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Astronomers have used the APEX telescope to probe a huge galaxy cluster that is forming in the early universe and revealed that much of the star formation taking place is not only hidden by dust, but also occurring in unexpected places.
This is the first time that a full census of the star formation in such an object has been possible.
Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity but their formation is not well understood.
The Spiderweb Galaxy (formally known as MRC 1138-262) and its surroundings have been studied for twenty years, using ESO and other telescopes, and is thought to be one of the best examples of a protocluster in the process of assembly, more than ten billion years ago.
But Helmut Dannerbauer of the University of Vienna, Austria and his team strongly suspected that the story was far from complete.
They wanted to probe the dark side of star formation and find out how much of the star formation taking place in the Spiderweb Galaxy cluster was hidden from view behind dust.
The team used the LABOCA camera on the APEX telescope in Chile to make 40 hours of observations of the Spiderweb Cluster at millimetre wavelengths — wavelengths of light that are long enough to peer right through most of the thick dust clouds. LABOCA has a wide field and is the perfect instrument for this survey.
“This is one of the deepest observations ever made with APEX and pushes the technology to its limits — as well as the endurance of the staff working at the high-altitude APEX site, 5050 metres above sea level,” said Carlos De Breuck, APEX project scientist at ESO, and a co-author of the new study.
The APEX observations revealed that there were about four times as many sources detected in the area of the Spiderweb compared to the surrounding sky.
And by carefully comparing the new data with complementary observations made at different wavelengths they were able to confirm that many of these sources were at the same distance as the galaxy cluster itself and must be parts of the forming cluster.
“The new APEX observations add the final piece needed to create a complete census of all inhabitants of this mega star city. These galaxies are in the process of formation so, rather like a construction site on Earth, they are very dusty,” said Dannerbauer.
But a surprise awaited the team when they looked at where the newly detected star formation was taking place.
They were expecting to find this star formation region on the large filaments connecting galaxies.
Instead, they found it concentrated mostly in a single region, and that region is not even centred on the central Spiderweb Galaxy in the protocluster.
Dannerbauer concluded, “We aimed to find the hidden star formation in the Spiderweb cluster – and succeeded – but we unearthed a new mystery in the process; it was not where we expected! The mega city is developing asymmetrically.”
To continue the story further observations are needed – and ALMA will be the perfect instrument to take the next steps and study these dusty regions in far greater detail.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A recent series of burglaries and vandalism at the Clearlake People Services facility has cost the nonprofit hundreds of dollars in lost equipment and repairs.
The People Services location at 14560 Lakeshore Drive – also known as Konocti Instructional Services – works with adults with developmental disabilities, said Director Martin Diesman.
“Our essential purpose here is helping them be successful in doing all of the things that the rest of us take for granted,” which includes everything from learning to button shirts and tie shoes to vocational training, Diesman explained.
People Services seeks to help its clients manage their lives as independently as they can, according to Diesman.
That includes giving them paying jobs – from working on vending and landscape crews, to positions in the People Services thrift store at the Lakeshore Drive location, he said.
Diesman said People Service clients also do important volunteer work, including assisting with Meals on Wheels deliveries by accompanying drivers, “which is a really cool thing.”
Yet, despite its good works in the community, the nonprofit has found its facilities targeted repeatedly over the years.
Diesman estimated that in the last two years, property crimes such as burglary and vandalism have occurred 12 times at the Clearlake location.
“It's just been relentless here,” he said.
In one instance, a man stole the facility's security cameras. The facility's chain link fence also has been cut repeatedly, Diesman said.
“We’ve tried repairing the fence but they just cut it again,” he said. “We can’t keep up with it.”
The tally of crimes committed against People Services includes a new rash of incidents that Diesman said began amping up around three weeks and continued this week.
In the first incident, someone broke into the nonprofit's outdoor sheds and stole janitorial supplies like cleaning solution, paper towels and mop heads – “just stupid stuff,” said Diesman.
The second burglary involved someone breaking into the services boxes on the People Services landscaping truck. Diesman said about $600 worth of landscaping tools were stolen.
