Astrophile: Runaway is star of cosmic whodunnit

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse

Object: Runaway star
Location: Orion Nebula, about 1300 light years from Earth

As whodunits go, this one's a smash hit. There's a m?nage ? trois that went horribly wrong, a near collision with an innocent bystander and a fugitive fleeing the scene of the crime. The cast doesn't include any famous human detectives or victims, though ? the stars are all of the astronomical variety. As a result, the detective work resolves a big question about where a superfast star got its speed.

The stellar tale begins in 1967, when astronomers Eric Becklin and Gerry Neugebauer stumbled upon an object in the Orion Nebula that was detectable only in the infrared. It was a star whose visible light was completely obscured by gas and dust. Over the last decade or so, it's become clear that the Becklin-Neugebauer (BN) object is a rare runaway star, moving away from the centre of the nebula at 30 kilometres per second.

One theory says that runaway stars start running away when one star of a pair of orbiting stars, known as a binary system, goes supernova and ejects its mate. But there's no supernova remnant in the Orion Nebula that could be the culprit.

So, what caused the BN object to flee? Fingers pointed to a massive object nearby called the Kleinmann-Low (KL) nebula protostar, which is about 15 solar masses in size, and is still growing by gulping gas from the disc of gas surrounding it. If one were to trace back BN's path, it passed perilously close to KL about 500 years ago.

Promiscuous proximity

There were other signs that KL spawned BN. The protostar's accretion disk is spewing out massive amounts of gas. This is normal, but in the case of this disk, the outflows are enormous, almost explosive. The cause could have been a violent collision with BN, which in turn could explain why the star ran away. It's what you would call circumstantial evidence.

Jonathan Tan of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, though, has always eyed another suspect: Theta-1 Orionis C, the brightest star in the Trapezium, a cluster which also lies in the Orion Nebula. In 2009, astronomers got firm evidence that theta-1C is a binary made of a massive primary star of 38 solar masses tightly embracing a smaller secondary star of 9 solar masses.

The couple weren't always so cosy. At some point, they were joined in a messy threesome by BN (stars in the Trapezium are promiscuous in their proximities). "That's quite an unstable situation," says Tan. "Generally, the least massive of those three stars will undergo a gravitational slingshot, and will be ejected from the system."

Chaotic threesome

Could the least massive star be BN, at 8 solar masses? That would offer a new explanation for how it became a runaway.

Tan and colleague Sourav Chatterjee decided to settle the issue once and for all, using Chatterjee's forensically valuable ability to simulate the massively complex three-body interactions.

The three-star system is so chaotic that in order to explore all the possible outcomes the duo had to perform 10 million simulations. And voil? ? in some situations they found BN was ejected at 30 kilometres per second.

That still wasn't proof, however. Using the scenarios in which BN got ejected at the required speed and in the correct direction, the team calculated properties of the leftover binary system, theta-1C. They predicted seven properties, including how tight the orbit would be, the angle of the orbit relative to BN's direction and the recoil felt by theta-1C. Theta-1C's observed properties match these predictions.

Who framed KL?

The chances of this being just a coincidence are less than 1 in a 100,000, their calculations show. "The most likely explanation for the production of the runaway BN star is that it was ejected by a gravitational slingshot from theta-1C," says Chatterjee. The team presented the results at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Case closed? Not so fast. What about the KL protostar? How can we explain its massive, explosive outflows? It turns out that even though BN was ejected by theta-1C, the object still passed through the outskirts of KL's accretion disk, which happened to lie in its path. This created gravitational tidal waves in the disk, leading to faster accretion, which in turn led to the explosive outflows.

What's more, the runaway star's trajectory got bent by KL's gravity by about 10 degrees. Which is why if one merely traces BN's path backwards in time in a straight line, it comes close to the KL protostar, but is nowhere near theta-1C.

But though KL is still part of the story, the source of the mischief is clear: theta-1C. "All the evidence is pointing to theta-1C as the guilty party," says Tan. "KL is a victim. It was almost framed, if you like."

Reference: arxiv.org/abs/1203.0325v3

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boconnel: An interesting analogy of Obama as a baseball pitcher. Let's get someone up in the bullpen! http://t.co/7X5VuUa1 #2012 #romney2012

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Skype rolls visual ads during some Windows calls, wonders what the hang up is

Skype has been raising the prospect of ads during calls for some time, and has already been running between-call ads before that, but now it's taking more definitive action. As of today, Skype for Windows users who don't have any credit their accounts will see -- thankfully, not hear -- ads during pure Skype-to-Skype voice conversations. The ads won't disrupt calls or take over the interface, but the company's attempt to spin location-targeted sales pitches as a way to "generate fun interactivity" between callers isn't exactly leaving us warm and fuzzy. There's no mention of whether or not Mac or mobile users will get the ads as well -- not that there's exactly a rush to embrace them or the "additional commercial experiences" coming in the future.

