‘Planetary Genesis’ Captured by ALMA

Images of the  Day:

‘Planet formation’ captured in ALMA image

HL Tauri (HL Tau), the infant star at the center, is about a million years old, and is 450 light years (140 pc) from Earth in the constellation Taurus.

The sun-like star is surrounded by vast rings of dust and gas, which will form planets, asteroids and comets, and is trailed by the Herbig-Haro object HH 151.

A new image from ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array, located in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, is said to reveal for the first time ever extraordinarily fine details  in the planet-forming disc around a young star, said researchers at ALMA Observatory.

ALMA’s antennas are spaced up to 15 kilometers apart to provide new high-resolution capabilities, said to be a major leap in the understanding of how protoplanetary discs develop and how planets form.

Top: This is the sharpest image ever taken by ALMA — sharper than is routinely achieved in visible light with the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the protoplanetary disc surrounding the young star HL Tauri. These new ALMA observations reveal substructures within the disc that have never been seen before and even show the possible positions of planets forming in the dark patches within the system. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) | Download.  Middle: This is a composite image of the young star HL Tauri and its surroundings using data from ALMA (enlarged in box at upper right) and the Hubble Space Telescope (rest of the picture). This is the first ALMA image where the image sharpness exceeds that normally attained with Hubble. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/ESA | Download. Bottom: This image compares the size of the Solar System with HL Tauri and its surrounding protoplanetary disc. Although the star is much smaller than the Sun, the disc around HL Tauri stretches out to almost three times as far from the star as Neptune is from the Sun. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) | Download

“These features are almost certainly the result of young planet-like bodies that are being formed in the disc. This is surprising since such young stars are not expected to have large planetary bodies capable of producing the structures we see in this image,” said Stuartt Corder, ALMA Deputy Director.

“When we first saw this image we were astounded at the spectacular level of detail. HL Tauri is no more than a million years old, yet already its disc appears to be full of forming planets. This one image alone will revolutionize theories of planet formation,” explained Catherine Vlahakis, ALMA Deputy Program Scientist and Lead Program Scientist for the ALMA Long Baseline Campaign. [Source and credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)]

More information posted HERE.

The lamb born with two heads dies

U2 [aka, Lambie, Two Face,] the New Zealand lamb born with two faces, has died of a brain bleed after 41 days in Southland, NZ.

Photo shows Two Face shortly after birth.  Image: Supplied by owner/ Via nzherald

Related Links

• Hermaphrodite Lamb Born With Seven Legs Posted on September 25, 2007

Global Disasters/ Significant Events Headlines – 19 April 2013

UPDATE: Texas fertilizer plant explosion

UPDATE @ 12:00 UTC –  12 bodies have been recovered, at least 35 people are missing [some of the victims may have been vaporized in the inferno,] and more than 200 injured in the blast, officials have said.

A deadly blast rocked the West Fertilizer Plant in the small town of West north of Waco, Texas at about 7.50pm local time  on Wednesday [00:50 UTC on Thursday.]

Dozens of people are feared dead and at least 160 were injured, including 24 – 48 critically, after the explosion destroyed scores of home and released toxic fumes into the air. [There’s NO official death toll as yet, but West mayor said the explosion had killed at least 14 people, as the search to recover bodies continued.]

The Day After. An aerial view shows the aftermath of a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas April 18, 2013. A large apartment block destroyed by the blast is seen on top left corner of the image. Credit: REUTERS/Adrees Latif. More images…

The blast was recorded as a 2.1 magnitude quake by USGS/EHP, which said, “the magnitude measures only the ground motion, not the air wave, so is substantially less than the true size of the event.”

“Every house within about four blocks is blown apart,”  the Waco Tribune quoted an eyewitness as saying.

Image shows the smoldering West Fertilizer Co. plant in West, Texas after a massive  explosion. Credit: McLennan County Sheriff and Fire

Texas state Gov. Perry said he would declare the area a disaster and request an emergency declaration for federal aid from the White House.

Official have evacuated half of the town’s 2,700 population. West is located in north-central part of Texas  about 20 miles (32 km) north of Waco.

