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his work have been the subject of more than 40 books, including three biographies. Underground cartoonist and" Li' l Abner" expert Denis Kitchen has published, co- published, edited, or otherwise served as consultant on nearly all of them. Kitchen is currently compiling a biographical monograph on Al Capp. At the San Diego Comic Con in July 2009, IDW announced the upcoming publication of" Al Capp' s Li' l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays" as part of their ongoing The Library of American Comics series. The comprehensive series, a reprinting of the entire 43- year history of" Li' l Abner", spanning a projected 20 volumes, began on April 7, 2010. Ann Druyan(; born June 13, 1949) is an Emmy and Peabody Award- winning American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co- wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series', hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981. She is the creator, producer, and writer of the 2014 sequel,' and its sequel series,"", as well as the book of the same name. She is credited with directing episodes of both series as well.Inthelate1970s, Druyan became the Creative Director of NASA' s Voyager Interstellar Message Project, which produced the golden discs affixed to both the" Voyager 1" and" Voyager 2" spacecraft. She also published a novel," A Famous Broken Heart", in 1977, and later co- wrote several best selling non- fiction books with Carl Sagan. Early life. Druyan was born in Queens, New York, the daughter of Pearl A.() and Harry Druyan, who co- owned a knitwear firm. Druyan' s early interest in math and science was, in her word," derailed" when a junior high- school teacher ridiculed a question she asked about the universality of." I raised my hand and said,' You mean this applies to every circle in the universe?', and the teacher told me not to ask stupid questions. And there I was having this religious experience, and she made me feel like such a fool. I was completely flummoxed from then on until after college." Druyan characterized her three years at New York University as" disastrous", and it was only after she left school without graduating that she discovered the pre- Socratic philosophers and began educating herself, thus leading to a renewed interest in science. Career.Inthelate1970s, Druyan became the Creative Director of NASA' s Voyager Interstellar Message Project. As creative director, Druyan worked with a team to design a complex message, including music and images, for possible alien civilizations. These golden phonograph records affixed to the" Voyager 1" and" Voyager 2" spacecraft are now beyond the outermost planets of the solar system, and" Voyager 1" has entered interstellar space. Both records have a projected shelf life of one billion years. Druyan' s role on the project was discussed on the July 8, 2018, 60 Minutes segment" The Little Spacecraft That Could". In the segment, Druyan explained her insistence that Chuck Berry' s" Johnny B. Goode" be included on the Golden Record, saying:"..." Johnny B. Goode", rock and roll, was the music of motion, of moving, | getting to someplace you' ve |
never been before, and the odds are against you, but you want to go. That was Voyager." The segment also discussed Sagan' s suggestion, in 1990, that Voyager 1 turn its cameras back towards Earth to take a series of photographs showing the planets of our solar system. The shots, showing Earth from a distance of 3. 7 billion miles as a small point of bluish light, became the basis for Sagan' s famous" Pale Blue Dot" passage, first published in"( 1994). During that time, Druyan also co- wrote( with Carl Sagan and Steven Soter) the 1980 PBS documentary series", hosted by Carl Sagan. The thirteen- part series covered a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe. It was highly acclaimed, and became the most widely watched series in the history of American public television at that time. The series won two Emmys and a Peabody Award, and has since been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people. A book was also published to accompany the series., it is still the most widely watched PBS series in the world. Druyan wrote and produced the 1987 PBS" NOVA" episode" Confessions of a Weaponeer" on the life of President Eisenhower' s Science Advisor George Kistiakowsky. In 2000, Druyan, together with Steve Soter, co- wrote" Passport to the Universe", the inaugural planetarium show for the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Natural History Museum' s Hayden Planetarium. The attraction is narrated by Tom Hanks. Druyan and Soter also co- wrote" The Search for Life: Are We Alone", narrated by Harrison Ford, which also debuted at the Hayden' s Rose Center. In 2000, Druyan co- founded Cosmos Studios, Inc, with Joseph Firmage. As CEO of Cosmos Studios, Druyan produces science- based entertainment for all media. In addition to"", Cosmos Studios has produced" Cosmic Africa"," Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt", and the Emmy- nominated documentary" Cosmic Journey: The Voyager Interstellar Mission and Message". In 2009, she distributed a series of podcasts called" At Home in the Cosmos with Annie Druyan", in which she described her works, the life of her husband, Carl Sagan, and their marriage. Druyan was one of the three writers of the TV series"", along with Carl Sagan and Steven Soter. Druyan is credited, with Carl Sagan, as the co- creator and co- producer of the 1997 feature film" Contact". In 2011, it was announced that Druyan would executive produce, co- write, and be one of the episodic directors for a sequel to', to be called', which began airing in March 2014. Episodes premiered on Fox and also aired on National Geographic Channel on the following night. At the time of its release, Fox gave the series the largest global rollout of a television series ever, debuting it in 180 countries. The premiere episode was shown across nine of Fox' s cable properties in addition to the broadcast network in a" roadblock" style premiere. The series went on to become the most- watched series | ever for National Geographic Channel |
International, with at least some part of the 13- episode series watched by 135 million people, including 45 million in the U. S. In March 2020, a third season of" Cosmos", named"", for which Druyan was executive producer, writer, and director, premiered on National Geographic. Druyan also said:" I very much have season four in mind, and I know what it' s going to be. And I even know some of the stories that I want to tell in it." Writing. Druyan' s first novel," A Famous Broken Heart", was published in 1977. Druyan co- wrote six" New York Times" best- sellers with Carl Sagan, including:" Comet"," Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", and" The Demon- Haunted World". She is co- author, along with Carl Sagan, F. D. Drake, Timothy Ferris, Jon Lomberg and Linda Salzman Sagan, of" Murmurs Of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record". She also wrote the updated introduction to Sagan' s book" The Cosmic Connection" and the epilogue of" Billions and Billions". She wrote the introduction to, and edited" The Varieties of Scientific Experience", published from Sagan' s 1985 Gifford lectures. In February 2020, Druyan published" Cosmos: Possible Worlds", a companion volume to, which premiered in March 2020. Work in science. Druyan is a fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims for the Paranormal( CSICOP). Druyan served as program director of the first solar- sail deep- space mission, Cosmos 1, launched on a Russian ICBM in 2005. Druyan is involved in multiple Breakthrough Initiatives. With Frank Drake, Druyan is the co- chair of Breakthrough Message and also a member of Breakthrough Starshot. She is a member of the advisory board of The Carl Sagan Institute. Activism. Druyan has for many years been a vocal advocate for nuclear disarmament. She was arrested three times at the Mercury, Nevada nuclear test site during Mikhail Gorbachev' s unilateral moratorium on underground nuclear testing, with which President Ronald Reagan did not cooperate. This included an arrest in June 1986, when Druyan crossed a white painted line indicating the test site' s boundary; Sagan, who attended the same protest with Druyan, was not arrested.Intheearly1990s, Druyan worked with Sagan and then- Senator Al Gore, Jr. and a host of religious and scientific leaders to bring the scientific and religious worlds together in a unified effort to preserve the environment, resulting in the" Declaration of the' Mission to Washington". Druyan served as a founding director of the Children' s Health Fund until the spring of 2004, a project that provides mobile pediatric care to homeless and disadvantaged children in more than half a dozen cities. She currently serves a member of their Advisory Board. Druyan has served on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws( NORML) for over 10 years and was president from 2006 to 2010. Honors. An asteroid discovered in 1998 was named in Druyan' s honor by its discoverer Eleanor F. Helin. In a 2020 interview with" Skeptical Inquirer", Druyan discussed 4970 Druyan and the asteroid named after her late husband, saying that 4970 Druyan | is in a" wedding ring |