Skype rolls visual ads during some Windows calls, wonders what the hang up is originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Afghan neighbors try to tackle issues together

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, arrives for a group photo with the foreign attendees of the Asia Ministerial Conference at the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Afghanistan's neighbors and regional heavyweights met in Kabul on Thursday to do something they rarely do _ try to tackle common threats and problems together.(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, arrives for a group photo with the foreign attendees of the Asia Ministerial Conference at the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Afghanistan's neighbors and regional heavyweights met in Kabul on Thursday to do something they rarely do _ try to tackle common threats and problems together.(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul speaks during a press conference after the Asia Ministerial Conference at the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Afghanistan's neighbors and regional heavyweights met in Kabul on Thursday to do something they rarely do _ try to tackle common threats and problems together.(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Newly graduated Afghan national police officers demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony at a National Police training center in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Over 190 National police officers graduated after receiving 4 months of training in Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, posees for a group photo with the foreign attendees of the Asia Ministerial Conference at the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, June 14, 2012. Afghanistan's neighbors and regional heavyweights met in Kabul on Thursday to do something they rarely do _ try to tackle common threats and problems together.(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghanistan's neighbors and regional heavyweights met in Kabul on Thursday to do something they rarely do ? try to tackle common threats and problems together.

With NATO's combat mission ending in 2014, the region's countries are being called on to help stabilize Afghanistan by joining forces to resolve regional problems such as extremism, drug-trafficking, poor coordination on economic issues and, most importantly, terrorism.

Any cooperation, however, is bound to share the stage with longtime neighborhood rivalries, the ongoing war in Afghanistan and a fragile effort to reach a peace accord with the Taliban.

Opening the one-day conference, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the head of the government-appointed peace council will travel soon to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to seek their continued help in talking peace with the Taliban in hopes of ending decades of war.

Security was tight in the capital for the conference, with roads blocked off and a heavy police presence in the streets.

Attacks Thursday served as a reminder of the daily violence in the country.

Three border police officers were killed when their truck hit a roadside bomb in Nangarhar province, said Idris Mohmand, a spokesman for the provincial border police. Also in the east, an officer with the national intelligence service was killed in a suicide bombing in Kunar province, according to Gul Zaman, the administrative head of Nari district where the blast occurred.

Karzai said that successful peace discussions with the Taliban are one of the most important elements in attaining harmony in the region. The Afghan leader, who has pushed neighboring Pakistan to do more to help further the peace process, thanked Saudi Arabia for its help in trying to find a political resolution to the war.

"We also very much hope that our brothers and sisters in Pakistan will do same," Karzai said.

The Taliban have been willing in the past to hold discussions with the United States but have rejected talks with the Afghan government, although Karzai insists that Taliban leaders have spoken with his government in private. The Taliban have announced their intention to open an office in Qatar. Karzai has backed that plan, but has been pushing Saudi Arabia as a venue for any possible talks.

Karzai said that Salahuddin Rabbani, the head of the high peace council, would visit Saudi Arabia and Pakistan soon. Rabbani is the son of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was killed in September 2011 by a suicide bomber posing as a peace emissary from the Taliban.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Pakistan stood ready to assist with the peace process, but that Afghanistan's various factions need to reach a consensus about a political resolution to the war. Only then can it be supported by Afghanistan's neighbors, she said.

Pakistan has been accused of providing militants sanctuary on its soil and aiding insurgents who attack Afghan and foreign forces in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been pushing Islamabad to help lure Taliban leaders, who are believed to be hiding or under arrest in Pakistan, to the negotiating table.

Pakistan has been under pressure from the United States, too. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a recent visit to Kabul that the U.S. was losing patience with Pakistan and wants it to do more to go after the Taliban, especially the al-Qaida affiliated Haqqani network.

"While there are formidable challenges ahead, we must not be consumed by negativity," Khar said.

She said Pakistan was committed to fighting for peace.

"This is a matter of Pakistan's core national interest," she said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi highlighted Iran's financial contributions to Afghanistan and expressed support for regional cooperation, especially on drug trafficking, but he also used his speech as a chance to take a jab at the U.S.-led military coalition.

"Unfortunately, the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan during the past 10 years has yielded further deterioration of security, growth and entrenchment of terrorist activities, a surge in narcotic drug production and trafficking, increase in organized crime, massacre of civilians and destruction of cities and villages," the top Iranian diplomat said.

