Canis Major & Canis Minor
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Thanet Astronomy Group Astronomy for Everyone in Plain English
Thanet Astronomy Group Astronomy for Everyone in Plain English What to see December 29th Constellation (Orion) Stars (Betelguese, Bellatrix, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Rigel, Saiph,) Asterism (The Winter Triangle) Stars (Betelguese, Sirius, Procyon) November to March the constellation Orion the Hunter is at its best. There are some 20 prominent stars in this constellation. The brightest and more easily observed stars are the 8 in the main body. The other stars form Orion's right arm with club, and a slain animal in his left hand. These stars are dimmer and difficult to see due to light pollution. At 8:00pm Looking South East at 119° up to 30° you see the star Betelguese, the top left corner of Orion, a red super giant, more than 1½ billion kms in diameter. Look at 127° up to 33° you see the star Bellatrix, the top right corner of Orion, at 8½ million kms in diameter. Look at 128° down to 24° you see Alnitak, the first of three stars side by side, forming Orion's belt. Alnitak, Alnilam (at 128° 25°) and Mintaka (at 129° 26°). Probably one of the more easily recognised groups of stars in this area of sky. Look at 137° down to 21° you see the star Rigel, the bottom right corner of Orion. A blue/white super giant, 108 million kms in diameter. Look at 130° down to 16° you see the star Saiph the bottom left corner of Orion, nearly 31 million kms in diameter. Orion Stars Orion the Hunter In August I wrote about The Summer Triangle. -
Baylisascariasis
Baylisascariasis Importance Baylisascaris procyonis, an intestinal nematode of raccoons, can cause severe neurological and ocular signs when its larvae migrate in humans, other mammals and birds. Although clinical cases seem to be rare in people, most reported cases have been Last Updated: December 2013 serious and difficult to treat. Severe disease has also been reported in other mammals and birds. Other species of Baylisascaris, particularly B. melis of European badgers and B. columnaris of skunks, can also cause neural and ocular larva migrans in animals, and are potential human pathogens. Etiology Baylisascariasis is caused by intestinal nematodes (family Ascarididae) in the genus Baylisascaris. The three most pathogenic species are Baylisascaris procyonis, B. melis and B. columnaris. The larvae of these three species can cause extensive damage in intermediate/paratenic hosts: they migrate extensively, continue to grow considerably within these hosts, and sometimes invade the CNS or the eye. Their larvae are very similar in appearance, which can make it very difficult to identify the causative agent in some clinical cases. Other species of Baylisascaris including B. transfuga, B. devos, B. schroeder and B. tasmaniensis may also cause larva migrans. In general, the latter organisms are smaller and tend to invade the muscles, intestines and mesentery; however, B. transfuga has been shown to cause ocular and neural larva migrans in some animals. Species Affected Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are usually the definitive hosts for B. procyonis. Other species known to serve as definitive hosts include dogs (which can be both definitive and intermediate hosts) and kinkajous. Coatimundis and ringtails, which are closely related to kinkajous, might also be able to harbor B. -
Phylogeographic and Diversification Patterns of the White-Nosed Coati
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 131 (2019) 149–163 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev Phylogeographic and diversification patterns of the white-nosed coati (Nasua narica): Evidence for south-to-north colonization of North America T ⁎ Sergio F. Nigenda-Moralesa, , Matthew E. Gompperb, David Valenzuela-Galvánc, Anna R. Layd, Karen M. Kapheime, Christine Hassf, Susan D. Booth-Binczikg, Gerald A. Binczikh, Ben T. Hirschi, Maureen McColginj, John L. Koprowskik, Katherine McFaddenl,1, Robert K. Waynea, ⁎ Klaus-Peter Koepflim,n, a Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA b School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA c Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62209, Mexico d Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA e Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA f Wild Mountain Echoes, Vail, AZ 85641, USA g New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY 12233, USA h Amsterdam, New York 12010, USA i Zoology and Ecology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia j Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA k School of Natural Resources and the Environment, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA l College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA m Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. -
Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Blancan of Florida