orbit" around the Sun with 2709 Sagan. Druyan was presented with a plaque on Sagan' s sixtieth birthday, which is inscribed:" Asteroid 2709 Sagan in eternal companion orbit with asteroid 4970 Druyan, symbolic of their love and admiration for each other." In November 2006, Druyan was a speaker at"". In January 2007, she was a juror at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, responsible for selecting the winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for films about science and technology. In November 2007, Druyan was awarded the title of" Humanist Laureate" by the International Academy of Humanism. In October 2019, the Center for Inquiry West opened the Carl Sagan– Ann Druyan Theater in Los Angeles. Religious and philosophical views. In an interview with Joel Achenbach of" The Washington Post", Druyan stated that her early interest in science stemmed from a fascination with Karl Marx. Achenbach commented that" She had, at the time, rather vaporous standards of evidence", a reference to her belief in the ancient astronauts of Erich von Däniken and the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky pertaining to the solar system. Concerning the death of her husband she stated: When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me— it still sometimes happens— and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don' t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. Personal life. Druyan and Sagan' s working and resulting romantic relationship has been the subject of numerous treatments in popular culture, including the Radiolab episode" Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan' s Ultimate Mix Tape" and a segment of the Comedy Central program" Drunk History" s episode" Space". The asteroid 4970 Druyan, which is in a companion orbit with asteroid 2709 Sagan named after Druyan' s late husband, is named after Druyan. In 2015, it was announced that Warner Brothers was in development on a drama about Sagan and Druyan' s relationship, to be produced by producer Lynda Obst and Druyan. In 2020, Sagan and Druyan' s daughter Sasha Sagan released a book" For Small Creatures Such As We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in our Unlikely World", which discusses life with her parents and her father' s death when she was fourteen years old. Druyan also gave Sasha a recurring role in"", where she played her own grandmother, including in the episode" Man of a Trillion Worlds", which featured the life of Carl Sagan. Analcime or analcite( from the Greek" analkimos"-" not strong") is a white, gray, or colorless tectosilicate mineral. Analcime consists of hydrated sodium aluminium silicate in cubic crystalline form. ItschemicalformulaisNaAlSi2O6·H2O. Minor amounts of potassium and calcium substitute for sodium. A silver- bearing synthetic variety also exists( Ag- analcite). Analcime is usually classified as a zeolite mineral, but structurally and | chemically it is more similar |
to the feldspathoids. Analcime occurs as a primary mineral in analcime basalt and other alkaline igneous rocks. It also occurs as cavity and vesicle fillings associated with prehnite, calcite, and zeolites. Locations. Well known locations for sourcing analcime include Croft Quarry in Leicestershire, UK; the Cyclopean Islands east off Sicily and near Trentino in northern Italy; Victoria in Australia; Kerguelen Island in the Indian Ocean; in the Lake Superior copper district of Michigan, Bergen Hill, New Jersey, Golden, Colorado, and at Searles Lake, California in the United States; and at Cape Blomidon, Nova Scotia and Mont Saint- Hilaire, Quebec in Canada; and in Iceland, and now in Namibia. Analcime forms in sedimentary rocks at temperatures below about, and so its presence indicates that the rock has experienced shallow diagenesis. Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov( born 16 April 1955) is a Russian- American video game designer and computer engineer. He is best known for creating and designing" Tetris" in 1984 while working for the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, a Soviet government- founded R& amp; D center. He only started to get royalties from his creation in 1996 when he and Henk Rogers formed The Tetris Company. Early life and education. Pajitnov was born to parents who were both writers; his father was a critic of the arts, and his mother was a journalist who wrote for both newspapers and a film magazine. It was through his parents that Pajitnov gained exposure to the arts, eventually developing a passion for cinema. He accompanied his mother to many film screenings, including the Moscow Film Festival. Pajitnov was also mathematically inclined, enjoying puzzles and problem solving. In 1967, when he was 11 years old, Pajitnov' s parents divorced. For several years, he lived with his mother in a one- bedroom apartment owned by the state. The two were eventually able to move into a private apartment at 49 Gersten Street, when Pajitnov was 17. He later went on to study applied mathematics at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Career. In 1977, Pajitnov worked as a summer intern at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Once he graduated in 1979, he accepted a job there working on speech recognition at the Academy' s Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre. When the Computing Centre received new equipment, its researchers would write a small program for it in order to test its computing capabilities. According to Pajitnov, this" became[ his] excuse for making games". Computer games were fascinating to him because they offered a way to bridge the gap between logic and emotion, and Pajitnov held interests in both mathematics and puzzles, as well as the psychology of computing. Searching for inspiration, Pajitnov recalled his childhood memories of playing pentominoes, a game where you create pictures using its shapes. Remembering the difficulty he had in putting the pieces back into their box, Pajitnov felt inspired to create a game based on that concept. Using an Electronika 60 in the Computing Centre, he began working on what would become the first version of" Tetris". Building the first prototype in two weeks, Pajitnov | spent longer playtesting and adding |
to the game, finally completing it on June 6, 1984. This primitive version did not have levels nor a scoring system, but Pajitnov knew he had a potentially great game, since he couldn' t stop playing it at work. The game attracted the interest of coworkers like fellow programmer Dmitri Pevlovsky, who helped Pajitnov connect with Vadim Gerasimov, a 16- year- old intern at the Soviet Academy. Pajitnov wanted to make a color version of" Tetris" for the IBM Personal Computer, and enlisted the intern to help. Gerasimov created the PC version in less than three weeks, and with contributions from Pevlovsky, spent an additional month adding new features like scorekeeping and sound effects. The game, first available in the Soviet Union, appeared in the West in 1986. Pajitnov also created a sequel to" Tetris", entitled" Welltris", which has the same principle, but in a three- dimensional environment where the player sees the playing area from above." Tetris" was licensed and managed by Soviet company ELORG, which had a monopoly on the import and export of computer hardware and software in the Soviet Union, and advertised with the slogan" From Russia with Love"( on NES:" From Russia with Fun!"). Because he was employed by the Soviet government, Pajitnov did not receive royalties. Pajitnov, together with Vladimir Pokhilko, moved to the United States in 1991 and later, in 1996, founded The Tetris Company with Henk Rogers, which finally allowed him to collect royalties from his game. He helped design the puzzles in the Super NES versions of" Yoshi' s Cookie" and designed the game" Pandora' s Box", which incorporates more traditional jigsaw- style puzzles.PajitnovandPokhilkofoundedthe3D software technology company AnimaTek, which developed the game/ screensaver El- Fish. He was employed by Microsoft from October 1996 until 2005. While there, he worked on the"", MSN Mind Aerobics and MSN Games groups. Pajitnov' s new, enhanced version of" Hexic"," Hexic HD", was included with every new Xbox 360 Premium package. On 18 August 2005, WildSnake Software announced that Pajitnov would be collaborating with them to release a new line of puzzle games. Personal life. Pajitnov has a wife, Nina, and two sons named Peter and Dmitri. Dmitri died in a skiing accident on Mount Rainier in 2017. Awards and recognition. In 1996, GameSpot named him as the fourth most influential computer game developer of all time. On 7 March 2007, he received the Game Developers Choice Awards First Penguin Award. The award was given for pioneering the casual games market. On 24 June 2009, he received the honorary award at the LARA- Der Deutsche Games Award in Cologne, Germany. In 2012, IGN included Pajitnov on their list of 5 Memorable Video Game Industry One- Hit Wonders, calling him" the ultimate video game one- hit wonder." On 2015, Pajitnov won the Bizkaia Award at the Fun& amp; Serious Game Festival. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá(; Persian:, 23 May 1844– 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás(), was the eldest son of Baháʼu' lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was later canonized as | the last of three" central |
