.5 meters (28 feet), and was first pointed out by an amateur astronomer in Crimea named Gennady Borisov, who also discovered an interstellar comet in 2019.
The asteroid will come close enough to the Earth that its trajectory will be altered by the planet’s gravitational pull. NASA said that it previously would have taken the asteroid 359 days to orbit the sun. After the near-encounter with Earth, its orbit is expected to increase to 425 days.
Forget about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is more like once in 600 lifetimes.
On Saturday, Londoners will have the best chance they’ll get to see Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) pass by Earth — something it did last 50,000 years ago — when Western University will open the doors of its observatory for astronomy enthusiasts to admire the recently discovered comet.
The “Green Comet,” as it’s better known, has been making headlines around the world for two main reasons: The green glow it emits as it travels and how close to Earth it is flying.
“It’s passing relatively close to the Earth, not dangerously close by any means, but closer than they usually do, and that makes it a little bit brighter,” said Paul Wiegert, a physics and astronomy professor at Western University.
“We’re still talking about tens of millions of kilometres of distance. It’s still very far away in all real terms, but because space is big, most comets actually pass much further away than that.”
The comet was first spotted last March by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California.
The fact the comet was only recently discovered stems from the fact that while comets orbit the sun the same way planets do, their paths “sometimes take them close to the sun and other times take them much further away where they’re very, very difficult to see,” Wiegert said.
“It’s also a great example of how there’s still so much to learn and discover out in space,” he said.
Wiegert and a team of scientists at Western will monitor the path and brightness of the comet in the coming days as it swings by the planet.
Wiegert will also host Saturday’s viewing party at Western’s Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory. The event is free, open to the public and will include a presentation about comets.
Though the green comet will be flying close to Earth, it won’t be visible to the naked eye and will require people to use at least binoculars or a small telescope, Wiegert said.
A cloudless sky will also be needed to admire it, he added.
“When we have a new comet, sometimes it’s more easily visible from the southern hemisphere than from the north,” he said.
“But for this particular one, we’re lucky in Canada that it is passing through the northern sky and easily visible here.”
IF YOU GO
What: Green Comet viewing party
When: Saturday, 7-9 p.m.
Where: Western University’s Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory
Cost: Free
For astronomy enthusiasts, February 1 is marked in red on their calendars. The reason: it is not every day that there is a chance to see a green comet.
In fact, it is the first time in 50,000 years that C/2022 ZTF will return to the solar system. And it will be early next month when it will reach its closest position to Earth.
Specifically, the green comet ZTF will pass 42 million light years from our planet. Experts are not 100 percent sure whether it will be visible from the surface without the use of any instrument. However, if we have specific astronomy binoculars or telescopes, we will be able to see it without any problem.
As usually happens in these cases, the best places to observe the comet, this one or any other, are places with little artificial light. That is to say, we should move away from urban centres and it is preferable to do so in the hours before dawn.
Un cometa brillante, visto desde California.
Comet ZTF has a brightness and a colour that, although not unique, is clearly distinctive. Its hue is due to the fact that it is composed, among other materials, of diatomic carbon.
When it comes into contact with sunlight, the decomposition of this element causes the gas to acquire this spectacular colour.
Un telescopio apunta al cielo.
Frank Masci and Bryce Bolin of the Palomar Observatory in California were responsible for spotting the striking comet ZTF in the sky. It is so named because its discovery is part of the Zwicky Transient Facility surveillance programme, which uses the powerful Schmidt telescope at the facility.
Initially, the scientists responsible for the discovery thought it was an asteroid, but they quickly realised that this was not the case. Despite the striking colour of this comet, experts advise keeping expectations low. In any case, it is an event that has aroused great interest in the community.
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Mandatory TAG insurance tracking systems add another invasive datapoint to our cars, but may no longer be an option
“Almost 600 cars stolen since Christmas in Mississauga and Brampton,” hollers the headline. In the first week of the year alone, 95 were stolen. At the time of this report, only 11 had been considered solved. If you wake up and find your driveway empty, these figures let you know pretty much how this is going to play out. The bad guys are winning, and winning big. If your vehicle’s a popular one with thieves, get ready to be required to install an aftermarket tracker.
Effective in 2007, Canada mandated that all cars include anti-theft immobilizing systems. By refusing to allow someone to start the car if it didn’t recognize a chip in the key, it was meant to thwart thieves who would steal a car without the key, ie. by hotwiring.