Items taken included vests, goggles, bungee cords, safety glasses, work gloves, garbage picker uppers, a set of loppers, four pairs of short pruners, a branch saw, weed pullers and other hand tools, like crescent wrenches and screw drivers, he said.
“We’re lucky that’s all they got,” Diesman said.
Then, sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, someone vandalized a People Services van, slashing a rubber part on the wheelchair access side door in what Diesman said appeared to be an effort to get into the vehicle.
Diesman said the repeated thefts, and the need to replace the stolen items, has ended up costing the nonprofit a lot of money.
“It’s a pretty sad situation,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Diesman said the Clearlake Police Department has been out twice to take fingerprints from the sheds and truck that were broken into during this latest round of burglaries.
Clearlake Police Det. Nick Bennett confirmed to Lake County News that police are investigating the break-ins.
Police also are focusing on a possible suspect, Bennett said.
Bennett added, “We do have extra patrols in the area.”
Diesman said the situation has been frustrating for People Services, and both “really harmful” and sad.
“They’re stealing from the disabled. They’ve got so little,” he said.
A People Services staffer posted about the thefts on social media, which led to a $100 donation on Thursday morning, Diesman said.
Diesman said the nonprofit is grateful for any help the community is willing to offer.
To help People Services by donating cash or tools, or for more information contact Diesman at 707-994-1560.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A panel of government leaders and scientists discussed Clear Lake, the threats to the lake's health and the solutions that Measure S would help fund at a forum on Wednesday in Lakeport.
The Measure S information summit, held at the Soper Reese Theatre, was hosted by the Save the Lake Committee and moderated by Lake County News Editor and Publisher Elizabeth Larson.
Panelists included District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington; District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing; Sarah Ryan, environmental director for Big Valley Rancheria; retired wildlife biologist Jim Steele; and Dr. Harry Lyons, professor of biology and ecology at the Yuba College Clear Lake Campus.
Measure S is a half-cent sales tax measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.
It would fund a variety of water quality projects over a 10-year period.
As a specific tax – which means the revenues generated could not be placed in the county general fund but would be dedicated specifically to the purposes listed in the ballot measure – it must pass by a supermajority, or two-thirds, vote.
The two-and-a-half-hour forum can be seen in its entirety above.
Following are highlights and notations of what times they appear in the video:
– Supervisor Anthony Farrington: Welcome, opening remarks and Measure S overview (2:20).
– Jim Steele, retired biologist: Slide presentation on Clear Lake ecology (25:34).
– Supervisor Denise Rushing: Lake health – human impacts and influence (43:34).
– Sarah Ryan, environmental director, Big Valley Rancheria: Water policy, priorities and processes (55:48).
– Dr. Harry Lyons, professor of biology, Yuba College Clear Lake campus: Summary, Clear Lake's future (1:18:35).
– Question and answer session (1:32:50).
– Panelist summation (2:13:17).
For more information about Measure S visit www.savethelake.info .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake Police investigation this week linked a man arrested on drug charges to local burglary cases.
Clearlake resident Alejandro Zuniga, 33, is believed to be the suspect in the burglaries, according to Clearlake Police Sgt. Rodd Joseph.
On Monday morning witnesses called to report that Zuniga was exhibiting odd behavior in the 4200 block of Old Highway 53, Joseph said.
Clearlake Police Officer Trevor Franklin responded to the area, and Joseph said Franklin subsequently arrested Zuniga at around 9 a.m. that day for possession of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.
Joseph said Zuniga had a duffel bag with him at the time of his arrest which contained archery equipment, a surveillance video camera and a chainsaw.
Police determined that the video surveillance camera in Zuniga’s duffel bag had been stolen from Cheaper Cigarettes, located at 14962 Lakeshore Drive, only a few hours earlier, Joseph said.
Officers watched the surveillance video of the crime and were able to positively identify Zuniga as the suspect in the theft. Joseph said Zuniga additionally was charged with theft, possession of stolen property and vandalism.
It is believed that the archery equipment and the chainsaw also are likely stolen items, Joseph added.