figures" of the religion, along with Baháʼu' lláh and the Báb, and his writings and authenticated talks are regarded as a source of Baháʼí sacred literature. He was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family. At the age of eight his father was imprisoned during a government crackdown on the Bábí Faith and the family' s possessions were looted, leaving them in virtual poverty. His father was exiled from their native Iran, and the family went to live in Baghdad, where they stayed for nine years. They were later called by the Ottoman state to Istanbul before going into another period of confinement in Edirne and finally the prison- city of ʻAkká( Acre). ʻAbdu' l- Bahá remained a political prisoner there until the Young Turk Revolution freed him in 1908 at the age of 64. He then made several journeys to the West to spread the Baháʼí message beyond its middle- eastern roots, but the onset of World War I left him largely confined to Haifa from 1914 to 1918. The war replaced the openly hostile Ottoman authorities with the British Mandate, who appointed him a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his help in averting famine following the war. In 1892 ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was appointed in his father' s will to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith. He faced opposition from virtually all his family members, but held the loyalty of the great majority of Baháʼís around the world. His" Tablets of the Divine Plan" helped galvanize Baháʼís in North America into spreading the Baháʼí teachings to new territories, and his Will and Testament laid the foundation for the current Baháʼí administrative order. Many of his writings, prayers and letters are extant, and his discourseswiththeWesternBaháʼísemphasizethegrowthofthereligionbythelate1890s. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s given name was ʻAbbás. Depending on context, he would have gone by either Mírzá ʻAbbás( Persian) or ʻAbbás Effendi( Turkish), both of which are equivalent to the English Sir ʻAbbás. He preferred the title of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá(" servant of Bahá", a reference to his father). He is commonly referred to in Baháʼí texts as" The Master". Early life. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was born in Tehran, Iran on 23 May 1844(5th of Jamadiyu' l- Avval, 1260 AH), the eldest son of Baháʼu' lláh and Navváb. He was born on the very same night on which the Báb declared his mission. Born with the given name of ʻAbbás, he was named after his grandfather Mírzá ʻAbbás Núrí, a prominent and powerful nobleman. As a child, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was shaped by his father' s position as a prominent Bábí. He recalled how he met the Bábí Táhirih and how she would take" me on to her knee, caress me, and talk to me. I admired her most deeply". ʻAbdu' l- Bahá had a happy and carefree childhood. The family' s Tehran home and country houses were comfortable and beautifully decorated. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá enjoyed playing in the gardens with his younger sister with whom he was very close. Along with his younger siblings– a sister, | Bahíyyih, and a brother, Mihdí– |
the three lived in an environment of privilege, happiness and comfort. During his young childhood ʻAbdu' l- Bahá witnessed his parents' various charitable endeavours, which included converting part of the home to a hospital ward for women and children. With most of his life was spent in exile and prison, there was little chance for normal schooling. Even when younger, it was customary not to send children of nobility to schools. Most noblemen were educated at home briefly in scripture, rhetoric, calligraphy and basic mathematics. Many were educated to prepare themselves for life in the royal court. Despite a brief spell at a traditional preparatory school at the age of seven for one year, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá received no formal education. As he grew he was educated by his mother, and uncle. Most of his education however, came from his father. Years later in 1890 Edward Granville Browne described how ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was" one more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians, and the Muhammadans... scarcely be found even amongst the eloquent." According to contemporary accounts, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was an eloquent and charming child. He inherited his mother’ s propensity towards height,attainingaheighttallerthan19th century Persian standards. He also inherited much of his mother’ s physical attributes, including her blue eyes and pale skin. As a young man, he grew to become athletic and enjoyed archery, horseback riding and swimming. When ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was seven, he contracted tuberculosis and was expected to die. Though the malady faded away, he would be plagued with bouts of illness for the rest of his life. One event that affected ʻAbdu' l- Bahá greatly during his childhood was the imprisonment of his father when ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was eight years old; the imprisonment led to his family being reduced to poverty and being attacked in the streets by other children. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá accompanied his mother to visit Baháʼu' lláh who was then imprisoned in the infamous subterranean dungeon the Síyáh- Chál. He described how" I saw a dark, steep place. We entered a small, narrow doorway, and went down two steps, but beyond those one could see nothing. In the middle of the stairway, all of a sudden we heard His[ Baháʼu' lláh' s]… voice:' Do not bring him in here', and so they took me back". Baghdad. Baháʼu' lláh was eventually released from prison, but ordered into exile, and ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, then 8 years old, joined his father on the journey to Baghdad in the winter( January to April) of 1853. During the journey ʻAbdu' l- Bahá suffered from frost- bite. After a year of difficulties Baháʼu' lláh absented himself rather than continue to face the conflict with Mirza Yahya and secretly secluded himself in the mountains of Sulaymaniyah in April 1854 a month before ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s tenth birthday. Mutual sorrow resulted in him, his mother and sister becoming constant companions. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was particularly close to both, and his mother took active | participation in his education and |
upbringing. During the two- year absence of his father ʻAbdu' l- Bahá took up the duty of managing the affairs of the family, before his age of maturity( 14 in middle- eastern society) and was known to be occupied with reading and, at a time of hand- copied scriptures being the primary means of publishing, was also engaged in copying the writings of the Báb. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá also took an interest in the art of horse riding and, as he grew, became a renowned rider. In 1856, news of an ascetic carrying on discourses with local Súfí leaders that seemed to possibly be Baháʼu' lláh reached the family and friends. Immediately, family members and friends went to search for the elusive dervish– and in March brought Baháʼu' lláh back to Baghdad. On seeing his father, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá fell to his knees and wept loudly" Why did you leave us?", and this followed with his mother and sister doing the same. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá soon became his father' s secretary and shield. During the sojourn in the city ʻAbdu' l- Bahá grew from a boy into a young man. He was noted as a" remarkably fine looking youth", and remembered for his charity. Having passed the age of maturity ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was regularly seen in the mosques of Baghdad discussing religious topics and the scripture as a young man. Whilst in Baghdad, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá composed a commentary at the request of his father on the Muslim tradition of" I was a Hidden Treasure" for a Súfí leader named ʻAlí Shawkat Páshá. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was fifteen or sixteen at the time and ʻAlí Shawkat Páshá regarded the more than 11, 000- word essay as a remarkable feat for somebody of his age. In 1863, in what became known as the Garden of Ridván, his father Baháʼu' lláh announced to a few that he was the manifestation of God and He whom God shall make manifest whose coming had been foretold by the Báb. On day eight of the twelve days, it is believed ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was the first person Baháʼu' lláh revealed his claim to. Istanbul/ Adrianople. In 1863 Baháʼu' lláh was summoned to Istanbul, and thus his family, including ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, then eighteen, accompanied him on his 110- day journey. The journey to Constantinople was another wearisome journey, and ʻAbdu' l- Bahá helped feed the exiles. It was here that his position became more prominent amongst the Baháʼís. This was further solidified by Baháʼu' lláh' s tablet of the Branch in which he constantly exalts his son' s virtues and station. The family were soon exiled to Adrianople and ʻAbdu' l- Bahá went with the family. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá again suffered from frostbite. In Adrianople ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was regarded as the sole comforter of his family– in particular to his mother. At this point ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was known by the Baháʼís as" the Master", and by non- Baháʼís as ʻAbbás Effendi(" Effendi" signifies" Sir"). It was in Adrianople that Baháʼu' lláh referred to his | son as" the Mystery of |
