During the rare event, Jupiter and Saturn appeared in the sky as the closest they have been in 400 years

The “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn occurred on Dec. 21, 2020 when viewers in California and across the globe eagerly watched for the appearance of the two planets. Approximately once every 20 years the positions of Jupiter and Saturn are aligned closely in the sky, but it has been about 400 years since the planets were this close to each other and about 800 years since this alignment happened at night, according to an article by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

         Pratik Gandhi and Patty Bolan, PhD students in astrophysics at UC Davis, missed the event due to foggy weather in the San Francisco Bay Area but were able to witness it through the many pictures taken by astronomical websites. Gandhi was intrigued by the images captured by radio telescopes since images of the solar system tend to use optical imaging.

         “Generally, there are telescopes specific to each band in the electromagnetic spectrum,” Gandhi said. “This is the first time I’ve seen planets imaged in things outside the optical part of the spectrum.”

         Bolan, who is working on her thesis project studying the first galaxies that formed, believes events like the “Great Conjunction” grab the public’s attention because modern technology makes them more approachable by having images of the event accessible online. It also offers another perspective of a bigger picture that exists outside life on Earth.

         “It makes you forget about earthly things, […] like everything seems so minor on Earth if you think about all these crazy things that are happening in space,” Bolan said.

         Phenomenons like the “Great Conjunction” are perfect opportunities for public outreach about astronomy since the topic appeals to so many people, according to Bolan. Gandhi noted that astronomy is not a very applied science like physics or engineering where topics are mostly applied to building new things and creating devices. 

         One form of outreach both Bolan and Gandhi participate in is Astronomy on Tap, a program hosted by Sudwerk Brewing Co. in which guest speakers give short talks every month about astronomy. The events are currently canceled because of the pandemic, but if there had been a meeting in December, the “Great Conjunction” would have been one important topic of discussion.

         Though astronomical events like the “Great Conjunction” occur due to the alignment of planets, ancient cultures have historically interpreted these events astrologically to try and predict things that will happen on earth.

         Pat Boeshaar, a professor in astrophysics from the department of physics and astronomy, is familiar with the history of astrology. According to Boeshaar, Chinese astrologers looked at the sky to predict what would happen to the emperor more than 2000 years ago, and the ancient Babylonians around 2000 B.C.E. had a form of calculus to predict planetary positions.

         “If you go back in history, you are going to find understanding the sky led to revolutions in mathematics and our understanding of the world we live in,” Boeshaar said.

         Marusa Bradac, a professor from the department of physics and astronomy, knows that by using physics to calculate orbits, astronomers know the orbits of planets extremely well. This is how the “Great Conjunction” was predicted for Dec. 21, 2020.

         “Putting in the laws of physics, you can actually figure out where planets are going to be at any given time in the future,” said Bradac.

         According to Bolan, there have been so many detailed measurements of the planets’ orbits using the mass of the sun, the mass of the planets and the physical laws we have now that we know the exact orbits of everything in the solar system down to very precise measurements to predict events such as eclipses.

         In terms of the “Great Conjunction,” a specific calculation was described by Boeshaar.

“If Jupiter takes 12 years to go around the sun and Saturn 30 years—it is twice as

far away—Jupiter will be in the exact same spot in 12 years but Saturn will have moved a bit ahead of that spot in that time,” Boeshaar said. “It will take about 20 years for Jupiter to catch up and be conjoined with Saturn in approximately the same place on the sky.”

         Boeshaar, along with her husband, were able to see the aftermath of the conjunction on Dec. 23, 2020 when the planets were one-fourth of a degree apart and capture an image using a handheld camera. Some viewers used a tripod to capture a timed exposure, but according to Boeshaar using a handheld camera was the best way to get an image that gives a sense of what an individual would see just looking up at the sky.

         Instead of spending a lot of money on a telescope, Boeshaar advised viewers to use low power binoculars because the higher the power of the telescope, the more you magnify the atmospheric disturbance and affect the image. If an individual has a telescope, using a 50, 60 or even 100 power lens is the way to go.

           There are also plenty of local astronomy clubs that have the equipment to capture these events and make them accessible to the public. Using their amateur-type telescopes can yield great results in contrast to larger professional telescopes that usually are not successful in imaging these types of events, according to Bradac.