Zuniga was transported to the Lake County Jail and booked. While at the jail, Clearlake Police Officer Joseph Myers interviewed Zuniga regarding a residential burglary which was reported to the Clearlake Police Department on October 10, Joseph said. That residential burglary occurred in the 14500 block of Palmer Avenue.
Joseph said Zuniga was a person of interest in this residential burglary, but had not been identified as a suspect.
However, during the interview, Zuniga made incriminating statements linking him to the burglary. Joseph said the case will be forwarded to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office for filing of additional charges on Zuniga.
On Oct. 22, a concerned citizen and business owner turned over some property to the police department which had been found abandoned in the 3700 block of Laddell Avenue, Joseph said.
The property includes a portable DVD player, a portable speaker system, a small MP3 player and a small old sickle, a hand tool for cutting grass. Joseph said police obtained information linking Zuniga to this lot of found property as well.
Joseph said none of this found property is reported to be stolen but it is also believed to be.
Anyone with information on any of the listed property – archery equipment, chainsaw, MP3 player, portable speaker system, DVD player or hand tool – is asked to contact Evidence Technician Nicki Burrell at 707-994-8251, Extension 308.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – An Upper Lake man was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence after he hit and seriously injured a woman riding a bicycle.
George Carl Allen, 60, was placed under arrest after the crash, which occurred just before 7:30 a.m. on Elk Mountain Road north of Middle Creek Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Leah Emma Solon, 50, of Upper Lake sustained major injuries due to the crash, the CHP said.
The CHP reported that Allen was driving a 1986 Kenworth water tanker truck northbound on Elk Mountain Road.
Solon also was riding northbound on her bicycle on Elk Mountain Road, and as Allen passed her, his truck struck her bike, knocking her to the ground, the CHP said.
Solon, who the CHP said was not wearing a helmet, was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for treatment of her injuries.
The CHP issued a reminder to motorists to share the road with bicyclists. In September a law went into effect establishing a required three-foot distance between cars and bikes in California.
The agency also reminded bicyclists to wear their helmets.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has established an Ebola hotline call center to respond to public inquiries related to Ebola.
“This hotline has been set up and staffed to answer questions from those concerned about the possibility of Ebola in California,” said Dr. Ron Chapman, CDPH director and state health officer. “Our goal is to be available to eliminate the mystery of this disease and offer the facts to Californians as the situation evolves. This is one in a series of steps we have taken in the last few months.”
The hotline, 855-421-5921 will be in operation from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in California and no suspect cases.
Since the Ebola outbreak began in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, CDPH has worked with state, federal and local health officials to prepare for potential cases of Ebola in California.
In August, CDPH launched an informational Web site compiling information about the outbreak and preparing California health care providers with guidance and protocols from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDPH has developed an interim case report form for reporting suspected cases of Ebola to CDPH and has distributed CDC guidance on specimen collection, transport, testing and submission for patients suspected of having Ebola.
Last week, CDPH posted interim guidelines for Ebola medical waste management and recommended that all health care facility environmental services personnel and infection control staff work together to develop facility-specific protocols for safe handling of Ebola related medical waste.
CDPH has provided these and other documents to health care providers and partners via the California Health Alert Network (CAHAN).
In September, CDPH convened more 1,100 health care and public health workers to urge them to assess their Ebola readiness and conduct drills in their facilities.
Last week, CDPH officials held a teleconference with health care providers to discuss the latest news and guidance about handling suspected Ebola cases.
CDPH is providing weekly updates to local health officials, first responders and health care providers as the Ebola outbreak continues in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The agency joins with a team of state departments and agencies including California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) and the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), to
address all aspects of preparedness for a potential Ebola case in California.
CDPH is also available to provide consultation about suspect Ebola cases to local health departments and health care providers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For more information about how the state is preparing for potential cases of Ebola, visit the CDPH Ebola Virus Information Page at http://cdph.ca.gov/programs/cder/Pages/Ebola.aspx and the Cal/OSHA Ebola Virus Information site, http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/EbolaVirusInformation.htm .