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Nearly 200,000 light-years from Earth, the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, floats in space, in a long and slow dance around our galaxy. Vast clouds of gas within it slowly collapse to form new stars.
In turn, these light up the gas clouds in a riot of colors, visible in the image above from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is ablaze with star-forming regions. From the Tarantula Nebula, the brightest stellar nursery in our cosmic neighborhood, to LHA 120-N 11, part of which is featured in this Hubble image, the small and irregular galaxy is scattered with glowing nebulae, the most noticeable sign that new stars are being born.
The LMC is in an ideal position for astronomers to study the phenomena surrounding star formation. It lies in a fortuitous location in the sky, far enough from the plane of the Milky Way that it is neither outshone by too many nearby stars, nor obscured by the dust in the Milky Way's center.
Although the LMC is generally classified as an irregular galaxy, it shares some features with spiral galaxies, including a clearly visible bar, and a single spiral-arm-like structure. It is thought that the LMC may be a small spiral galaxy that was pulled out of shape by the Milky Way.
It is also close enough to study in detail – less than a tenth of the distance of the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest spiral galaxy – and lies almost face-on to us, giving us a bird's eye view.
LHA 120-N 11 (known as N11 for short) is a particularly bright region of the LMC, consisting of several adjacent pockets of gas and star formation.
NGC 1769 – in the center of the image – and NGC 1763, to the right, are among the brightest parts.
In the centre of this image, a dark finger of dust blots out much of the light. While nebulae are mostly made of hydrogen, the simplest and most plentiful element in the Universe, dust clouds are home to heavier and more complex elements, which go on to form rocky planets like the Earth. Much finer than household dust (it is more like smoke), this interstellar dust consists of material expelled from previous generations of stars as they died.
The data in this image were identified by Josh Lake, an astronomy teacher at Pomfret School in Connecticut, in the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition.
The competition invited members of the public to dig out unreleased scientific data from Hubble's vast archive, and to process them into stunning images.
Josh Lake won first prize in the competition with an [image][3] contrasting the light from glowing hydrogen and nitrogen in N11.
The image above combines the data he identified with additional exposures taken in blue, green and near infrared light.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Thursday night vehicle crash involving a power pole resulted in no injuries for the driver, but repairs to the pole and utility lines continued on Friday morning.
Highway 29 at Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville had remained under one-way traffic control through the night as utility companies made repairs to the pole, which had fallen after being hit by a driver at about 5:40 p.m. Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP Officer Joe Wind said the highway was completely reopened at about 8:30 a.m. Friday.
On Thursday evening Anna Elizabeth Willis, 85, of Kelseyville was driving her 2003 Pontiac Montana minivan from the Idle Wheels Mobile Home Park at 5701 Live Oak Drive, the CHP said.
While attempting to turn left and cross Highway 29, Willis crossed both lanes of Live Oak Drive and hit a power pole, according to the CHP report.
The pole fell, resulting in downed power lines and a loss of utilities to the surrounding area. The CHP said Highway 29 was closed in both directions for two hours while emergency crews worked to clear the power pole from the road.
CHP said Highway 29 was reopened to one-way traffic at 7:40 p.m. Thursday and traffic controls remained in place until Friday morning as utility crews worked at the scene. Live Oak Drive also had been closed to facilitate repairs.
Repairs to utilities continued through the night, as PG&E spokesperson Jana Morris had told Lake County News that the pole had to be completely replaced and power wouldn’t be restored until 7 a.m. About 141 customers had been affected, Morris said.
Mediacom was on the scene late Friday morning, continuing to make repairs, as the company’s Internet and other services was still reported to be out nearby.
CHP Officer Nick Powell is investigating the crash. The agency said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in this collision.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Department of Public Works will start its annual routine Roadside Weed Abatement Program weather permitting, through the application of herbicides along certain county-maintained roads this spring.
Should residents or property owners abutting the roads listed below desire that no weed abatement occur adjacent to their residence or property, they must contact the Department of Public Works prior to Jan. 30 unless a previous request for “no spray” was submitted to the agency.
If you would like to remove an existing “no spray” status, you must contact the Department of Public Works at 707-263-2341.
As a reminder, property owners are responsible for maintaining their frontage in such a way that does not create nuisance conditions.
While people can request that their frontage not be sprayed, they must otherwise maintain their frontage to avoid creating a public nuisance that could be caused by overgrown weeds – fire hazard, aesthetics, sight distances, etc.
To assist those property owners who object to spraying, Public Works will review their proposed maintenance plans at no charge and issue them a no-fee encroachment permit to perform the maintenance as necessary.
One or more of the following herbicides "Roundup Pro,” “Parrot 4L,” “Telar XP,” “Alecto 41S,” “Pro Ams Plus Activator,” “Simazine 4L,” “Garlon 4” and “Landmark XP” may be used in the program.
Roads that are anticipated to be sprayed include: Adobe Creek Road, Bachelor Valley Road, Bell Hill Road, Big Canyon Road, Big Valley Road, Bottle Rock Road, Butts Canyon Road, Clark Drive, Clover Drive, Clover Valley Road, Crestview Drive, East Road, Elk Mountain Road, Gaddy Lane, Highland Springs Road, Hill Road, Hill Road East, Kelsey Creek Drive, Lakeshore Blvd., Lakeshore Drive, Live Oak Drive, Martin Street, Mendenhall Avenue, Morgan Valley Road, New Long Valley Road, Nice-Lucerne Cutoff, North Drive, Old Lucerne Road, Park Drive, Park Road, Pt. Lakeview Road, Riggs Rd, Scotts Valley Road, Seigler Canyon Road, Sky Park Drive, Soda Bay Road, Spruce Grove Road, Sulphur Bank Drive, Twin Lakes Subdivision (May Hollow Road, Lawrence Road, Yvonne Circle, Marcy Circle, Joey Circle, Diana Circle, Candy Lane, Joseph Trail, Lucy Circle, and C Street) Upper Lake Lucerne Road, Witter Springs Road.