God". The title of" Mystery of God" symbolises, according to Baháʼís, that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá is not a manifestation of God but how a" person of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized". ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was at this point noted for having black hair which flowed to his shoulders, large blue eyes, rose- through- alabaster coloured skin and a fine nose. Baháʼu' lláh gave his son many other titles such as" G͟ husn- i- Aʻzam"( meaning" Mightiest Branch" or" Mightier Branch"), the" Branch of Holiness"," the Center of the Covenant" and the apple of his eye. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá(" the Master") was devastated when hearing the news that he and his family were to be exiled separately from Baháʼu' lláh. It was, according to Baháʼís, through his intercession that the idea was reverted and the family were allowed to be exiled together. ʻAkká. At the age of 24, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was clearly chief- steward to his father and an outstanding member of the Baháʼí community. Baháʼu' lláh and his family were– in 1868– exiled to the penal colony of Acre, Palestine where it was expected that the family would perish. Arrival in ʻAkká was distressing for the family and exiles. They were greeted in a hostile manner by the surrounding population and his sister and father fell dangerously ill. When told that the women were to sit on the shoulders of the men to reach the shore, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá took a chair and carried the women to the bay of ʻAkká. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was able to procure some anesthetic and nursed the sick. The Baháʼís were imprisoned under horrendous conditions in a cluster of cells covered in excrement and dirt. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá himself fell dangerously ill with dysentery, however a sympathetic soldier permitted a physician to help cure him. The population shunned them, the soldiers treated them the same, and the behaviour of Siyyid Muhammad- i- Isfahani( an Azali) did not help matters. Morale was further destroyed with the accidental death of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s youngest brother Mírzá Mihdí at the age of 22. The grieving ʻAbdu' l- Bahá kept a night- long vigil beside his brother' s body. Later in ʻAkká. Over time, he gradually took over responsibility for the relationships between the small Baháʼí exile community and the outside world. It was through his interaction with the people of ʻAkká( Acre) that, according to the Baháʼís, they recognized the innocence of the Baháʼís, and thus the conditions of imprisonment were eased. Four months after the death of Mihdí the family moved from the prison to the House of ʻAbbúd. The people of ʻAkká started to respect the Baháʼís and in particular, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was able to arrange for houses to be rented for the family, the family later moved to the Mansion of Bahjí around 1879 when an epidemic caused the inhabitants to flee. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá soon became very popular in the penal colony | and Myron Henry Phelps a |
wealthy New York lawyer described how" a crowd of human beings... Syrians, Arabs, Ethiopians, and many others", all waited to talk and receive ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. He undertook a history of the Bábí religion through publication of A Traveller' s Narrative( Makála- i- Shakhsí Sayyáh) in 1886, later translated and published in translation in 1891 through Cambridge University by the agency of Edward Granville Browne who described ʻAbdu' l- Bahá as: Marriage and family life. When ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was a young man, speculation was rife amongst the Baháʼís to whom he would marry. Several young girls were seen as marriage prospects but ʻAbdu' l- Bahá seemed disinclined to marriage. On 8 March 1873, at the urging of his father, the twenty- eight- year- old ʻAbdu' l- Bahá married Fátimih Nahrí of Isfahán( 1847– 1938) a twenty- five- year- old from an upper- class family of the city. Her father was Mírzá Muḥammad ʻAlí Nahrí of Isfahan an eminent Baháʼí with prominent connections. Fátimih was brought from Persia to ʻAkká after both Baháʼu' lláh and his wife Navváb expressed an interest in her to marry ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. After a wearisome journey from Isfahán to Akka she finally arrived accompanied by her brother in 1872. The young couple were betrothed for about five months before the marriage itself commenced. In the meantime, Fátimih lived in the home of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s uncle Mírzá Músá. According to her later memoirs, Fátimih fell in love with ʻAbdu' l- Bahá on seeing him. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá himself had showed little inkling to marriage until meeting Fátimih; who was entitled Munírih by Baháʼu' lláh. Munírih is a title meaning" Luminous". The marriage resulted in nine children. The first born was a son Mihdí Effendi who died aged about 3. He was followed by Ḍíyáʼíyyih K͟ hánum, Fuʼádíyyih K͟ hánum( d. few years old), Rúhangíz Khánum( d. 1893), Túbá Khánum, Husayn Effendi( d. 1887 aged 5), Túbá K͟ hánum, Rúhá K͟ hánum( mother of Munib Shahid), and Munnavar K͟ hánum. The death of his children caused ʻAbdu' l- Bahá immense grief– in particular the death of his son Husayn Effendi came at a difficult time following the death of his mother and uncle. The surviving children( all daughters) were; Ḍíyáʼíyyih K͟ hánum( mother of Shoghi Effendi)( d. 1951) Túbá K͟ hánum( 1880– 1959) Rúḥá K͟ hánum and Munavvar K͟ hánum( d. 1971). Baháʼu' lláh wished that the Baháʼís follow the example of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá and gradually move away from polygamy. The marriage of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá to one woman and his choice to remain monogamous, from advice of his father and his own wish, legitimised the practice of monogamy to a people who hitherto had regarded polygamy as a righteous way of life. Early years of his ministry. After Baháʼu' lláh died on 29 May 1892, the Will and Testament of Baháʼu' lláh named ʻAbdu' l- Bahá as Centre of the Covenant, successor and interpreter of Baháʼu' lláh' s writings. Baháʼu' lláh designates his successor with the following verses: This translation of the" Kitáb- i- | ʻAhd" is based on a |
solecism, however, as the terms" Akbar" and" Aʻzam" do not mean, respectively,' Greater' and' Most Great'. Not only do the two words derive from entirely separate triconsonantal roots(" Akbar" from" k- b- r" and" Aʻzam" from" ʻ- z- m"), but the Arabic language possesses the elative, a stage of gradation, with no clear distinction between the comparative and superlative. In the Will and Testament ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s half- brother, Muhammad ʻAlí, was mentioned by name as being subordinate to ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. Muhammad ʻAlí became jealous of his half- brother and set out to establish authority for himself as an alternative leader with the support of his brothers Badiʻu' llah and Ḍíyáʼu' llah. He began correspondence with Baháʼís in Iran, initially in secret, casting doubts in others' minds about ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. While most Baháʼís followed ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, a handful followed Muhammad ʻAlí including such leaders as Mirza Javad and Ibrahim George Kheiralla, an early Baháʼí missionary to America. Muhammad ʻAlí and Mirza Javad began to openly accuse ʻAbdu' l- Bahá of taking on too much authority, suggesting that he believed himself to be a Manifestation of God, equal in status to Baháʼu' lláh. It was at this time that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, to provide proof of the falsity of the accusations leveled against him, in tablets to the West, stated that he was to be known as" ʻAbdu' l- Bahá" an Arabic phrase meaning the Servant of Bahá to make it clear that he was not a Manifestation of God, and that his station was only servitude. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá left a Will and Testament that set up the framework of administration. The two highest institutions were the Universal House of Justice, and the Guardianship, for which he appointed Shoghi Effendi as the Guardian. With the exception of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, Muhammad ʻAlí was supported by all of the remaining male relatives of Baháʼu' lláh, including Shoghi Effendi' s father, Mírzá Hádí Shírází. However Muhammad ʻAlí' s and his families statements had very little effect on the Baháʼís in general– in the ʻAkká area, the followers of Muhammad ʻAlí represented six families at most, they had no common religious activities, and were almost wholly assimilated into Muslim society. First Western pilgrims. By the end of 1898, Western pilgrims started coming to Akka on pilgrimage to visit ʻAbdu' l- Bahá; this group of pilgrims, including Phoebe Hearst, was the first time that Baháʼís raised up in the West had met ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. The first group arrived in 1898 and throughout late 1898 to early 1899 Western Baháʼís sporadically visited ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. The group was relatively young containing mainly women from high Americansocietyintheir20s. The group of Westerners aroused suspicion for the authorities, and consequently ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s confinement was tightened. During the next decade ʻAbdu' l- Bahá would be in constant communication with Baháʼís around the world, helping them to teach the religion; the group included May Ellis Bolles in Paris, Englishman Thomas Breakwell, American Herbert Hopper, French, Susan Moody, Lua Getsinger, and American Laura | Clifford Barney. It was Laura |
Clifford Barney who, by asking questions of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá over many years and many visits to Haifa, compiled what later became the book Some Answered Questions. Ministry, 1901– 1912.Duringthefinalyearsofthe19th century, while ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was still officially a prisoner and confined to ʻAkka, he organized the transfer of the remains of the Báb from Iran to Palestine. He then organized the purchase of land on Mount Carmel that Baháʼu' lláh had instructed should be used to lay the remains of the Báb, and organized for the construction of the Shrine of the Báb. This process took another 10 years. With the increase of pilgrims visiting ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, Muhammad ʻAlí worked with the Ottoman authorities to re- introduce stricter terms on ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s imprisonment in August 1901. By 1902, however, due to the Governor of ʻAkka being supportive of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, the situation was greatly eased; while pilgrims were able to once again visit ʻAbdu' l- Bahá, he was confined to the city. In February 1903, two followers of Muhammad ʻAlí, including Badiʻu' llah and Siyyid ʻAliy- i- Afnan, broke with Muhammad ʻAli and wrote books and letters giving details of Muhammad ʻAli' s plots and noting that what was circulating about ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was fabrication. From 1902 to 1904, in addition to the building of the Shrine of the Báb that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was directing, he started to put into execution two different projects; the restoration of the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran and the construction of the first Baháʼí House of Worship in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá asked Aqa Mirza Aqa to coordinate the work so that the house of the Báb would be restored to the state that it was at the time of the Báb' s declaration to Mulla Husayn in 1844; he also entrusted the work on the House of Worship to Vakil- u' d- Dawlih. During this period, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá communicated with a number of Young Turks, opposed to the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, including Namık Kemal, Ziya Pasha and Midhat Pasha, in an attempt to disseminate Baháʼí thought into their political ideology. He emphasized Baháʼís" seek freedom and love liberty, hope for equality, are well- wishers of humanity and ready to sacrifice their lives to unite humanity" but on a more broad approach than the Young Turks. Abdullah Cevdet, one of the founders of the Committee of Union and Progress who considered the Baháʼí Faith an intermediary step between Islam and the ultimate abandonment of religious belief, would go on trial for defense of Baháʼís in a periodical he founded.‛ Abdu' l- Bahá also had contact with military leaders as well, including such individuals as Bursalı Mehmet Tahir Bey and Hasan Bedreddin. The latter, who was involved in the overthrow of Sultan Abdülaziz, is commonly known as Bedri Paşa or Bedri Pasha and is referred to in Persian Baháʼí sources as Bedri Bey( Badri Beg). He was a Baháʼí who translated‛ Abdu' l- Baha' s works into French. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá also met | Muhammad Abduh, one of the |
key figures of Islamic Modernism and the Salafi movement, in Beirut, at a time when the two men were both opposed to the Ottoman" ulama" and shared similar goals of religious reform. Rashid Rida asserts that during his visits to Beirut, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá would attend Abduh' s study sessions. Regarding the meetings of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá and Muhammad ʻAbduh, Shoghi Effendi asserts that" His several interviews with the well- known Shaykh Muhammad ʻAbdu served to enhance immensely the growing prestige of the community and spread abroad the fame of its most distinguished member." Due to ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s political activities and alleged accusation against him by Muhammad ʻAli, a Commission of Inquiry interviewed ʻAbdu' l- Bahá in 1905, with the result that he was almost exiled to Fezzan. In response, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá wrote the sultan a letter protesting that his followers refrain from involvement in partisan politics and that his" tariqa" had guided many Americans to Islam. The next few years in ʻAkka were relatively free of pressures and pilgrims were able to come and visit ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. By 1909 the mausoleum of the Shrine of the Báb was completed. Journeys to the West. The 1908 Young Turks revolution freed all political prisoners in the Ottoman Empire, and ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was freed from imprisonment. His first action after his freedom was to visit the Shrine of Baháʼu' lláh in Bahji. While ʻAbdu' l- Bahá continued to live in ʻAkka immediately following the revolution, he soon moved to live in Haifa near the Shrine of the Báb. In 1910, with the freedom to leave the country, he embarked on a three- year journey to Egypt, Europe, and North America, spreading the Baháʼí message. From August to December 1911, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá visited cities in Europe, including London, Bristol, and Paris. The purpose of these trips was to support the Baháʼí communities in the west and to further spread his father' s teachings. In the following year, he undertook a much more extensive journey to the United States and Canada to once again spread his father' s teachings. He arrived in New York City on 11 April 1912, after declining an offer of passage on the RMS" Titanic", telling the Baháʼí believers, instead, to" Donate this to charity." He instead travelled on a slower craft, the RMS" Cedric", and cited preference of a longer sea journey as the reason. After hearing of the Titanic' s sinking on 16 April he was quoted as saying" I was asked to sail upon the Titanic, but my heart did not prompt me to do so." While he spent most of his time in New York, he visited Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, D. C., Boston and Philadelphia. In August of the same year he started a more extensive journey to places including New Hampshire, the Green Acre school in Maine, and Montreal( his only visit to Canada). He then travelled west to Minneapolis, San Francisco, Stanford, and Los Angeles before starting to return east at the end of October. On 5 December 1912 | he set sail back to |