Written by: Francheska Torres — science@theaggie.org

Mass killings of animals historically used to protect humans from diseases

The Danish government ordered the culling of all farmed mink in early November after a mutation of COVID-19 had been discovered in mink populations. Authorities were concerned that the mutation could threaten the efficacy of a vaccine for humans since there have been some cases of COVID-19 transmission from mink to humans in Denmark.

Mark Cooper, an assistant professor in the department of human ecology and the department of animal science at UC Davis, researches the politics of infectious diseases and how humans interact with those diseases. Cooper notes that historically during disease outbreaks, large numbers of farmed animals were slaughtered over concerns that they can spread transmissible diseases to other species or that they will be hazardous for humans to consume if diseased.

An example is the mass cull of 380,000 pigs in South Korea in 2019 to contain African swine fever. There have been cases of culls of chicken farms in various places in the U.S. in response to bird flu. These massive culls leave many questioning livestock farming methods, according to Dr. Cooper.

“When a mass cull is ordered to contain a disease, it makes people question whether or not the way we use animals is as regular and as normal as it sometimes appears,” Cooper said.

Because of the crowded conditions on farms where livestock are raised, animals are prone to rapid transmission of pathogens, like the COVID-19 virus.

“When diseases move between different species, it can be very dangerous because that exchange is more likely to trigger mutations,” Cooper said.

In terms of disease spreading from humans to animals, there have been reports of a Pomeranian and a German Shepherd testing positive for the coronavirus in Hong Kong. There was also a case in Belgium where an individual who tested positive for COVID-19 transmitted the disease to their cat. 

Animals contracting the virus is concerning because the viral genome sequence may experience mutations, insertion or deletions when contracted. House pets are most likely quarantining with their owners, which can help decelerate the rate of transmission, according to one article published in The Innovation.

The same article mentioned that a tiger tested positive for COVID-19 in the Bronx Zoo, and it was suspected that the caretaker was responsible for the transmission. Later in the same zoo, three African lions and three more tigers tested positive for the virus and showed similar symptoms to the first infected tiger, such as dry cough.

Samuel Díaz-Muñoz, an assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at UC Davis, is familiar with animals contracting COVID-19 due to his research involving animal models to study respiratory diseases. The ferret, which is closely related to mink, is used often in influenza virus research. 

“Mutations are what make the virus so adaptable,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “They occur so quickly that many of the mutations will end up killing the virus, but they produce so many of them that some of them do hit and make the virus more transmissible.”

According to a recent study, there are some changes in the strain of the COVID-19 virus that appear to be adaptations without cause for immediate concern.

“All the mutations that are in the mink population have occurred also at some other point in the human population,” Díaz-Muñoz said.

Díaz-Muñoz described the virus returning to the human host as a spillback,defined as when the virus returns to the old host from the novel host it infected.This is evident because it has been transmitted from bats to humans, humans to mink and mink back to humans.

A similar phenomenon happened with the H1N1 virus. Humans gave the virus to pigs, and the crowded conditions where the pigs lived caused the virus to replicate and create more variants. This led to a higher probability that a variant would be produced with the right genetic combinations to return to the human population, potentially being more deadly and having a higher transmission rate, according to Díaz-Muñoz.

In reference to how the transmission to animals will affect the vaccine, Díaz-Muñoz believes there is no need for concern. The new technology that is being used to develop the vaccine allows for modifications if the virus fluctuates. Also, the virus would need to be widespread in animals for it to impact the vaccine, and currently there are more human infections than any other animal infections, according to Díaz-Muñoz.

“It is something to keep an eye on, but not something to be worried about,” Díaz-Muñoz said.
Written by: Francheska Torres — science@theaggie.org

The pandemic may aggravate mental health conditions, but there are ways to cope

As the weather grows colder, the season of “winter blues” has drawn upon us. With COVID-19 fatigue already dampening people’s moods, this winter may be particularly difficult for people coping with pandemic-induced stressors and mental health issues, especially for those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

According to Kaye Hermanson, a psychologist at the UC Davis Medical Center, SAD is a variant of a mood disorder and a form of depression characterized by oversleeping, overeating and social withdrawal. In addition, some symptoms are similar to major depression such as feeling depressed, loss of enjoyment in activities and low energy. Although the cause of SAD is not yet fully understood, Hermanson explained that some research shows possible causes include decreased serotonin or overproduction of melatonin during the winter months.  