He said Iran welcomed the planned withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014 and the decision of some countries to pull out even earlier. He said "a particular country" intends to prolong its military presence in Afghanistan in "pursuit of its extra regional objectives." It was clear he was referring to the United States, which plans to keep some troops in Afghanistan after 2014 to train Afghan forces and battle terrorism.

Thursday's gathering in Kabul was the second meeting of the so-called "Heart of Asia" countries. The first was held in November in Istanbul.

The participants include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. Representatives of 15 other countries, most of them Western, and a dozen regional and international organizations are also attending.

___

Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt and Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul.

Associated Press

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China's manned spacecraft in final preparations for mid-June launch

China's Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft is in final preparations for its launch in mid-June, paving the way for China's first manned space docking mission, as well as the country's first space mission featuring a female astronaut. The mission will feature the country's first attempt at manual space docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module, as well as tasks to be completed aboard the Tiangong-1 by astronauts from the Shenzhou-9, space experts said at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert.

China will launch the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft sometime in mid-June, a spokesperson said last Saturday.

"The launch of the Shenzhou-9 is a highly influential event that marks an important milestone for the development of China's space technology," Cui Jijun, director of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, said on Wednesday.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of China's manned space program, which was officially initiated on Sept. 21, 1992. The launch of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft marks the program's 10th launch and the country's fourth manned spaceflight.

China aims to build a space station around 2020 based on the space rendezvous and docking technology that is currently being tested. Several components will be sent into space separately before being assembled into a space station through a variety of docking procedures.

"In the Russian and USA space programs, the most serious docking problems have been caused by automatic docking systems, more so than by manual docking," said Pat Norris, chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society Space Group.

"China has taken the prudent course of verifying new space technology in robotic flights before applying it to human space missions," he said, referring to last November's unmanned Shenzhou-8 mission to test docking technology, as well as four unmanned missions that took place before the launch of the Shenzhou-5, which took astronaut Yang Liwei into space in 2003 and orbited Earth 14 times.

"China is only the third nation to launch humans into space, which is a very impressive achievement," said Norris, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the UK Parliamentary Space Committee.

Full Preparations
The Command Hall of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is in "ready to launch" status, according to launch center commander Wang Jun, who will be responsible for turning the ignition key during the actual launch.

A full-system drill was held on Tuesday, with all systems relevant to the mission found to be in full operating condition, Cui said.

He added that a sound emergency plan is in place and comprehensive escape drills have been conducted to ensure the safety of the three astronauts aboard.

The target module Tiangong-1 was brought down to docking orbit in early June and is ready for docking attempts by the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, according to a spokesperson from China's manned space program.

The three astronauts have been "strictly quarantined" so as to guarantee their physical and psychological condition, according to Lu Jinrong, chief engineer at the Jiuquan center.

"We cannot see them or get in touch with them. All we can do is provide support for their life and work," Lu said.

Although the construction of another launch center in southern China's island province of Hainan is well under way, the Jiuquan center will continue to be used to send manned spacecraft into space, while heavy components to be used to build the space station will be launched at the Hainan center, Lu said, adding that the Jiuquan center will "constantly adapt to new missions."

High Temps Pose Threat
"This launch marks the first time for a Chinese spacecraft to be launched during the hot summer weather," Cui said.

The previous nine launches - from the launch of the Shenzhou-1 to the Tiangong-1 - took place in spring, autumn or winter, he said.

For the Shenzhou-9 mission, high temperatures will pose a threat to the craft, as the ship's propellant can vaporize in excessively high temperatures. Efforts have been made to cool the propellant to around 15 degrees Celsius, "the best temperature before launch," Cui said.

"Summer is a good choice for the launch time," he said, as thunderstorms seldom occur near Jiuquan during the summer. Spring and winter bring sandstorms and extremely low temperatures to the area, respectively.

Cui cited the launch of the Shenzhou-4 spacecraft on Dec. 30, 2002, saying that cotton quilts were used to keep the rocket warm before launch, as temperatures fell to negative 29 degrees Celsius that evening.

The majority of China's spacecraft launch missions have taken place in autumn. However, after taking the Shenzhou-10 mission scheduled for later this year into account, June emerged as a suitable option, according to the director.

The upcoming launch may face another challenge in the form of strong wind and sand that blew through the area on Wednesday. The winds are predicted to last until Thursday, said Zhang Daochang, a deputy commander at the center.

According to an in-depth weather forecast and analysis of June's weather over the past two decades, Friday and Saturday will be "relatively stable," Zhang said.

"We've sent balloons into the sky and used radar to track the wind speed," he said.

(Xinhua reporter Zhou Erjie contributed to this report.)

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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Teen Working Back to Health From Brain Cancer - Long Valley Patch

When Tom and Megan Migliaccio?s son, Brendt, was running awkwardly during a Long Valley lacrosse game, they chalked it up to a previous knee injury that might have lingered longer than they expected.