Smoke rises from the scene of an explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. plant in West, Texas in this April 18, 2103 still image from video courtesy of NBCDFW TV. REUTERS/NBCDFW-NBC/Handout

“The West plant is one of thousands of sites across rural America that store and sell hazardous materials such as chemicals and fertilizer for agricultural use, many within close range of residences and schools,” said a report.

It’s not known why the planning authorities allowed so many residential units to be built  so close to a fertilizer plant.

Officials said there was NO evidence of foul play.

• See also:  Massive Explosion at Texas Plant ‘Kills Many,’ Injures Hundreds, Levels 5-Block Radius April 18, 2013

.

State of Emergency declared in Illinois amid widespread flooding

Illinois Governor Quinn has declared a state of emergency as  widespread flooding brought havoc to the Chicago area on Thursday, with another wave of storms forecast for the region.

“Heavy rainfall over the past few days has created dangerous flooding in areas across the state,” Quinn said. “Everyone should stay home and off the roads if possible. To ensure safety as these storms continue, people should be alert and avoid flooded areas.”

Several towns and counties have separately declared a state of emergency, including Elmhurst, Lisle and Lombard.

“Quinn said a hospital in Morris had to be evacuated as well as two trailer parks currently under water. Residents have lost whole rooms of belongings, and in Chicago a sinkhole swallowed three cars, injuring a man,” according to a report.

Three cars were swallowed by a sinkhole Thursday on Chicago’s South Side. One person was injured. Source: nbcchicago. More images …

• Road Closures Map

.

State of emergency Declared in Wyoming, Michigan

Mayor of Wyoming, Mich., has declared a state of emergency in the city due to  flooding.

• Mandatory evacuations have been issued for the worst affected areas, said a report.

.

State of emergency Declared in Alma, Michigan

A state of emergency has been declared in the city of Alma, Mich., due to flooding.

• “Flood levels are expected to continue through Wednesday, April 23,” said a report.
  

.

States of emergencies declared in 2 Michigan counties

Midland and Newaygo counties in Michigan have both declared a state of emergency due to flooding, said a report.

.

State of emergencies declared in Benton County, Ark.

Officials have declared a state of emergency in Benton County, Ark., after extreme rain events caused widespread flooding, said a report.

.

China reports four new H7N9 infections

Health officials in China have reported 7 new cases of H7N9 avian flu infections in Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang,  said a report.

• The latest cases raises the total number of H7N9 infections to at least 87, with 17 fatalities.
• The latest 3 (of a total of 30) patients in Zhejiang are said to be in critical condition.
  

Human-to-human transmission of H7N9 revisited

More than 50 percent of patients infected with H7N9 virus in China had no contact with poultry, said the World Health Organization on Friday.

• “As the investigation gets deeper we’re finding that more than half have had no contact with poultry”, O’Leary told a briefing.

• “It’s hard to definitively rule in or rule out chickens”, he said. “This is still an animal virus that occasionally infects humans. With rare exceptions, we know that people are not getting sick from other people.” The WHO’s China representative reported.
  

.

27 killed, 51 wounded in Baghdad cafe bombing

At least 27 people were killed and 51 others wounded on Thursday when a bomb exploded in a cafe in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, reports said.

.

DISASTER CALENDAR – April 19, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,058 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,058 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Arthur Starts the Hurricane Season

Arthur Forms Punctually Near Belize City, Mexico

Tropical storm Arthur, Atlantic’s first named storm for 2008, lashed Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula with strong winds of about 40 mph (65 kph), dumping heavy rains on Saturday.

Infrared image GOES Floater (updated every hour or so). NOAA – National Hurricane Center

As if with clockwork precision, Arthur was formed just hours before the official June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season about 75 miles (125 km) northwest of Belize City, Mexico.

Alma, the tropical storm formed in the Pacific, fizzled out on Friday after sloshing Nicaragua’s Pacific coast, killing three people.

This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (purple). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extratropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low. The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC’s forecast intensity for that time. (Graph and caption NOAA)

Related Information:

• OceanView –GOES Floater Imagery for Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
• A detailed definition of the NHC track forecast cone

Related Links:

• Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?
• Tropical Cyclones
• 33 percent More Disasters