While these symptoms may sound similar to the “winter blues” many experience, Paul Hastings, a professor in the department of psychology, elaborated that SAD is more than just an amplified version of the phenomenon. He explained that although there is a normal slowing of our bodies during winter, SAD is more than the general lethargy everyone can resonate with. SAD requires that the diagnosed individual shows a pervasive and enduring pattern of variation in their emotional and physical well-being during the winter season to the point that it affects their ability to complete everyday tasks.

“[Those with SAD] are not experiencing positive emotion,” Hastings said. “They are lethargic. They are irritable to the extent that it’s interfering with their abilities to have positive relationships with people in their lives [and] to get their work done. It’s quite a bit beyond what most of us think of when we use common terms of ‘I feel depressed.’”

Although Hermanson stated SAD usually varies depending on geography—the disorder is more prevalent in cold and dark regions—she hypothesizes that COVID-19 has forced many people into some form of a seasonal affective pattern as they experience social withdrawal. In addition to not being able to gather with families and friends, it has also become increasingly difficult to engage in activities which usually enhance the release of serotonin. Instead, many are forced to stay inside and quarantine, often leading to oversleeping and overeating. 

Hastings added that there is evidence that COVID-19 affects people with pre-existing mental health conditions in more serious and severe ways than it affects the general population. For example, those with anxiety disorders may be experiencing the pandemic as particularly stressful or emotionally distressing. Hastings also explained that the main alleviators of depression are social support and physical activity, which have become harder to attain.

“The public health regulations [to curb the spread of COVID-19] could make things even worse or even more challenging for people with seasonal affective disorder to deal with,” Hastings said. 

Despite the limitations that the current pandemic poses, Hermanson encourages people to look for alternative treatments to alleviate their symptoms. As leg therapy and vitamin D are traditional therapies for SAD, she suggested trying to have some form of outside activity while continuing to socially distance. Hastings added that fortunately, depression is very responsive to treatment, and combinations of psychotherapy, talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapies still seem to be effective, albeit remote.

Rowen Clayton, a fourth year human development major and co-programming coordinator for the UC Davis Mental Health Initiative, explained that when the pandemic first began, the wording of “social distancing” contributed to her reluctance to reach out to others. Rather, she believes that it is important to remember to emphasize physical distancing while staying socially connected through remote mediums. 

“I think it’s really important to remind ourselves that we should be ‘physical distancing’ instead of ‘social distancing,’ because there’s so many ways to stay connected, […] such as talking over Zoom with your friends—or Skype, Facetime—and also just communicating over Instagram,” Clayton said.

Hermanson added that in addition to these treatments and therapies, it is important to be aware of our thoughts concerning our current situations.

“Half of what we experience isn’t necessarily the situation that we’re in, but it’s our thoughts about the situation,” Hermanson said. “Our thoughts really cover so much more of our experience than we realize, and our thoughts are often rapid and they can often be negative.”

Because of this, Hermanson encourages reframing our thoughts to be less negative and brainstorming creative ways to evoke joy. She described some ways people in her neighborhood have been coping with the pandemic, like putting up clear plastic tents outside with space heaters or decorating their houses with Christmas lights. Hastings added that because the remote live-at-home nature of how we are coping with the pandemic is not natural to humans as a social species, it is important to practice self compassion and self care. 

“For people who are feeling tired, who are feeling that this is getting to be more than they can handle, they should accept, acknowledge and respect those feelings,” Hastings said.  “They’re completely legitimate. [People] should take those as a sign that they need to step back or slow down or give themselves some time to get recentered, and not treat it as [just] a feeling.”

Although the pandemic has put many people in a state of hopelessness, Hermanson and Hastings both emphasized that the end is within sight. As news of vaccine distribution has been published, Hastings encouraged people to recognize that a solution to their current situation is nearing.

“I personally think with all of the news about the vaccine, it’s given some of us—it’s certainly given me—a renewed hope that we can see possibly the horizon of this, that this isn’t going to go on for years and years and years,” Hermanson said. “We can get through the winter and it will be challenging, but when we get to spring there may be some much better news.”
Written by: Michelle Wong —science@theaggie.org