Shutdown’s Quiet Toll, From Idled Research to Closed Wallets

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/us/shutdowns-quiet-toll-from-idled-research-to-closed-wallets.html

October 11, 2013 - New York Times
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Scientists said that one of the most serious casualties might be the country’s reputation. Markus Kissler-Patig, the director of the Gemini Observatory, an international coalition with telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, said he was worried about the United States’ foreign partners if the coalition’s cash flow, which is administered by the National Science Foundation, were to run out. The foundation, which is almost entirely furloughed, cannot provide cash infusions during the shutdown. 

“I am starting to hear informal feedback questioning whether the N.S.F. is the right agency to run this international observatory,” he said. 

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Lonely planet in star turn all of its own, say astronomers

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/lonely-planet-in-star-turn-all-of-its-own-say-astronomers-20131010-2vbce.html

October 10, 2013 - Sydney Morning Herald
Astronomers have found a lonely planet outside the solar system, floating in space and not orbiting a star.

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Other telescopes in Hawaii showed the planet has similar properties to those of gas giants orbiting around young stars, but PSO J318.5-22 lacks a host star.

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Lonely, young planet drifting in space without a star

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/space-new-planet/index.html

October 10, 2013 - CNN
The solitary life of this newly discovered planet, with the catchy name PSO J318.5-22, has astronomers excited.
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Subsequent infrared observations using other telescopes in Hawaii showed it was no brown dwarf, but rather a young, low-mass planet.
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A strange lonely planet found without a star

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2013/10/a-strange-lonely-planet-found-without-a-star

October 10, 2013 - Astronomy.com
An international team of astronomers has discovered an exotic young planet that is not orbiting a star. This free-floating planet, PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago — a newborn in planet lifetimes.
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The team followed up the PS1 discovery with multiple telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. Infrared spectra taken with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the Gemini North Telescope showed that PSO J318.5-22 was not a brown dwarf, based on signatures in its infrared light that are best explained by it being young and low-mass.
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Lonely planet found wandering a mere 80 light years from Earth

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/10/lonely-planet-pso-80-light-years-from-earth

October 10, 2013 - The Guardian
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The lonely planet's heat signature, located to the Capricornus constellation and belonging to a collection of young stars called the Beta Pictoris moving group, was spotted over the course of two years of observations by scientists using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii. Confirmation of the lonely planet was made with measurements made by the Gemini observatory in July. The planet's details and description will be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters and have already been placed online at the arXiv website.
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Astronomers say they've spotted lonesome planet without a sun

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/astronomers-say-theyve-spotted-lonesome-planet-without-sun-8C11366309

October 9, 2013 - NBC News
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They followed up with observations using the Gemini North Telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility telescopes on the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea, and concluded that its infrared signature was more consistent with a young planetary-mass object. The science team also monitored the object for two years using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, to determine its direction of motion and its distance from Earth. That's how they figured out it was 80 light-years away.
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La Serena: Vivieron una experiencia única

http://www.24horas.cl/regiones/coquimbo/la-serena-vivieron-una-experiencia-unica-872317

3 Oct. 2013 - 24 Horas.cl

Los secretos del universo conocieron tres alumnos de escuelas rurales de La Serena. Además vivieron una emocionante jornada de cohetería.

La Serena, Coquimbo y Combarbalá emprenden Viaje al Universo

 http://www.elobservatodo.cl/node/37856

26-9-2013 - El Observatodo
La Universidad de La Serena, a través de su Dirección de Extensión y el Departamento de Física, una vez más participa en “Viaje al Universo”, impulsado por el Observatorio Gemini Sur, actividad que se inicia el próximo lunes 30 de septiembre visitando distintos establecimientos y localidades rurales de la comuna de La Serena, Coquimbo y Combarbalá, llevando gratuitamente la ciencia estelar hasta los rincones más remotos de la región.
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