THREE NEW PROCYONIDS (MAMMALIA, CARNIVORA) FROM THE BLANCAN OF FLORIDA Laura G. Emmert1,2 and Rachel A. Short1,3 ABSTRACT Fossils of the mammalian family Procyonidae are relatively abundant at many fossil localities in Florida. Analysis of specimens from 16 late Blancan localities from peninsular Florida demonstrate the presence of two species of Procyon and one species of Nasua. Procyon gipsoni sp. nov. is slightly larger than extant Procyon lotor and is distinguished by five dental characters including a lack of a crista between the para- cone and hypocone on the P4, absence of a basin at the lingual intersection of the hypocone and protocone on the P4, and a reduced metaconule on the M1. Procyon megalokolos sp. nov. is significantly larger than extant P. lotor and is characterized primarily by morphology of the postcrania, such as an expanded and posteriorly rotated humeral medial epicondyle, more prominent tibial tuberosity, and more pronounced radioulnar notch. Other than larger size, the dentition of P. megalokolos falls within the range of variation observed in extant P. lotor, suggesting that it may be an early member of the P. lotor lineage. Nasua mast- odonta sp. nov. has a unique accessory cusp on the m1 as well as multiple morphological differences in the dentition and postcrania, such as close appression of the trigonid of the m1 and a less expanded medial epicondyle of the humerus. We also synonymize Procyon rexroadensis, formerly the only known Blancan Procyon species in North America, with P. lotor due to a lack of distinct dental morphological features observed in specimens from its type locality in Kansas. -
Educator's Guide: Orion
Legends of the Night Sky Orion Educator’s Guide Grades K - 8 Written By: Dr. Phil Wymer, Ph.D. & Art Klinger Legends of the Night Sky: Orion Educator’s Guide Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………....3 Constellations; General Overview……………………………………..4 Orion…………………………………………………………………………..22 Scorpius……………………………………………………………………….36 Canis Major…………………………………………………………………..45 Canis Minor…………………………………………………………………..52 Lesson Plans………………………………………………………………….56 Coloring Book…………………………………………………………………….….57 Hand Angles……………………………………………………………………….…64 Constellation Research..…………………………………………………….……71 When and Where to View Orion…………………………………….……..…77 Angles For Locating Orion..…………………………………………...……….78 Overhead Projector Punch Out of Orion……………………………………82 Where on Earth is: Thrace, Lemnos, and Crete?.............................83 Appendix………………………………………………………………………86 Copyright©2003, Audio Visual Imagineering, Inc. 2 Legends of the Night Sky: Orion Educator’s Guide Introduction It is our belief that “Legends of the Night sky: Orion” is the best multi-grade (K – 8), multi-disciplinary education package on the market today. It consists of a humorous 24-minute show and educator’s package. The Orion Educator’s Guide is designed for Planetarians, Teachers, and parents. The information is researched, organized, and laid out so that the educator need not spend hours coming up with lesson plans or labs. This has already been accomplished by certified educators. The guide is written to alleviate the fear of space and the night sky (that many elementary and middle school teachers have) when it comes to that section of the science lesson plan. It is an excellent tool that allows the parents to be a part of the learning experience. The guide is devised in such a way that there are plenty of visuals to assist the educator and student in finding the Winter constellations. -
Raccoons Procyon Lotor
Raccoons Procyon lotor The raccoon, (Procyon lotor), is closely related to the dog and the bear families although its disposition resembles that of a small bear. Characteristic features include short, pointed ears: a long, pointed snout; and greyish-brown, long fur covering the body. The raccoon's most distinguishing features are the black masks around the eyes and the black rings around the long, bushy tail. A raccoon may be two to three feet or more long and weigh between 15 and 30 pounds when mature. Raccoons are excellent climbers and have very dexterous fore paws. They are primarily nocturnal creatures but occasionally venture out in the daytime particularly toward evening. During the fall and winter months (November through March), they may den-up in their home quarters during the coldest periods. This is not true hibernation, as the raccoons will wander out during warm spells. Reproduction Raccoons breed in late winter or early spring. The gestation period is 63 days. Females produce one litter per year ranging in size from three to six young (kits). The litter is born in a sheltered den, usually a hollow log, tree or rock crevice. Raccoons are sociable animals in their family group. After two months of age the young accompany the mother on excursions for food and may travel several miles. Family groups remain intact for about a year. Distribution and Habitat Raccoons are very common throughout Connecticut and the northeastern United States. Color shadings in the fur may vary according to age, sex and range area. They inhabit a wide range of habitats, but prefer mature woodlands along streams, ponds, wetlands and marshes. -
Winter Constellations Orion