But when the then-11-year-old got off the school bus the following day, his mom noticed something was way off.

?He was walking like he was drunk,? Tom Migliaccio said. ?It seemed deliberate but we realized he couldn?t control it.?

A visit to the family?s pediatrician led them on a nightlong journey to Morristown Medical Center, where Brendt Migliaccio underwent a CT Scan of his brain.

That scan?s results changed the lives of the Migliaccio family in an instant.

What showed up in April 2010 was a tumor on the back of Brendt Migliaccio?s brain, also known as medulloblastoma, effecting his nervous system. . The family headed to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York to have the tumor removed.

A biopsy revealed the growth was cancerous.

Migliaccio remained in the intensive care unit for a week after the surgery, then went down to Houston, Texas where he received seven weeks of radiation therapy. Once he completed the radiation treatment, Migliaccio spent the next 48 weeks going through cycles of chemotherapy at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

The pre-adolescent would spend two days a week in the institution receiving treatment over the course of nearly a year.

When the treatments ended, Migliaccio had an MRI in July 2011 that came back clean. There was no sign of a cancerous tumor, or any growth at all.

Just two months later, in September, another MRI came back clean.

But as the fall wore on, an MRI in November 2011 revealed there was a re-growth. The growth, however, didn?t appear in the original spot of the first tumor.

?It was basically the worst case scenario,? Tom Migliaccio said. ?What were we supposed to do from here??

The family?s next step was to undergo more chemotherapy treatments. The next two MRIs, in December and January showed the growth had not become enlarged, but it wasn?t shrinking, either.

At the beginning of this past April, Brendt Migliaccio underwent another surgery to remove the growth. Prior to the surgery, the now-13-year-old?s stem cells were retracted, frozen, and later used to help him recover from the surgery.

Migliaccio spent the next month in the hospital recovering from the surgery and stem cell treatments. He arrived home on Monday, June 4.

?He?s in real good spirits,? his father said. ?He?s just happy to be home.?

Migliaccio currently undergoes physical therapy at Riverside Health & Fitness Center in Hackettstown, since the first surgery paralyzed the left side of his body.

The multi-sport athlete has regained 80-percent mobility since working with a personal trainer at the gym.

While things are looking positive today, each day is a new beginning and a mystery, Tom Migliaccio said.

?We?re on pins and needles every day,? he said. ?You live from MRI to MRI, and work toward that date. You don?t make any plans because you don?t know what?s going to happen next.

?And what choice do we have?? Migliaccio said. ?We were dealt this hand, and we can?t ignore it. It?s something you have to hit head on.?

Migliaccio said the community?s support has been unbelievable throughout the process, with neighbors and friends pitching in to help during the family?s travels to Houston and while Brendt underwent chemotherapy at Columbia Presbyterian.

On Thursday, June 7, the community will once again step in to help not only Brendt but raise awareness for cancer in general.

All West Morris Central boys and girls lacrosse players will play against each other in a friendly competition at the high school at 6:30 p.m. and honor Brendt. Admission for adults is $5 and $2 for children. All proceeds will benefit Migliaccio.

?The support has been awesome,? Migliaccio said. ?The level of support has been unbelievable, and it shows a huge maturity level by (the lacrosse players) to support this cause.?

At Long Valley Middle School, where Migliaccio attends, a group of seventh graders have created a 1,000-paper-crane mobile completed earlier this spring that will go to their classmate in the coming weeks.

?What?s being done in this community is amazing,? Migliaccio said. ?I just hope we can get to the point where we don?t need to have fundraisers and benefits for cancer awareness.?

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Acer shows off next-gen Iconia Tab A210 and A110 at Computex, we go hands-on (video)

No press release, no media alert, not even a splashy press conference with Adele blasting in the background. The only reason we know these two tablets exist is because we happened to catch them on display here at Computex. What we have here are the Acer Iconia Tab A210 and A110, presumably the successors to the 10-inch A200 and the 7-inch A100. Apart from a wholesale redesign, which we'll walk you through after the break, both tablets have been upgraded to quad-core Tegra 3 processors and will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich. An Acer rep staffing the event said both are scheduled to go on sale sometime in Q3. No word on pricing or regional availability just yet, but if you accompany us past the break we've got impressions, two hands-on videos and a run-down of tentative specs.

Gallery: Acer Iconia A110 hands-on

Gallery: Acer Iconia A210 hands-on

Continue reading Acer shows off next-gen Iconia Tab A210 and A110 at Computex, we go hands-on (video)

Acer shows off next-gen Iconia Tab A210 and A110 at Computex, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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