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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere are hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE as it zips through the inner solar system before it speeds away into the depths of space.
Discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, mission, Comet NEOWISE is putting on a dazzling display for skywatchers before it disappears, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years.
For those hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE before it’s gone, there are several observing opportunities over the coming days when it will become increasingly visible shortly after sunset in the northwest sky.
If you’re looking at the sky without the help of observation tools, Comet NEOWISE will likely look like a fuzzy star with a bit of a tail, so using binoculars or a small telescope is recommended to get the best views of this object.
For those hoping to see Comet Neowise for themselves, here’s what to do:
– Find a spot away from city lights with an unobstructed view of the sky;
– Just after sunset, look below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky;
– If you have them, bring binoculars or a small telescope to get the best views of this dazzling display.
Each night, the comet will continue rising increasingly higher above the northwestern horizon as illustrated in the below graphic.
Want to learn more about Comet NEOWISE? Take a look at some of these resources:
Read these skywatching Tips from NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ ;
Learn these tips and trick on how to photograph comets and meteor showers: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/510/how-to-photograph-a-meteor-shower/ .
Take a look at these images of Comet NEOWISE captured by NASA missions:
Parker Solar Probe: http://feature/goddard/2020/nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-spies-newly-discovered-comet-neowise ;
ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13661 ;
Learn more about NASA’s (NEOWISE) mission that discovered Comet NEOWISE: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/comet-neowise-sizzles-as-it-slides-by-the-sun-providing-a-treat-for-observers ;
Brush up on comet science and learn how NASA studies these celestial objects: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/overview ;
View images of comet NEOWISE on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html ;
Learn more about comet science, how Comet NEOWISE was discovered, and how you can spot it in the sky in the episode of NASA Science Live below.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
On Thursday evening, Dr. Gary Pace said Lake County’s total COVID-19 cases had risen to 137 – a change of four over the previous day – with 36 cases active.
Pace said the case numbers continue to rise locally and throughout the state.
On Thursday night, there were more than 362,500 active cases and 7,480 deaths statewide, according to a tally of case totals published online by the state’s 58 county public health departments
Thursday night case totals for Lake’s neighboring counties were Colusa, 147; Glenn, 200; Mendocino, 177; Napa, 578; Sonoma, 2027; and Yolo, 1062.
“COVID-19 activity in Lake County, specifically, continues to be concerning, but the spread has been manageable, thus far,” Pace said.
Pace said that in Public Health’s contact investigations, key elements have emerged as significant sources of infections.
He said they have seen several cases where multiple people contracted COVID-19 at a social gathering with family and friends. During those events, people from multiple households interacted on a sustained basis.
“These types of events are very risky now that the virus is fairly widespread in the community,” Pace said.
If an individual who tests positive had close contact with another person – defined as within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more – Public Health is finding the second person's risk of becoming positive is much less when both people are wearing masks, Pace said.
Pace also reported that Public Health has observed that individuals who work in high public contact or social interaction environments are testing positive more frequently than other groups.
“We have not been able to confirm that they contracted the infection at work in all cases, but frequent social interaction and employment in front-line service industries appear to be strong risk factors,” Pace said.
Pace said when thinking about the risk associated with activities, “it is important to remember the strongest dividing line, from a public health and safety standpoint, is engaging in activities with people within your own household versus activities with people outside of your household.”
While people are tired of coping with the pandemic after four months, Pace said that cases are now increasing “and we are starting to enter a phase we have been worried about the whole time.”
He continued, “How destructive it will become really depends on our activity now as a community. We can find ways to continue to live our lives and enjoy the amazing natural beauty of Lake County, but do it in a safe way, where we limit risk to our neighbors, families and those vulnerable to severe complications.”
With cases rising, Public Health is particularly concerned about social gatherings where the COVID virus can spread quickly.
“Each time we document a positive case where the individual had recently been to a social gathering, there is risk we could be facing an outbreak,” he said.
Pace credited Public Health nurses, contact tracers, staff and clinical partners for doing “a truly outstanding job” of identifying potential pockets of spread early, and intervening with education and testing.
He said their insightful work has kept the exponential spread seen in other areas in the region and around the world at bay, but he added the community cannot grow complacent.
“Each spark of infection has the potential to grow, and the most severe outbreaks are fueled by simple things, like getting together in a home environment to mark achievements and family milestones without wearing face coverings,” Pace said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The Kincade fire started on Oct. 23, 2019, several hours after a public safety power shutoff was implemented across portions of the North Bay – including Lake and Sonoma counties – in response to a red flag warning for heavy winds.
It burned a total of 77,758 acres, destroyed 374 structures and caused four non-life-threatening injuries for first responders, Cal Fire reported. There were no deaths attributed to the fire.
In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, PG&E said it was aware of Cal Fire’s statement on its determination into the fire’s cause.
“At this time, we do not have access to Cal Fire’s investigative report or the evidence it has collected. We look forward to reviewing both at the appropriate time,” the company said.