The government release at the time stated that, “theft of vehicles by young offenders in particular is a serious problem.” Law enforcement today just wishes that were the problem.
According to The Équité Association, a national non-profit that helps insurers fight theft and fraud, “Canada is rapidly becoming a source country for exporting “a tremendous amount of stolen vehicles. They’re being used as crime platforms — car bombs, trafficking, terrorism, and drug smuggling.” That statement is terrifying, and costly.
Ontario and Quebec are vulnerable to organized vehicle theft because of their proximity to the port in Montreal. Huge cargo containers can’t all be checked, so vehicles sporting licence plates from both provinces frequently show up in places from Sierra Leone to Russia. Bryan Gast, Vice-President of Investigative Services for Équité informs me that these are trophy plates. If you’re wondering why your insurance premiums keep going up, this has become an increasingly prominent reason.
Global shortages of vehicles and parts continue, and the demand for both keeps rising.
Some insurance carriers are piloting programs to test the impact of using the TAG program, a system that has “trained technicians install multiple, difficult to locate tracking devices throughout a vehicle. In the event of a theft, these devices can be tracked anytime, anywhere in North America.” Etchings on the driver’s and passenger’s window warn potential thieves that they will have little success with a vehicle sporting this system.
“I’m told Quebec had the highest theft ratio in the country and the Quebec government implemented mandatory installation of the TAG system for certain targeted vehicles,” says broker Debbie Arnold of Sound Insurance. “If the insured did not install TAG, their comprehensive premium would be prohibitive. Since it’s under $500 to install, it just makes sense.” Once it’s installed, there are no additional fees. These are recent revelations and we’ll be following Quebec’s theft numbers closely to see if their program sets a standard for other provinces.
Much of the theft prevention advice you read is designed to encourage a thief to move along. But because they can easily thwart the technology that many of us believe keeps our car locked and safe, authorities are back to recommending deterrents like the classic steering-wheel club, a visible — if clumsy — heavy bar that physically locks the steering wheel. Sure they could cut through it, but they’re more likely to head to a vehicle that will save them time.
If insurers get strict about requiring owners to implement something like the TAG tracking system on the most vulnerable vehicles, will it shut down car theft? In theory, maybe. Teslas are said to be basically unstealable, and high-tech electric vehicles in general see fewer thefts, as they’re usually parked inside or close to a building, proving that the latest software can introduce unpalatable hurdles. But auto theft is like a river: put in an obstacle, the water flows in another direction and carries on.
Until a few years ago, older pickup trucks dominated most stolen lists. They were easy to steal. Once thieves figured out how to hack into new cars, they became the target. If Quebec successfully protects its most-stolen vehicles, look for higher theft rates in other provinces — especially Ontario — to fill the overseas orders.
Insurers are taking notice. “If a vehicle is identified as “highly targeted,” we receive a message on our quoting system from some providers that we need to discuss anti-theft measures with the client and note the application accordingly,” says Arnold. She says there are some pilot programs by insurance companies installing the TAG system for free, but my guess is that if manufacturers aren’t providing enough at the build level and insurance companies are trying to staunch the bleeding, it will be you and I who will be paying for these systems.
While most governments are loath to mandate anything (hello, winter tires?), look for insurers to do the groundbreaking in this area. “One client had three Land Rovers stolen; one in September, one in February and another in April. Only one was recovered, and it was found in Montreal about to be shipped overseas,” says Arnold. I’d like to see the sales stats on frequently stolen vehicles if three sales were actually one being replaced two more times. We’re all paying for those stolen Land Rovers through our premiums.
Some people put Apple AirTags on their cars, though thieves can override those as well. Privacy concerns are also still an issue if it’s not you tracking your car, but someone else tracking you.
Peruse the most-stolen vehicle lists for your province, decide if something like the TAG system would be a wise investment, and know your insurer might soon be requiring it. “Insurers won’t authorize a rental vehicle for 72 hours in case the vehicle is recovered,” Arnold reminds you. “We all pay for the increase in theft. It will continue to increase in current market conditions. Authorities are working on this issue with border agencies, the IBC and insurers. It is so stressful for a client dealing with a car theft. It’s traumatic having someone invade your private space, let alone the inconvenience.”
