News
Peering through fog to the era of reionization
News in Brief
Space industry boom
A survey of UK space industry
found that it has grown by
more than 10% on average
over the past few years and
is now worth some £7.5 bn a
year to the economy. Turnover
has doubled in real terms in
the past decade. This puts the
UK space sector on a par with
China for rate of growth over this
recession period, compared to
the UK national average figure
of 0.3%. Broadcasting and
telecommunications applications
account for most of this success.
http://www.ukspaceagency.bis.gov.
uk/20038.aspx
JWST reorganization
This is a simulation of galaxies when the universe was 600 million years old, using data from the European
Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, which has detected a galaxy (UDFy-38135539) at a redshift
of 8.6. The galaxy was spotted first with the Hubble Space Telescope, but it was the VLT’s powerful infrared
spectrograph SINFONI that pinned the distance down. At this early stage in the life of the universe, galaxies were
forming within dispersed hydrogen, which would normally absorb the ultraviolet radiation from young stars and
break down into protons and electrons, a process known as reionization. However, the research team led by Matt
Lehnert of the Observatoire de Paris thinks that this galaxy alone was too small to reionize the hydrogen and
clear the fog. “There must be other galaxies, probably fainter and less massive nearby companions of UDFy38135539, which also helped make the space around the galaxy transparent. Without this additional help the light
from the galaxy, no matter how brilliant, would have been trapped in the surrounding hydrogen fog and we would
not have been able to detect it,” explains co-author Mark Swinbank (Durham University).
http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1041
A&G • December 2010 • Vol. 51 http://www.nasa.gov/reports
Geoengineering poll
RAS survey wants to count you in
Helen Walker and Robert Massey
of the RAS invite you to take part in
the RAS Survey of the Demographics and Research Interests of the UK
Astronomy and Geophysics 2010.
Readers may already have received
an email with the link to the RAS’s
on-line questionnaire, designed to
learn about demographic trends and
research interests of the astronomy
and geophysics communities – please
take the time to fill it in and submit
it. If not, please follow the link below
and help the Society get an accurate
picture of who in the UK is working
in research in astronomy, solar system science and geophysics.
The information the survey provides from astronomers and geophysicists working in the UK is very
important to the RAS, because it
supports reports and submissions
made on your behalf. If we do not
have hard numbers, we end up relying on anecdotes and guesses to persuade policy makers to support our
A projected budget overrun of $1.5 bn and a delay
of 15 months for the James
Webb Space Telescope have
led to a reorganization of
upper management at NASA
Headquarters and the Goddard
Space Flight Centre. The
changes, announced by NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden,
follow an independent report
that highlighted failures in cost
control and coordination, while
recognizing that the project is on
track in technical performance.
The report of the Independent
Comprehensive Review Panel
can be read at the NASA website.
science – and that weakens our case.
But don’t feel that you have to be an
RAS Fellow to take part – we want to
get the most accurate figures for our
communities overall.
The RAS has been surveying the
community for 20 years, at around
five year intervals (Wilkinson 1990,
Elsworth 1995 [with a focus on
women], Tadhunter 2000). The last
one was carried out in 2003, so we
are overdue for a new survey, and
we especially need the data now as
science communities prepare for
difficult times ahead. We have used
the data in the past for reports on
careers in astronomy, and the lack
of progress of women to senior levels
in astronomy. Information about the
facilities used by the UK community
has also been used in reports we
make to government and funding
agencies, something of vital importance in the new age of austerity.
This is the first time we have used
professional support (Sean McWhin-
nie from Oxford Research and Policy) and the first time we have gone
electronic. As usual the survey has
two parts: a paper questionnaire for
departments to fill in, and the on-line
survey for individuals to fill in. We
hope it will not take too long, and
we sincerely hope the questions are
not confusing. Some questions look
back to the heritage of previous surveys, giving us continuity about the
focus of research in the UK and the
facilities used, and other questions
are forming a baseline for the future,
showing us the current state of earlycareer scientists so we can sound
warnings if/when we see problems.
This is your opportunity to be
counted and to help us represent you
in an informed way.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/rassurvey-2010
References
Wilkinson A 1990 QJRAS 31 411.
Elsworth Y 1995 QJRAS 36 1.
Tadhunter C 2000 A&G 41 2.19.
A survey of public attitudes to
geoengineering – large-scale
technological fixes for climate
change – found that most people
favoured solutions consistent
with natural processes and
with existing efforts to reduce
emissions. The survey was
commissioned by the Natural
Environment Research Council,
and asked people to think
about types of geoengineering,
such as changing land use and
afforestation, altering ocean
chemistry to absorb more carbon
dioxide, painting roofs white
to boost heat reflection and
launching arrays of mirrors into
space to reflect sunlight before
it reaches Earth. While the poll
was not quantitative, it did reveal
concern about projects perceived
as expensive and risky, such as
space mirrors and liming the
oceans. Ideas seen as boosting
natural processes, such as better
absorption of carbon dioxide by
vegetation, were preferred.
http://www.nerc.ac.uk
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