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A paper published in Friday's issue of Science raises an intriguing new possibility for astronomers: unearthing comet corpses in the solar wind.
The new research is based on dramatic images of a comet disintegrating in the sun's atmosphere last July.
Comet Lovejoy grabbed headlines in December 2011 when it plunged into the sun's atmosphere and emerged again relatively intact.
But it was not the first comet to graze the sun.
Last summer a smaller comet took the same trip with sharply different results. Comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) was completely destroyed on July 6, 2011, when it swooped 100,000 kilometers above the stellar surface. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the disintegration.
"For the first time, we saw a comet move across the face of the sun and disappear," said Dean Pesnell, a co-author of the Science paper and Project Scientist for SDO at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "It was unprecedented."
In Jan. 20 issue of Science, the research team reported their analysis of the SDO images.
A key finding was the amount of material deposited into the sun's atmosphere.
"The comet dissolved into more than a million tons of electrically charged gas," said Pesnell. "We believe these vapors eventually mixed with the solar wind and blew back into the solar system."
Pesnell says it might be possible to detect such "comet corpses" as they waft past Earth.
Comets are rich in ice (frozen H2O), so when they dissolve in the hot solar atmosphere, the gaseous remains contain plenty of oxygen and hydrogen.
A solar wind stream containing extra oxygen could be a telltale sign of a disintegrated comet. Other elements abundant in comets would provide similar markers.
Comet corpses are probably plentiful. There's a busy family of comets known as "Kreutz sungrazers," thought to be fragments of a giant comet that broke apart hundreds of years ago.
Every day or so, SOHO sees one plunge into the sun and vanish. Each disintegration event creates a puff of comet vapor that might be detectable by spacecraft sampling the solar wind.
Why bother? Researchers are beginning to think of sungrazers as 'test particles' for studying the sun's atmosphere -- kind of like tossing rocks into a pond. A lot can be learned about the pond by studying the ripples.
Indeed, SDO observed some extraordinary interactions between the sun and the doomed comet.
As C/2011 N3 (SOHO) moved through the hot corona, cold gas lifted off the comet's nucleus and rapidly (within minutes) warmed to more than 500,000K, hot enough to shine brightly in SDO's extreme ultraviolet telescopes.
"The evaporating comet gas was glowing as brightly as the sun behind it," marveled Pesnell.
The gas was also rapidly ionized by a process called "charge exchange," which made the gas responsive to the sun's magnetic field.
Caught in the grip of magnetic loops which thread the solar corona, the comet's ionized tail wagged back and forth wildly in the moments before final disintegration.
Watching this kind of sun-comet interaction could reveal new things about the thermal and magnetic structure of the solar atmosphere.
Likewise, measuring how long it takes for "comet corpses" to reach Earth, and then sampling the gases when they arrive, could be very informative.
"Before SDO, no one dreamed we could observe a comet disintegrate inside the sun's atmosphere," said Pesnell, who confesses that even he was a skeptic. But now, "I'm a believer."
The original research described in this story may be found in the Jan. 20th edition of Science: Destruction of Sun-grazing comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) by C. J. Schrijver, J. C. Brown, K. Battams, P. Saint-Hilaire, W. Liu, H. Hudson and W. D. Pesnell.
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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The research, published in the Jan. 20 edition of the journal Global Change Biology, found that the impact of global warming could be similar across ecosystems, regardless of local environmental conditions and species.
The team, based at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, went to Iceland to study a set of geothermally-heated streams.
The streams provided scientists with a unique environment to conduct their research; they were able to isolate the effects of temperature from other confounding variables found in nature.
Lead author, Queen Mary's Dr. Daniel Perkins, explained, "The streams in Iceland are all very similar, in terms of their physical and chemical environment, but maintain very different temperatures to each other all year round.
"This enabled us to explore how temperature, both past and present, affects the rate at which respiration responds to temperature in ecosystems,” Perkins said.
Perkins said that when the team exposed the organisms found in streams to a range of temperatures "the rate at which carbon was respired increased with temperature as expected, but surprisingly, rate of increase was consistent across streams which differed in average temperature by as much as 20°C.”