Europe. During his visit to North America he visited many missions, churches, and groups, as well as having scores of meetings in Baháʼís' homes, and offering innumerable personal meetings with hundreds of people. During his talks he proclaimed Baháʼí principles such as the unity of God, unity of the religions, oneness of humanity, equality of women and men, world peace and economic justice. He also insisted that all his meetings be open to all races. His visit and talks were the subject of hundreds of newspaper articles. In Boston newspaper reporters asked ʻAbdu' l- Bahá why he had come to America, and he stated that he had come to participate in conferences on peace and that just giving warning messages is not enough. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s visit to Montreal provided notable newspaper coverage; on the night of his arrival the editor of the" Montreal Daily Star" met with him and that newspaper along with The Montreal Gazette," Montreal Standard", Le Devoir and La Presse among others reported on ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s activities. The headlines in those papers included" Persian Teacher to Preach Peace"," Racialism Wrong, Says Eastern Sage, Strife and War Caused by Religious and National Prejudices", and" Apostle of Peace Meets Socialists, Abdul Baha' s Novel Scheme for Distribution of Surplus Wealth." The" Montreal Standard", which was distributed across Canada, took so much interest that it republished the articles a week later; the Gazette published six articles and Montreal' s largest French language newspaper published two articles about him. His 1912 visit to Montreal also inspired humourist Stephen Leacock to parody him in his bestselling 1914 book" Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich". In Chicago one newspaper headline included" His Holiness Visits Us, Not Pius X but A. Baha," and ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s visit to California was reported in the" Palo Altan". Back in Europe, he visited London, Edinburgh, Paris( where he stayed for two months), Stuttgart, Budapest, and Vienna. Finally, on 12 June 1913, he returned to Egypt, where he stayed for six months before returning to Haifa. On 23 February 1914, at the eve of World War I, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá hosted Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family who was a leading advocate and financier of the Zionist movement, during one of his early trips to Palestine. Final years( 1914– 1921). During World War I( 1914– 1918) ʻAbdu' l- Bahá stayed in Palestine and was unable to travel. He carried on a limited correspondence, which included the" Tablets of the Divine Plan", a collection of 14 letters addressed to the Baháʼís of North America, later described as one of three" charters" of the Baháʼí Faith. The letters assign a leadership role for the North American Baháʼís in spreading the religion around the planet. Haifa was under real threat of Allied bombardment, enough that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá and other Baháʼís temporarily retreated to the hills east of ʻAkka. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá was also under threats from Cemal Paşa, the Ottoman military chief who at one point expressed his desire to crucify | him and destroy Baháʼí properties |
in Palestine. The surprisingly swift Megiddo offensive of the British General Allenby swept away the Turkish forces in Palestine before harm was done to the Baháʼís, and the war was over less than two months later. Post- war period. The conclusion of World War I led to the openly hostile Ottoman authorities being replaced by the more friendly British Mandate, allowing for a renewal of correspondence, pilgrims, and development of the Baháʼí World Centre properties. It was during this revival of activity that the Baháʼí Faith saw an expansion and consolidation in places like Egypt, the Caucasus, Iran, Turkmenistan, North America and South Asia under the leadership of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. The end of the war brought about several political developments that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá commented on. The League of Nations formed in January 1920, representing the first instance of collective security through a worldwide organization. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá had written in 1875 for the need to establish a" Union of the nations of the world", and he praised the attempt through the League of Nations as an important step towards the goal. He also said that it was" incapable of establishing Universal Peace" because it did not represent all nations and had only trivial power over its member states. Around the same time, the British Mandate supported the ongoing immigration of Jews to Palestine. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá mentioned the immigration as a fulfillment of prophecy, and encouraged the Zionists to develop the land and" elevate the country for all its inhabitants... They must not work to separate the Jews from the other Palestinians." The war also left the region in famine. In 1901, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá had purchased about 1704 acres of scrubland near the Jordan river and by 1907 many Baháʼís from Iran had begun sharecropping on the land. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá received between 20 and 33% of their harvest( or cash equivalent), which was shipped to Haifa. With the war still raging in 1917, ʻAbdu' l- Bahá received a large amount of wheat from the crops, and also bought other available wheat and shipped it all back to Haifa. The wheat arrived just after the British captured Palestine, and as such was allowed to be widely distributed to allay the famine. For this service in averting a famine in Northern Palestine he received the honour of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire at a ceremony held in his honor at the home of the British Governor on 27 April 1920. He was later visited by General Allenby, King Faisal( later king of Iraq), Herbert Samuel( High Commissioner for Palestine), and Ronald Storrs( Military Governor of Jerusalem). Death and funeral. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá died on Monday, 28 November 1921, sometime after 1: 15 a. m.(27th of Rabi' al- awwal, 1340 AH). Then Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill telegraphed the High Commissioner for Palestine," convey to the Baháʼí Community, on behalf of His Majesty' s Government, their sympathy and condolescence." Similar messages came from Viscount Allenby, the Council of Ministers of Iraq, and others. On his funeral, which was | held the next day, Esslemont |
notes: Among the talks delivered at the funeral, Shoghi Effendi records Stewart Symes giving the following tribute: He was buried in the front room of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. His interment there is meant to be temporary, until his own mausoleum can be built in the vicinity of Riḍván Garden. Legacy. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá left a" Will and Testament" that was originally written between 1901 and 1908 and addressed to Shoghi Effendi, who at that time was only 4– 11 years old. The will appoints Shoghi Effendi as the first in a line of Guardians of the religion, a hereditary executive role that may provide authoritative interpretations of scripture. ʻAbdu' l- Bahá directed all Baháʼís to turn to him and obey him, and assured him of divine protection and guidance. The will also provided a formal reiteration of his teachings, such as the instructions to teach, manifest spiritual qualities, associate with all people, and shun Covenant- breakers. Many obligations of the Universal House of Justice and the Hands of the Cause were also elaborated. Shoghi Effendi later described the document as one of three" charters" of the Baháʼí Faith. The authenticity and provisions of the will were almost universally accepted by Baháʼís around the world, with the exception of Ruth White and a few other Americans who tried to protest Shoghi Effendi' s leadership. In volumes of" The Baháʼí World" published in 1930 and 1933, Shoghi Effendi named nineteen Baháʼís as disciples of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá and heralds of the Covenant, including Thornton Chase,, John Esslemont, Lua Getsinger, and Robert Turner. No other statements about them have been found in Shoghi Effendi' s writings. During his lifetime there was some ambiguity among Baháʼís as to his station relative to Baháʼu' lláh, and later to Shoghi Effendi. Some American newspapers reported him to be a Baháʼí prophet or the return of Christ. Shoghi Effendi later formalized his legacy as the last of three" Central Figures" of the Baháʼí Faith and the" Perfect exemplar" of the teachings, also claiming that holding him on an equal status to Baháʼu' lláh or Jesus was heretical. Shoghi Effendi also wrote that during the anticipated Baháʼí dispensation of 1000 years there will be no equal to ʻAbdu' l- Bahá. Works. The total estimated number of tablets that ʻAbdu' l- Bahá wrote are over 27, 000 of which only a fraction have been translated into English. His works fall into two groups including first his direct writings and second his lectures and speeches as noted by others. The first group includes" The Secret of Divine Civilization" written before 1875," A Traveller' s Narrative" written around 1886, the Resāla- ye sīāsīya or" Sermon on the Art of Governance" written in 1893, the" Memorials of the Faithful", and a large number of tablets written to various people; including various Western intellectuals such as Auguste Forel which has been translated and published as the" Tablet to Auguste- Henri Forel". The" Secret of Divine Civilization" and the" Sermon on the Art of Governance" were widely circulated anonymously. The second | group includes" Some Answered Questions", |