North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire, whose district includes Lake and Sonoma counties, said Thursday, “PG&E has become too big and has failed us too many times,” referring to the San Bruno explosion, the massive wildfires of 2017 and 2018, the fall public safety power shutoffs and now the Kincade fire.
McGuire maintained that the company should be broken up.
The Kincade fire burned for two weeks, finally being fully contained on Nov. 6.
During the weeks it burned, it triggered massive evacuations across a wide swath of Sonoma County and also burned into the southwest portion of Lake County near Middletown, which resulted in an evacuation warning for the Cobb and Middletown areas.
Cal Fire said its investigators were immediately dispatched to the Kincade fire after it started and began working to determine the fire’s origin and cause of the fire.
Within days of the fire’s start, PG&E acknowledged making a report to the California Public Utilities Commission about a failed transmission line in The Geysers Geothermal Steamfield in the fire’s area of origin in Sonoma County the day after the fire started.
PG&E said that as part of the Oct. 23 public safety power shutoff, it had turned off the power to 27,837 customers in Sonoma County, including Geyserville and the surrounding area.
The company said it deenergized power distribution lines in those areas but that transmission lines in the same areas remained energized because the forecasted weather conditions weren’t expected to meet the sustained 55 miles per hour wind speeds required for shutoff under company protocol.
The transmission tower where the fallen line was found was 43 years old at the time and had been inspected four times over the previous two years, including an inspection earlier that year as part of PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Inspection Program, company officials said.
The company’s early reports also acknowledged that Cal Fire personnel reported to PG&E a broken jumper on the tower.
Following a “very meticulous and thorough investigation” that took place over the course of nine months, Cal Fire said it determined the fire was caused by electrical transmission lines located northeast of Geyserville and owned and operated by PG&E.
The brief Thursday statement from Cal Fire was general in nature and did not, specifically, mention the failed equipment PG&E had reported on in the fall, although it referred to the same area of origin.
Cal Fire said tinder-dry vegetation and strong winds combined with low humidity and warm temperatures contributed to extreme rates of fire spread. The fire burned 10,000 acres on its first night, according to an original Cal Fire report.
The Kincade fire investigative report has been forwarded to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, Cal Fire said.
PG&E said Thursday, “We want our customers and communities to know that safety is our most important responsibility and that we are working hard every day to reduce wildfire risk throughout our service area.”
The company pointed to its ongoing work to reduce wildfire risk through its Community Wildfire Safety Program, which is designed to address the growing threat of extreme weather and wildfires across PG&E’s service area.
Measures include ongoing and expanded efforts related to new grid technology, hardening of the electric system, enhanced vegetation management, and real-time monitoring and situational awareness tools such as high-definition cameras and hundreds of weather stations to better understand how severe weather can impact the system.
The news comes weeks after PG&E announced it had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and one month after the company pleaded guilty in Butte County Superior Court to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting a fire for the 2018 Camp fire in Paradise.
Cal Fire also previously found PG&E responsible for the 2015 Butte fire and the October 2017 North Bay fires, which included the Sulphur fire in Lake County. The North Bay fires reportedly remain the costliest series of wildland fires on record.
McGuire said that it’s time for Senate Bill 1312, to expedite desperately needed modernizations and safety measures to curb massive power shutoffs, to become law.
SB 1312 will expedite grid hardening and force PG&E to modernize and fix its system in four years rather than the 12 to 14 years it has proposed to state regulators, McGuire said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Liz Essley Whyte, Center for Public Integrity
A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.
The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week.
Eleven states are in the “red zone” for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.
It includes county-level data and reflects the insistence of the Trump administration that states and counties should take the lead in responding to the coronavirus. The document has been shared within the federal government but does not appear to be posted publicly.
Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said he thought the information and recommendations were mostly good.
“The fact that it’s not public makes no sense to me,” Jha said Thursday. “Why are we hiding this information from the American people? This should be published and updated every day.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, a leader of the task force, referenced an earlier version of what appears to be the same report — which she said was updated weekly and sent to governors — in a press conference July 8 in which Vice President Mike Pence urged local leaders to open schools in the fall.
She said Arizona, California, Florida and Texas were among the states the task force was monitoring carefully and that “a series of other states” were also in the red zone and should consider limiting gatherings.
It’s clear some states are not following the task force’s advice. For instance, the document recommends that Georgia, in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, “mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.” But Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks.
The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in the document are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
In May, the World Health Organization recommended that governments make sure test positivity rates were at 5 percent or lower for 14 days before reopening. A COVID-19 tracker from Johns Hopkins University shows that 33 states were above that recommended positivity as of July 16.
“If the test positivity rate is above 10 percent, that means we’re not doing a good job mitigating the outbreak,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, science communication lead at the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer organization launched by journalists from The Atlantic.
“Ideally we want the test positivity rate to be below 3 percent, because that shows that we’re suppressing COVID-19.”
The White House and Kemp did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.