Night Sky 101: Winter Constellations Orion Orion is possibly the most well-known constellation, apart from The Big and Little Dipper. Easily recognizable by the three bright stars that form the “belt of Orion,” the constellation is, in reality, much larger. The two brightest stars in Orion are called Betelgeuse and Rigel. Betelgeuse has a distinct red tint, which makes it easy to tell them apart. Betelgeuse may soon go completely supernova. Astronomers suspect that this supernova will not affect the Earth, but may cause a double shadow to be cast on the Earth’s surface for up to two weeks. Orion is identified as the hunter by the Greeks. According to the myth, Orion was the son of the god Posiedon and Euryale, queen of the Amazons. Orion inherited his mothers talents and became the greatest hunter in the whole world. However, he boasted about this repeatedly, and was killed by a small scorpion (Scorpius), who stung him on the ankle. Canis Major and Canis Minor According to Greek mythology, Canis Major and Minor represent Orion’s faithful hunting companions. Canis Major appears to be chasing the rabbit constellation, Lepus, in the night sky. Canis Major is home to the sky’s brightest star, Sirius, also called “The Dog Star.” Sirius is a blue star, but appears to be many different colors and has been repeatedly mistaken as a UFO. One of the most unique celestial objects in Canis Major is the colliding spiral galaxies, NGC 2207 and IC 2163. The larger galaxy is in the process of pulling stars and remaining material from the smaller galaxy. -
JUDITH MERRIL-PDF-Sep23-07.Pdf (368.7Kb)
JUDITH MERRIL: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE Compiled by Elizabeth Cummins Department of English and Technical Communication University of Missouri-Rolla Rolla, MO 65409-0560 College Station, TX The Center for the Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy December 2006 Table of Contents Preface Judith Merril Chronology A. Books B. Short Fiction C. Nonfiction D. Poetry E. Other Media F. Editorial Credits G. Secondary Sources About Elizabeth Cummins PREFACE Scope and Purpose This Judith Merril bibliography includes both primary and secondary works, arranged in categories that are suitable for her career and that are, generally, common to the other bibliographies in the Center for Bibliographic Studies in Science Fiction. Works by Merril include a variety of types and modes—pieces she wrote at Morris High School in the Bronx, newsletters and fanzines she edited; sports, westerns, and detective fiction and non-fiction published in pulp magazines up to 1950; science fiction stories, novellas, and novels; book reviews; critical essays; edited anthologies; and both audio and video recordings of her fiction and non-fiction. Works about Merill cover over six decades, beginning shortly after her first science fiction story appeared (1948) and continuing after her death (1997), and in several modes— biography, news, critical commentary, tribute, visual and audio records. This new online bibliography updates and expands the primary bibliography I published in 2001 (Elizabeth Cummins, “Bibliography of Works by Judith Merril,” Extrapolation, vol. 42, 2001). It also adds a secondary bibliography. However, the reasons for producing a research- based Merril bibliography have been the same for both publications. Published bibliographies of Merril’s work have been incomplete and often inaccurate. -
Sirius - Wikipedia Coordinates: 06 H 4 5 M 08.9 1 7 3 S, −1 6 ° 4 2 ′ 5 8.01 7 ″
12/2/2018 Sirius - Wikipedia Coordinates: 06 h 4 5 m 08.9 1 7 3 s, −1 6 ° 4 2 ′ 5 8.01 7 ″ Sirius Sirius (/ˈsɪriəs/, a romanization of Greek Σείριος, Seirios, lit. "glowing" or "scorching") is a star system Sirius A and B and the brightest star in the Earth's night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The system has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa). What the naked eye perceives as a single star is a binary star system, consisting of a white main-sequence star of spectral type A0 or A1, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DA2, called Sirius B. The distance separating Sirius A from its companion varies between 8.2 and 31.5 AU.[24] Sirius appears bright because of its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to Earth. At a distance of 2.6 parsecs (8.6 ly), as determined by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite,[2][25][26] the Sirius system is one of Earth's near neighbours. Sirius is gradually moving closer to the Solar System, so it will slightly increase in brightness over the next 60,000 years. After that time its distance will begin to increase and it will become fainter, but it will continue to be the brightest star in the Earth's night sky for the next 210,000 years.[27] The position of Sirius (circled). Sirius A is about twice as massive as the Sun (M☉) and has an absolute visual magnitude of 1.42. -
Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics
Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index Compiled by Andrew Fraknoi (U. of San Francisco, Fromm Institute) Version 7 (2019) © copyright 2019 by Andrew Fraknoi. All rights reserved. Permission to use for any non-profit educational purpose, such as distribution in a classroom, is hereby granted. For any other use, please contact the author. (e-mail: fraknoi {at} fhda {dot} edu) This is a selective list of some short stories and novels that use reasonably accurate science and can be used for teaching or reinforcing astronomy or physics concepts. The titles of short stories are given in quotation marks; only short stories that have been published in book form or are available free on the Web are included. While one book source is given for each short story, note that some of the stories can be found in other collections as well. (See the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, cited at the end, for an easy way to find all the places a particular story has been published.) The author welcomes suggestions for additions to this list, especially if your favorite story with good science is left out. Gregory Benford Octavia Butler Geoff Landis J. Craig Wheeler TOPICS COVERED: Anti-matter Light & Radiation Solar System Archaeoastronomy Mars Space Flight Asteroids Mercury Space Travel Astronomers Meteorites Star Clusters Black Holes Moon Stars Comets Neptune Sun Cosmology Neutrinos Supernovae Dark Matter Neutron Stars Telescopes Exoplanets Physics, Particle Thermodynamics Galaxies Pluto Time Galaxy, The Quantum Mechanics Uranus Gravitational Lenses Quasars Venus Impacts Relativity, Special Interstellar Matter Saturn (and its Moons) Story Collections Jupiter (and its Moons) Science (in general) Life Elsewhere SETI Useful Websites 1 Anti-matter Davies, Paul Fireball. -
Home-Range and Habitat Selection by Adult Cougars in Southern California
HOME-RANGE AND HABITAT SELECTION BY ADULT COUGARS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BRETT G. DICKSON,1,2School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA PAUL BEIER, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA Abstract:Understanding the impact of habitat fragmentation, roads, and other anthropogenic influences on cougars (Puma concolor) requires quantitative assessment of habitat selection at multiple scales. We calculated annu- al and multiyear home ranges using a fixed-kernel (FK) estimator of home range for 13adult female and 2adult male radiotagged cougars that were monitored October 1986through December 1992in the Santa Ana Mountain Range of southern California, USA. Using compositional analysis, we assessed diurnal use of vegetation types and areas near roads at 2orders of selection (second- and third-order; Johnson 1980). Mean annual and multiyear 85% FK home ranges for males were larger than those reported by previous studies in California. Mean wet-season 85% FK home ranges were significantly larger than those of the dry season. At both scales of selection and across sea- sons, cougars preferred riparian habitats and avoided human-dominated habitats. Grasslands were the most avoid- ed natural vegetation type at both scales of selection. Although cougar home ranges tended to be located away from high- and low-speed 2-lane paved roads (second-order avoidance), cougars did not avoid roads within their home range, especially when roads were in preferred riparian areas. Protection of habitat mosaics that include unroaded riparian areas is critical to the conservation of this cougar population. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 6640):1235–1245 Key words:California, compositional analysis, cougar, fixed-kernel home range, habitat selection, home range, Puma concolor, riparian, roads, scale, vegetation. -
Alternate Constellation Guide
ARKANSAS NATURAL SKY ASSOCIATION LEARNING THE CONSTELLATIONS (Library Telescope Manual included) By Robert Togni Cover Image courtesy of Wikimedia. Do not write in this book, and return with scope to library. A personal copy of this guide can be obtained online at www.darkskyarkansas.com Preface This publication was inspired by and built upon Robert (Rocky) Togni’s quest to share the night sky with all who can be enticed under it. His belief is that the best place to start a relationship with the night sky is to learn the constellations and explore the principle ob- jects within them with the naked eye and a pair of common binoculars. Over a period of years, Rocky evolved a concept, using seasonal asterisms like the Summer Triangle and the Winter Hexagon, to create an easy to use set of simple charts to make learning one’s way around the night sky as simple and fun as possible. Recognizing that the most avid defenders of the natural night time environment are those who have grown to know and love nature at night and exploring the universe that it re- veals, the Arkansas Natural Sky Association (ANSA) asked Rocky if the Association could publish his guide. The hope being that making this available in printed form at vari- ous star parties and other relevant venues would help bring more people to the night sky as well as provide funds for the Association’s work. Once hooked, the owner will definitely want to seek deeper guides. But there is no better publication for opening the sky for the neophyte observer, making the guide the perfect companion for a library telescope.