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CU scientists discover earlier warming period
Oct 7th
If you think global warming is bad, 11 billion years ago the entire universe underwent what might be called universal warming. The consequence of that early heating was that fierce blasts of radiation from voracious black holes stunted the growth of some small galaxies for a stretch of 500 million years.
That is the conclusion of a team of astronomers led by the University of Colorado at Boulder who used the new capabilities of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to probe the invisible, remote universe.
Using the newly installed Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS, the team identified an era from 11.7 to 11.3 billion years ago when the universe stripped electrons off from primeval helium atoms — a process called ionization. This process heated intergalactic gas and inhibited it from gravitationally collapsing to form new generations of stars in some small galaxies. The lowest-mass galaxies were not even able to hold onto their gas, and it escaped back into intergalactic space.
CU-Boulder Professor Michael Shull of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department and his team were able to find the telltale helium spectral absorption lines in the ultraviolet light from a quasar — the brilliant core of an active galaxy. The quasar beacon shines light through intervening clouds of otherwise invisible gas, like a headlight shining through a fog. The beam allows for a core-sample probe of the clouds of gas interspersed between galaxies in the early universe.
The universe went through an initial heat wave over 13 billion years ago when energy from early massive stars ionized cold interstellar hydrogen from the Big Bang. This time period is called the Reionization Epoch because the hydrogen nuclei were originally in an ionized state shortly after the Big Bang, said Shull, also a faculty member at CU-Boulder’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, or CASA.
A paper on the subject will be published in the Oct. 20 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Co-authors included CASA Research Associate Kevin France, CASA Research Associate Charles Danforth, CASA postdoctoral researcher Britton Smith and Jason Tumlinson of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
But the Hubble data indicated it would take another 2 billion years before the universe produced sources of ultraviolet radiation with enough energy to do the heavy lifting and reionize the primeval helium that also was cooked up in the Big Bang.
This radiation didn’t come from stars, but rather from quasars, said Shull. In fact, the epoch when the helium was being reionized corresponds to a transitory time in the universe’s history when quasars were most abundant.
The universe was a rambunctious place back then, Shull said. Galaxies frequently collided and this engorged supermassive black holes in the cores of galaxies with gas falling in. The black holes furiously converted some of the gravitational energy of this mass to powerful far-ultraviolet radiation that would blaze out of galaxies. This heated the intergalactic helium from 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit to nearly 40,000 degrees.
After the helium was reionized in the universe, intergalactic gas again cooled down and dwarf galaxies could resume normal assembly. “I imagine quite a few more dwarf galaxies may have formed if helium reionization had not taken place,” said Shull.
So far Shull and his team only have one sightline from Hubble to measure the helium transition, but the COS science team plans to use Hubble to look in other directions to see if the helium reionization uniformly took place across the universe.
The $70 million COS instrument, inserted during the final Hubble servicing mission in May 2009 was designed by a team from CU-Boulder led by Professor James Green and was built primarily by Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. of Boulder.
SOURCE: CU-BOULDER MEDIA RELEASE
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Arrest at library
Oct 6th
The crime was reported to police the following morning when the employee returned to work and saw the suspect outside the library. The suspect was contacted by officers and the victim made a positive identification.
The suspect, identified as Manuel Rodriguez-Calanche, date of birth of Feb. 2, 1965, was initially arrested on municipal charges. After consultation with the District Attorney’s Office and prior to his first court appearance, those charges were dismissed and replaced with state charges of bias-motivated crime and harassment, both of which are misdemeanors. He was booked into the Boulder County Jail. Bond was set at $2,500.
The case number for this incident is 10-12318.
SOURCE: City of Boulder news release
Foumile Fire meetings
Oct 6th
Boulder County, Colo. – A series of four community meetings has been scheduled to address post-fire issues and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the Fourmile Canyon wildfire which began on Sept. 6, consumed 174 residential structures, and cost $9.5 million to contain.
Working with the fire chiefs from Sugar Loaf, Sunshine, Four Mile, and Gold Hill fire protection districts, as well as the Gold Hill Town Meeting Mayor, Boulder County elected officials and staff are seeking input from the community and looking for the best ways to support residents as they move ahead in rebuilding their homes and restoring their lands after the fire.
The meetings are intended for all affected property owners and renters who are dealing with post-fire issues related to public health and safety, environmental rehabilitation, soil stabilization, road maintenance and erosion concerns.
Separate meetings are being scheduled for residents who have lost homes in the fire as county staff work with property owners to address their specific needs around direct assistance, rebuilding and permitting, water and septic, and debris management.
The four community meetings are scheduled by fire protection district:
Gold Hill: Thursday, Oct. 7, 7-9 p.m., Gold Hill Elementary School, 890 Main St.
Four Mile: Monday, Oct. 11, 7-9 p.m., Salina School House, 536 Gold Run Road
Sugar Loaf: Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7-9 p.m., Fire Station # 2, 1360 Sugarloaf Road
Sunshine: Thursday, Oct. 14, 7-9 p.m., Fire Station # 1, 311 County Road 83
Residents are invited to attend any of the meetings, but are encouraged to attend the one closest to their home to discuss issues specific to their immediate area.
For more information about the meetings, contact Garry Sanfacon at 720-564-2642 or Ryan Ludlow at 720-564-2641.
SOURCE: Boulder County press release