Co-author Dr. Gabriel Yvon-Durocher, also from Queen Mary, said, "Our findings demonstrate that the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of respiration is the same across a diverse range of organisms, adapted to markedly different temperatures. This result is important because it will help us build more accurate models to predict how rates of carbon dioxide emission from ecosystem will respond to the temperature increases forecast in the coming decades.”
Dr. Yvon-Durocher concludes, "Our results shed light on the temperature sensitivity of respiration over time scales of days to weeks, real differences between ecosystems may be apparent over longer time scales (e.g. years to decades), and progress in understanding these long-term responses will be key to predicting the future feedbacks between ecosystems and the climate."
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The memorial service for Kari and Jena Marks, and Patrick Campbell will take place beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, at the Middletown High School gymnasium, 20932 Big Canyon Road.
A reception will follow at the Middletown Lions Club, 15399 Central Park Road.
The family invites the community to attend both events.
In lieu of flowers, the families ask that donations be made to the memorial accounts set up in the Marks' and Campbell's names.
The Kari and Jena Marks Memorial Fund is at Wells Fargo Bank. Checks can be made to Kari Marks’ son, Daniel Walters, with the memorial fund name and account number, 8534215515, in the memo line. Funds will cover the services and reception, and a memorial for the two victims.
Campbell’s family also has set up a memorial fund in his name at Wells Fargo Bank in Sebastopol, phone 707-824-2620.
Hundreds of people are expected at the Sunday service.
“It’s going to be huge,” said Sacramento resident Alexandra Ambrose, a close friend of Jena Marks. The two attended Middletown High School together.
Kari Marks, 53, Jena Marks, 24, and the 27-year-old Campbell died in a crash last Saturday, Jan. 14, near Lower Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Ambrose said the three were going to a birthday party along with Kari Marks’ longtime boyfriend, 50-year-old Michael Wright, when the crash occurred.
The California Highway Patrol said Wright was driving a BMW 740 northbound on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road North shortly before 8 p.m. Jan. 14 when the vehicle started to skid sideways, putting it in the path of 53-year-old Clearlake resident Steven Beyer’s Ford SUV.
Wright, Steven Beyer and Beyer’s wife, 54-year-old Lezley Beyer, sustained major injuries and were flown by air ambulance to regional trauma centers.
“We don’t know what the cause may have been,” said Ambrose. “I hope we find out.”
This week the CHP indicated that investigators had reached no conclusions on what, ultimately, caused the deadly collision.
Ambrose said she was devastated when she found out about the crash, and is trying to cope with her friend’s death.
She said there has been a huge outpouring of support from community members and friends in the wake of the crash.
“I’ve gotten messages from people in high school who I haven’t spoken to in forever,” she said. “It’s kinda cool how a small community works.”
Daniel Walters posted a message on his Facebook page to thank the community for its support and positive thoughts.
Ambrose noted that Jena and Kari Marks and Campbell “were greatly loved and cared for by so many people.”
She and Jena Marks met in the seventh grade and attended elementary and high school together.
Ambrose remembered her young friend as very studious, smart and funny. “Everyone in high school loved Jena,” she remembered.
After they graduated from Middletown High School in 2005, Ambrose lived for a few months with Jena and Kari Marks at their home.
She remembered Kari Marks painting a bedroom for her. “She was very motherly to me.”
Kari Marks was a very social, caring woman, Ambrose said.
“She was also kinda like the cool mom to hang out with,” a woman who was fun and enjoyed spending time with her daughter and her daughter’s friends, according to Ambrose.
Ambrose and Jena Marks later moved to Santa Rosa and lived together for about two years while attending school.
Ambrose attended Santa Rosa Junior College, later moving to Sacramento to finish college at Sacramento State.
She said Marks attended Sonoma State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in accounting and a minor in economics.
But what Jena Marks had really wanted to do was attend Santa Rosa Junior College’s dental hygienist training program. She applied several times and, after persevering, had been admitted, Ambrose said.
“That meant the world to her,” said Ambrose.