which is an English translation of a series of table talks with Laura Barney, and" Paris Talks"," ʻAbdu' l- Baha in London" and" Promulgation of Universal Peace" which are respectively addresses given by ʻAbdu' l- Bahá in Paris, London and the United States. The following is a list of some of ʻAbdu' l- Bahá' s many books, tablets, and talks: Ambrose of Alexandria( before 212– c. 250) was a friend of the Christian theologian Origen. Ambrose was attracted by Origen' s fame as a teacher, and visited the Catechetical School of Alexandria in 212. At first a gnostic Valentinian and Marcionist, Ambrose, through Origen' s teaching, eventually rejected this theology and became Origen' s constant companion, and was ordained deacon. He plied Origen with questions, and urged him to write his Commentaries( treating him as"" in" Commentary on John" V, 1) on the books of the Bible, and, as a wealthy nobleman and courtier, he provided his teacher with books for his studies and secretaries to lighten the labor of composition. He suffered during the persecution under the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax in 235. He was later released and died a confessor. The last mention of Ambrose in the historical record is in Origen' s" Contra Celsum," which the latter wrote at the solicitation of Ambrose. Origen often speaks of Ambrose affectionately as a man of education with excellent literary and scholarly tastes. All of Origen' s works written after 218 are dedicated to Ambrose, including his" On Martyrdom"," Contra Celsum"," Commentary on St. John' s Gospel", and" On Prayer". Ambrose' s letters to Origen( praised by Jerome) are lost, although part of one exists. Veneration. Ambrose is venerated as a saint by some branches of Christianity. His feast day in the Catholic Church falls on 17 March. An autonomous building is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, gas grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and in some cases, public roads. Advocates of autonomous building describe advantages that include reduced environmental impacts, increased security, and lower costs of ownership. Some cited advantages satisfy tenets of green building, not independence per se( see below). Off- grid buildings often rely very little on civil services and are therefore safer and more comfortable during civil disaster or military attacks. For example, Off- grid buildings would not lose power or water if public supplies were compromised. As of 2018, most research and published articles concerning autonomous building focus on residential homes. In 2002, British architects Brenda and Robert Vale said thatIt is quite possible in all parts of Australia to construct a' house with no bills', which would be comfortable without heating and cooling, which would make its own electricity, collect its own water and deal with its own waste... These houses can be built now, using off- the- shelf techniques. It is possible to build a" house with no bills" for the same price as a conventional house, but it would be( 25%) smaller. History. In the1970s, groups of | activists and engineers were inspired |
by the warnings of imminent resource depletion and starvation. In the United States a group calling themselves the New Alchemists were famous for the depth of research effort placed in their projects. Using conventional construction techniques, they designed a series of" bioshelter" projects, the most famous of which was the Ark Bioshelter community for Prince Edward Island. They published the plans for all of these, with detailed design calculations and blueprints. The Ark used wind- based water pumping and electricity and was self- contained in food production. It had living quarters for people, fish tanks raising tilapia for protein, a greenhouse watered with fish water, and a closed- loop sewage reclamation system that recycled human waste into sanitized fertilizer for the fish tanks. As of January 2010, the successor organization to the New Alchemists has a web page up as the" New Alchemy Institute". The PEI Ark has been abandoned and partially renovated several times.The1990s saw the development of Earthships, similar in intent to the Ark project, but organized as a for- profit venture, with construction details published in a series of 3 books by Mike Reynolds. The building material is tires filled with earth. This makes a wall that has large amounts of thermal mass( see earth sheltering). Berms are placed on exposed surfaces to further increase the house' s temperature stability. The water system starts with rain water, processed for drinking, then washing, then plant watering, then toilet flushing, and finally black water is recycled again for more plant watering. The cisterns are placed and used as thermal masses. Power, including electricity, heat and water heating, is from solar power.1990s architects such as William McDonough and Ken Yeang applied environmentally responsible building design to large commercial buildings, such as office buildings, making them largely self- sufficient in energy production. One major bank building( ING' s Amsterdam headquarters) in the Netherlands was constructed to be autonomous and artistic as well. Advantages. As an architect or engineer becomes more concerned with the disadvantages of transportation networks, and dependence on distant resources, their designs tend to include more autonomous elements. The historic path to autonomy was a concern for secure sources of heat, power, water and food. A nearly parallel path toward autonomy has been to start with a concern for environmental impacts, which cause disadvantages. Autonomous buildings can increase security and reduce environmental impacts by using on- site resources( such as sunlight and rain) that would otherwise be wasted. Autonomy often dramatically reduces the costs and impacts of networks that serve the building, because autonomy short- circuits the multiplying inefficiencies of collecting and transporting resources. Other impacted resources, such as oil reserves and the retention of the local watershed, can often be cheaply conserved by thoughtful designs. Autonomous buildings are usually energy- efficient in operation, and therefore cost- efficient, for the obvious reason that smaller energy needs are easier to satisfy off- grid. But they may substitute energy production or other techniques to avoid diminishing returns in extreme conservation. An autonomous structure is not always environmentally friendly. The goal of independence from | support systems is associated with, |
but not identical to, other goals of environmentally responsible green building. However, autonomous buildings also usually include some degree of sustainability through the use of renewable energy and other renewable resources, producing no more greenhouse gases than they consume, and other measures. Disadvantages. First and fundamentally, independence is a matter of degree. For example, eliminating dependence on the electrical grid is relatively easy. In contrast, running an efficient, reliable food source can be a chore. Living within an autonomous shelter may also require sacrifices in lifestyle or social opportunities. Even the most comfortable and technologically advanced autonomous homes could require alterations of residents' behavior. Some may not welcome the extra chores. The Vails described some clients' experiences as inconvenient, irritating, isolating, or even as an unwanted full- time job. A well- designed building can reduce this issue, but usually at the expense of reduced autonomy. An autonomous house must be custom- built( or extensively retrofitted) to suit the climate and location. Passive solar techniques, alternative toilet and sewage systems, thermal massing designs, basement battery systems, efficient windowing, and the array of other design tactics require some degree of non- standard construction, added expense, ongoing experimentation and maintenance, and also have an effect on the psychology of the space. Systems. This section includes some minimal descriptions of methods, to give some feel for such a building' s practicality, provide indexes to further information, and give a sense of modern trends. Water. There are many methods of collecting and conserving water. Use reduction is cost- effective. Greywater systems reuse drained wash water to flush toilets or to water lawns and gardens. Greywater systems can halve the water use of most residential buildings; however, they require the purchase of a sump, greywater pressurization pump, and secondary plumbing. Some builders are installing waterless urinals and even composting toilets that completely eliminate water usage in sewage disposal. The classic solution with minimal life- style changes is using a well. Once drilled, a well- foot requires substantial power. However, advanced well- foots can reduce power usage by twofold or more from older models. Well water can be contaminated in some areas. The Sono arsenic filter eliminates unhealthy arsenic in well water. However drilling a well is an uncertain activity, with aquifers depleted in some areas. It can also be expensive. In regions with sufficient rainfall, it is often more economical to design a building to use rainwater harvesting, with supplementary water deliveries in a drought. Rain water makes excellent soft washwater, but needs antibacterial treatment. If used for drinking, mineral supplements or mineralization is necessary. Most desert and temperate climates get at least of rain per year. This means that a typical one- story house with a greywater system can supply its year- round water needs from its roof alone. In the driest areas, it might require a cistern of. Many areas average of rain per week, and these can use a cistern as small as. In many areas, it is difficult to keep a roof clean enough for drinking. To reduce dirt and bad tastes, systems use | a metal collecting- roof and |
