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- Written by: Dr. Tony Phillips
NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system.
The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star like our sun.
The discovery marks the next important milestone in the ultimate search for planets like Earth.
The new planets are thought to be rocky. Kepler-20e is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring 0.87 times the radius of Earth. Kepler-20f is a bit larger than Earth, measuring 1.03 times its radius.
Both planets reside in a five-planet system called Kepler-20, approximately 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.
Kepler-20e orbits its parent star every 6.1 days and Kepler-20f every 19.6 days. These short orbital periods mean very hot, inhospitable worlds.
Kepler-20f, at 800 degrees Fahrenheit, is similar to an average day on the planet Mercury. The surface temperature of Kepler-20e, at more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, would melt glass.
“The primary goal of the Kepler mission is to find Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone," said Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., lead author of a new study published in the journal Nature. "This discovery demonstrates for the first time that Earth-size planets exist around other stars, and that we are able to detect them.”
The Kepler-20 system includes three other planets that are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune.
Kepler-20b, the closest planet, Kepler-20c, the third planet, and Kepler-20d, the fifth planet, orbit their star every 3.7, 10.9 and 77.6 days.
All five planets have orbits lying roughly within Mercury's orbit in our solar system. The host star belongs to the same G-type class as our sun, although it is slightly smaller and cooler.
The system has an unexpected arrangement. In our solar system, small, rocky worlds orbit close to the sun and large, gaseous worlds orbit farther out. In comparison, the planets of Kepler-20 are organized in alternating size: large, small, large, small and large.
"The Kepler data are showing us some planetary systems have arrangements of planets very different from that seen in our solar system," said Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist and Kepler science team member at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "The analysis of Kepler data continue to reveal new insights about the diversity of planets and planetary systems within our galaxy."
Scientists are not certain how the system evolved but they do not think the planets formed in their existing locations.
They theorize the planets formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, likely through interactions with the disk of material from which they originated. This allowed the worlds to maintain their regular spacing despite alternating sizes.
The Kepler space telescope detects planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets crossing in front, or transiting, their stars.
The Kepler science team requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.
On Dec. 5 the team announced the discovery of Kepler-22b in the habitable zone of its parent star. It is likely to be too large to have a rocky surface.
While Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f are Earth-size, they are too close to their parent star to have liquid water on the surface.
"In the cosmic game of hide and seek, finding planets with just the right size and just the right temperature seems only a matter of time," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead and professor of astronomy and physics at San Jose State University. "We are on the edge of our seats knowing that Kepler's most anticipated discoveries are still to come."
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A probation search this week by the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force and the Lake County Probation Department resulted in one arrest and the seizure of 14.7 grams of methamphetamine.
On Wednesday at approximately 8:30 am, narcotics detectives and probation officers conducted a probation search where 29-year-old Fernando Gabriel Parra of Kelseyville – who is on felony probation – was residing, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks.
When narcotics detectives entered the home, Parra was located and detained without incident, Brooks said.
A sheriff’s narcotics detection K9 alerted on a nightstand dresser drawer in one of the bedrooms. Brooks said narcotics detectives conducted a search of dresser drawer and located approximately 14.7 grams of methamphetamine, which was packaged in 24 plastic baggies.
Parra was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sales, violation of a court order preventing domestic violence and probation violation, Brooks said.
Parra was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked. Jail records indicated he remained in custody on Saturday on a no-bail probation hold.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
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- Written by: Dennis Fordham
So when does it make sense to amend, restate or revoke a trust and start over? Let us examine these alternatives.
A trust is amended when the settlor wishes to make revisions to particular terms within a trust. Each amendment is an overlay to each preceding one and to the original trust itself.
Naturally the more numerous amendments the more cumbersome reading and understanding the trust becomes.
Reasons to amend a trust include changing who becomes successor trustee or the distribution scheme.
Sometimes entirely restating the trust is desirable. A restatement is an amendment that completely rewrites the whole trust. It preserves the trust’s existence but with entirely new terms.
A restatement is desirable when a trust might have numerous inadequacies that require substantial corrections. Also, amending a trust with many prior overlapping amendments may require a restatement.
An advantage of the restatement is that trust assets do not have to be retitled in the name of a new trust. When many trust assets are involved a restatement can save time and money.
But sometimes it is necessary to revoke a trust and to transfer the assets into a new trust. Let us now see why.
Four reasons come to mind why a settlor might want a new trust rather than a restatement.
First, the settlor may not wish for the trust beneficiaries to receive copies of the prior amendments to the trust.
As a matter of law, when a settlor dies, the beneficiaries and heirs of the deceased settlor are all entitled to a copy of the original trust together with all amendments. This may be disagreeable to any settlor who prefers to keep the earlier amendments secret.
Second, the settlor may not wish to leave open the possibility that the most recent amendment (which might even be a complete restatement) could be destroyed by a dissatisfied beneficiary.
That is, someone might wish to discard the most current amendment in order to proceed under an earlier version of the trust. Titling assets over into a new trust with a new name and creation date cuts-off that possibility.
Third, with a joint trust (i.e., one settled by a married couple) the surviving spouse might decide to transfer her share into a new trust in the survivor’s name alone.
Although the surviving spouse can typically use a power of appointment to change who inherits what assets, the surviving spouse may or may not be able to make amendments to the provisions of the trust after the first spouse dies.
In the case of a blended family, the surviving spouse may wish to remove her assets from a joint trust into a new trust for the benefit of her own children to the exclusion of the step children.
Fourth, when the community property and separate property rights of one spouse in a joint trust assets are transmuted (changed) into the other spouse’s sole and separate property the trust is terminated and assets transferred into a single settlor trust.
This happens when assets are transferred between spouses in order to allow one spouse to qualify to receive Medi-Cal at a skilled nursing facility.
Amending or restating the original joint trust in that case is not a solution.
As discussed, the revocable living trust is flexible. Options to amend, restate or revoke are available.
Reviewing one’s estate plan every five years, sometimes sooner if circumstances necessitate, with a qualified attorney is a generally advisable.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. His office is at 55 First St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The fire at 18390 North Shore Drive Tuesday destroyed the home and injured resident Jordan Armstrong and his friend, Kevin Hart, according to the “Please PRAY for Jordan Armstrong” Facebook page.
South Lake County Fire Battalion Chief Scott Upton said investigators ruled the fire’s cause “accidental but undetermined.”
Armstrong and Hart both were flown to out-of-county hospitals with serious burns, as Lake County News has reported.
On Thursday, UC Davis Medical Center spokesperson Phyllis Brown said Armstrong was in “fair” condition.
His Facebook page reported that he suffered burns over 30 percent of his body.
Officials originally reported that Hart had been was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. However, his family said on a Facebook page for him, titled “Kevin’s Blood Drive,” that he also was at the UC Davis Medical Center Burn Center, where he was undergoing skin graft surgeries.
The Facebook page in his honor said he has suffered burns over 80 percent of his body, along with a broken nose and swollen face. He has a tracheotomy to help his breathing.
Hart’s family and friends are requesting community members participate in a blood drive for Hart through Blood Source, 3505 Industrial Drive, Santa Rosa, telephone 916-456-1500, www.bloodsource.org. His blood type is O+ but his family is asking for all blood types to donate.
Both young men are reportedly facing months of hospitalization and numerous reconstructive surgeries, according to the two Facebook pages.
The Hidden Valley Community Church is taking donations for Armstrong. Checks can be sent to the Hidden Valley Community Church, P.O. Box 1049, Middletown, CA 95461, with “Jordan Armstrong” in the subject line. For more information the church can be contacted at 707-987-3510.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at