Jena Marks and Campbell, who had been together about five years, had moved back to Hidden Valley Lake to live with her mother. Ambrose said Jena Marks commuted to Santa Rosa to pursue her dental hygienist coursework, and had just finished her first semester of study and was about to start her second.
Campbell was a 2003 Middletown High School graduate. He was a production manager at Olivier Napa Valley in St. Helena, and was studying to be an electrician, taking part in the apprentice program with the Electrician's Union IBEW Local 551. He had just landed his dream job, according to his obituary.
Campbell, who loved the outdoors, also had worked as a volunteer firefighter in St. Helena and Middletown, his obituary said.
His family’s tribute to him remembered him as a positive and happy person. “His infectious, fun-loving, uplifting attitude inspired others to be better.”
He loved to cook, and Ambrose remembered him being a better cook than his girlfriend. “He could cook up anything.”
She said the couple also had a well-loved cat, a Maine coon named Daisy, who now is being cared for by another close friend.
Ambrose said Kari Marks was excited to be a grandmother, with her son Daniel Walters and his wife, Jill, of Rohnert Park giving her a little granddaughter and a brand new baby grandson. Her son, Jeff Marks, had recently joined the Marines.
“Kari loved her family,” Ambrose said.
Ambrose, who is getting married this September, had asked Jena Marks to be her maid of honor.
The weekend before the crash, Jena Marks had visited Ambrose in Sacramento so they could go shop for the wedding dress and bridesmaids’ dresses.
“I was so grateful and so happy that she got a chance to be involved in that part,” Ambrose said.
Ambrose said she has to hold onto her memories of her friend as she moves ahead with her life.
There’s also the emotional process of planning for her wedding, without her friend by her side.
“She’ll be there in another way,” Ambrose said.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An undercover operation conducted by detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit has led to the arrest of a Clearlake man who is alleged to have sent texts and Facebook messages in an effort to solicit sex from a teenage girl.
Jason James Russell, 29, was arrested Thursday afternoon on felony charges of lewd act on a child under 16 years of age, contact a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, arrange meeting with a minor to commit a sex offense, go to the arranged meeting to commit a sex offense, annoy or molest a child, solicit prostitution and probation violation.
Sgt. Steve Brooks said a concerned parent contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after learning that Russell had contacted his 15-year-old daughter on Facebook.
Russell is alleged to have texted the minor, telling her that he wanted to have sex with her. She sent a text message to the suspect, informing him that she was only 15 years old and did not wish to have any contact with him. The suspect attempted to contact her again after she told him to stop, Brooks said.
Brooks said detectives launched an investigation and were able to monitor the text messages being sent from the suspect, who they identified as Russell.
On Thursday detectives conducted an undercover operation, Brooks said.
Posing as the female minor, detectives continued texting with the suspect and agreed to meet with Russell at Austin Park in Clearlake. Brooks said Russell allegedly intended to have sex with the minor and had offered to pay for the sexual services.
At 2:45 p.m. Thursday Russell arrived at Austin Park in Clearlake and was arrested after a short foot pursuit, Brooks said.
Russell provided a statement that he would look for underage females on Facebook, Brooks said. Using explicit language he would then sexually proposition them.
Russell admitted that he had propositioned several other female juveniles while using Facebook, according to Brooks.
Russell was booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility on the charges, and is being held without bail due to a probation violation, according to jail records.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office encourages parents to monitor social networking sites their children frequent. Sexual predators often use these sites to target their victims.
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The members have requested a meeting with the president to discuss policies that would reduce foreclosures and provide relief to homeowners.
“Our economy will continue to suffer and consumer confidence will never return if we do not help hard working families navigate through this housing nightmare,” said Thompson. “Nothing the Administration has tried is working and Californians are the ones suffering, living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to keep roofs over their heads. That is why we are calling on the President to meet with us so we can work together and fix this housing mess.”
“For over a year-and-a-half, we’ve corresponded with the President and met with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner and FHFA Acting Director DeMarco, urging swift and immediate action to help our constituents. There still seems to be no bold or effective action taken by the Administration. We have asked to meet with the President as soon as possible to discuss ways to advance meaningful relief and effective solutions for the housing market,” said Lofgren.