As of 2009, the overall death rate for cancer in the United States had declined 20 percent from its peak in 1991, translating to the avoidance of approximately 1.2 million deaths from cancer, 152,900 of these in 2009 alone.
These figures come from the American Cancer Society’s annual Cancer Statistics report, one of the most widely-cited medical publications in the world.
Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year and compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The data are disseminated in two reports, Cancer Facts & Figures 2013 and its companion article, Cancer Statistics 2013, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The latest report finds that cancer death rates decreased from their peak of 215.1 per 100,000 in 1991 to 173.1 per 100,000 in 2009.
Death rates continue to decline for all four major cancer sites: lung, colon and rectum (colorectum), breast, and prostate.
Over the past two decades, death rates have decreased from their peak by more than 30 percent for cancers of the colorectum, female breast, and male lung, and by more than 40 percent for prostate cancer.
These large drops are primarily due to reductions in smoking for lung cancer and to improvements in early detection and treatment for colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
The authors say as encouraging as those drops are, further progress can be accelerated by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population, with an emphasis on those groups in the lowest socioeconomic bracket and other underserved populations.
According to the study, a total of 1,660,290 new cancer cases and 580,350 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States in 2013.
Among men, cancers of the prostate, lung and bronchus, and colorectum will account for half of all newly diagnosed cancers; prostate cancer alone will account for 28 percent (238,590) of incident cases in men.
Among women, the three most commonly diagnosed types of cancer in 2013 will be breast, lung and bronchus, and colorectum, accounting for about half of all cases. Breast cancer alone is expected to account for 29 percent (232,340) of all new cancer cases among women.
While incidence rates are declining for most cancer sites, they are increasing among both men and women for melanoma of the skin and cancers of the liver, thyroid, and pancreas.
Overall cancer incidence rates decreased slightly in males (by 0.6 percent per year) and were stable in females in the most recent five year period for which there is data (2005-2009).
Cancers of the lung and bronchus, prostate, and colorectum in men and cancers of the lung and bronchus, breast, and colorectum in women continue to be the most common causes of cancer death.
These four cancers account for almost half of the total cancer deaths among men and women. In 2013, lung cancer is expected to account for 26 percent of all female cancer deaths and 28 percent of all male cancer deaths.
Cancer death rates decreased by 1.8 percent per year in males and by 1.5 percent per year in females during the most recent five years of data (2005-2009). These declines have been consistent since 2001 and 2002 in men and women, respectively, and are larger in magnitude than those occurring in the previous decade.
Between 1990-1991 and 2009, cancer death rates decreased by 24 percent in men, 16 percent in women, and 20 percent overall.
“In 2009, Americans had a 20 percent lower risk of death from cancer than they did in 1991, a milestone that shows we truly are creating more birthdays,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. “But we must also recognize that not all demographic groups have benefitted equally from these gains, particularly those diagnosed with colorectal or breast cancer, where earlier detection and better treatments are credited for the improving trends. We can and must close this gap so that people are not punished for having the misfortune of being born poor and disadvantaged.”
Each year, Cancer Facts & Figures includes a special section, which in 2013 focuses on cancer of the pancreas.
A lack progress in primary prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of this cancer motivated the authors to address the disease in this year’s report. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancer types.
Most pancreatic cancer patients will die within the first year of diagnosis, and just 6 percent will survive five years.
Over the past decade, pancreatic cancer death rates have been slowly increasing among US men and women, in contrast to the downward trend in rates for most other major cancer sites, such as lung, colorectum, female breast, and prostate.
The special section provides updated information on the occurrence and treatment of pancreatic cancer to inform researchers, cancer control advocates, policy makers, and others, and to help focus attention on this fatal cancer.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A woman was flown to a regional trauma center Thursday night after she was involved in a vehicle collision near Upper Lake.
The two-vehicle crash occurred at about 7 p.m. at the junction of Highway 29 and Highway 20, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters responded to the scene along with the CHP.
The district reported that a woman driving one of the vehicles was flown by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with minor to moderate injuries.
A Northshore Fire ambulance transported a juvenile patient to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, the agency said.
Additional details about the causes of the crash and the parties involved were not immediately available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A vehicle crash on Thursday evening resulted in the power being knocked out for some residents in the Kelseyville area, with repairs set to continue through the night.
A white SUV hit a power pole at Highway 29 and Live Oak Drive, near the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office, shortly after 5:30 p.m., the agency reported.
The pole was sheered off at the base and hanging – along with loose utility lines – over the roadway, the CHP reported.
Residents in the area reported their power went out after the crash. Pacific Gas and Electric spokesperson Jana Morris said the outage began at approximately 5:44 p.m. and affected 141 customers.
Due to the safety concerns resulting from the damaged pole and low hanging utility lines, the CHP reported that traffic was rerouted off of Highway 29 and down Main Street in Kelseyville.
Based on the CHP’s initial estimate, the highway was to be closed until about 4 a.m. Friday.
Morris said repairs are to continue through the night. Because the pole was broken, it needed to be replaced.
She said power to all of the affected customers is expected to be restored by 7 a.m. Friday.
Additional updates will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at