"The California Democratic Congressional Delegation has spent the last year meeting with one Administration official after another to present our legislative ideas, and the actions the Executive Branch can take to mitigate the foreclosure crisis", said Eshoo. "The time has come for the delegation to speak directly to the President on behalf of our constituents whose lives have been upended, and present to him our bold and workable proposals to address this crisis."
In California, more than 34 percent of homeowners with mortgages are considered “underwater” because they owe more on their homes than their homes are worth.
In a letter to President Obama, Thompson, Lofgren, Eshoo and other California Members of Congress wrote, “We have also offered several specific recommendations to reduce preventable foreclosures and provide relief to aggrieved homeowners, including a principal paydown plan to reduce negative home equity which is necessary as the remedy for the housing woes in America. Despite our efforts, we have concluded that efforts by both the government and the private sector have not addressed our nation’s foreclosure crisis with sufficient urgency. We therefore request a meeting with you at the earliest opportunity to discuss additional actions your Administration can take to tackle the foreclosure crisis that is hurting so many of our constituents and slowing our economic recovery.”
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear President Obama:
As Members of Congress from California, a center of the nation’s foreclosure catastrophe, we’ve written to you and your Administration regularly for a year-and-a-half, requesting more aggressive action to prevent foreclosures and resuscitate the ailing housing market.
We have repeatedly met with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner during this time and have presented numerous constituent cases to them demonstrating the questionable, possibly fraudulent, and irresponsible practices of the mortgage servicing industry. We have also offered several specific recommendations to reduce preventable foreclosures and provide relief to aggrieved homeowners, including a principal paydown plan to reduce negative home equity which is necessary as the remedy for the housing woes in America. Despite our efforts, we have concluded that efforts by both the government and the private sector have not addressed our nation’s foreclosure crisis with sufficient urgency. We therefore request a meeting with you at the earliest opportunity to discuss additional actions your Administration can take to tackle the foreclosure crisis that is hurting so many of our constituents and slowing our economic recovery.
As of the end of the third quarter in 2011, 10.7 million homeowners nationwide owed more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. In California alone, more than 34% of homeowners with mortgages faced negative equity or were very close to being underwater. These homeowners confront the highest risk of foreclosure, and could most benefit from meaningful mortgage principal reductions.
Though the Administration has adopted the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) as its signature housing initiative, the overwhelming feedback from our constituents is that HAMP has not helped them. We believe additional and more effective approaches are necessary. One idea we proposed in previous correspondence to you is a temporary reduction in the interest rates of certain homeowners who file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, so that the entirety of their monthly payments would be dedicated to paying down their principal balances for five years. We discussed this proposal with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner, and also with Ed DeMarco, the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, all of whom expressed an interest in the idea. However, we have yet to receive a decision from your Administration. Why not?
Our constituents and the health of our economy are dependent on swift and immediate action on ideas like this to prevent more foreclosures. We, as Members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, look forward to meeting with you so we can discuss ways to advance meaningful and effective solutions to address a foreclosure crisis that is ravaging communities and hurting families. We stand ready to work with you to help the people we serve.
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Charles Peter Lamb, 30, was arrested on Jan. 2 by Lakeport Police Officer Joe Eastham following an investigation in which the alleged victim, a local woman in her 20s, identified Lamb as the suspect, as Lake County News has reported.
Lamb is charged with one count of rape and one count of sodomy by force, according to Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg.
While Borg said he doesn’t like to discuss case details early on, he said this particular case falls into the category of a “date rape” because Lamb and the victim were previously acquainted.
Lamb was arraigned on Jan. 9, at which time his public defender, Barry Melton, entered not guilty pleas to both counts.
On Wednesday Lamb was in Lake County Superior Court Department 2 for a preliminary hearing, Borg said.
Judge Richard Martin found there was probable cause sufficient to order Lamb to stand trial on the charges, according to Borg.
Borg said Lamb is due to appear for arraignment before Judge Andrew Blum in Department 3 on Monday, Jan. 30.
Lamb remains in the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $100,000, according to jail records.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at