a" roof cleaner" tank that diverts the first 40 liters. Cistern water is usually chlorinated, though reverse osmosis systems provide even better quality drinking water. In the classic Roman house(" Domus"), household water was provided from a cistern( the" impluvium"), which was a decorative feature of the atrium, the house' s main public space. It was fed by downspout tiles from the inward- facing roof- opening( the" compluvium"). Often water lilies were grown in it to purify the water. Wealthy households often supplemented the rain with a small fountain fed from a city' s cistern. The impluvium always had an overflow drain so it could not flood the house. Modern cisterns are usually large plastic tanks. Gravity tanks on short towers are reliable, so pump repairs are less urgent. The least expensive bulk cistern is a fenced pond or pool at ground level. Reducing autonomy reduces the size and expense of cisterns. Many autonomous homes can reduce water use below per person per day, so that in a drought a month of water can be delivered inexpensively via truck. Self- delivery is often possible by installing fabric water tanks that fit the bed of a pick- up truck. It can be convenient to use the cistern as a heat sink or trap for a heat pump or air conditioning system; however this can make cold drinking water warm, and in drier years may decrease the efficiency of the HVAC system. Solar stills can efficiently produce drinking water from ditch water or cistern water, especially high- efficiency multiple effect humidification designs, which separate the evaporator( s) and condenser( s). New technologies, like reverse osmosis can create unlimited amounts of pure water from polluted water, ocean water, and even from humid air. Watermakers are available for yachts that convert seawater and electricity into potable water and brine. Atmospheric water generators extract moisture from dry desert air and filter it to pure water. Sewage. Resource. Composting toilets use bacteria to decompose human feces into useful, odourless, sanitary compost. The process is sanitary because soil bacteria eat the human pathogens as well as most of the mass of the waste. Nevertheless, most health authorities forbid direct use of" humanure" for growing food. The risk is microbial and viral contamination. In a dry composting toilet, the waste is evaporated or digested to gas( mostly carbon dioxide) and vented, so a toilet produces only a few pounds of compost every six months. To control the odor, modern toilets use a small fan to keep the toilet under negative pressure, and exhaust the gasses to a vent pipe. Some home sewage treatment systems use biological treatment, usually beds of plants and aquaria, that absorb nutrients and bacteria and convert greywater and sewage to clear water. This odor- and color- free reclaimed water can be used to flush toilets and water outside plants. When tested, it approaches standards for potable water. In climates that freeze, the plants and aquaria need to be kept in a small greenhouse space. Good systems need about as much care as a large aquarium. Electric | incinerating toilets turn excrement into |
a small amount of ash. They are cool to the touch, have no water and no pipes, and require an air vent in a wall. They are used in remote areas where use of septic tanks is limited, usually to reduce nutrient loads in lakes. NASA' s bioreactor is an extremely advanced biological sewage system. It can turn sewage into air and water through microbial action. NASA plans to use it in the crewed Mars mission. Another method is NASA' s urine- to- water distillation system. A big disadvantage of complex biological sewage treatment systems is that if the house is empty, the sewage system biota may starve to death. Waste. Sewage handling is essential for public health. Many diseases are transmitted by poorly functioning sewage systems. The standard system is a tiled leach field combined with a septic tank. The basic idea is to provide a small system with primary sewage treatment. Sludge settles to the bottom of the septic tank, is partially reduced by anaerobic digestion, and fluid is dispersed in the leach field. The leach field is usually under a yard growing grass. Septic tanks can operate entirely by gravity, and if well managed, are reasonably safe. Septic tanks have to be pumped periodically by a vacuum truck to eliminate non reducing solids. Failure to pump a septic tank can cause overflow that damages the leach field, and contaminates ground water. Septic tanks may also require some lifestyle changes, such as not using garbage disposals, minimizing fluids flushed into the tank, and minimizing nondigestible solids flushed into the tank. For example, septic safe toilet paper is recommended. However, septic tanks remain popular because they permit standard plumbing fixtures, and require few or no lifestyle sacrifices. Composting or packaging toilets make it economical and sanitary to throw away sewage as part of the normal garbage collection service. They also reduce water use by half, and eliminate the difficulty and expense of septic tanks. However, they require the local landfill to use sanitary practices. Incinerator systems are quite practical. The ashes are biologically safe, and less than 1/ 10 the volume of the original waste, but like all incinerator waste, are usually classified as hazardous waste. Traditional methods of sewage handling include pit toilets, latrines, and outhouses. These can be safe, inexpensive and practical. They are still used in many regions. Storm drains. Drainage systems are a crucial compromise between human habitability and a secure, sustainable watershed. Paved areas and lawns or turf do not allow much precipitation to filter through the ground to recharge aquifers. They can cause flooding and damage in neighbourhoods, as the water flows over the surface towards a low point. Typically, elaborate, capital- intensive storm sewer networks are engineered to deal with stormwater. In some cities, such as the Victorian era London sewers or much of the old City of Toronto, the storm water system is combined with the sanitary sewer system. In the event of heavy precipitation, the load on the sewage treatment plant at the end of the pipe becomes too great to handle | and raw sewage is dumped |
into holding tanks, and sometimes into surface water. Autonomous buildings can address precipitation in a number of ways: If a water- absorbing swale for each yard is combined with permeable concrete streets, storm drains can be omitted from the neighbourhood. This can save more than$ 800 per house(1970s) by eliminating storm drains. One way to use the savings is to purchase larger lots, which permits more amenities at the same cost. Permeable concrete is an established product in warm climates, and in development for freezing climates. In freezing climates, the elimination of storm drains can often still pay for enough land to construct swales( shallow water collecting ditches) or water impeding berms instead. This plan provides more land for homeowners and can offer more interesting topography for landscaping. A green roof captures precipitation and uses the water to grow plants. It can be built into a new building or used to replace an existing roof. Electricity. Since electricity is an expensive utility, the first step towards autonomy is to design a house and lifestyle to reduce demand. LED lights, laptop computers and gas- powered refrigerators save electricity, although gas- powered refrigerators are not very efficient. There are also superefficient electric refrigerators, such as those produced by the Sun Frost company, some of which use only about half as much electricity as a mass- market energy star- rated refrigerator. Using a solar roof, solar cells can provide electric power. Solar roofs can be more cost- effective than retrofitted solar power, because buildings need roofs anyway. Modern solar cells last about 40 years, which makes them a reasonable investment in some areas. At a sufficient angle, solar cells are cleaned by run- off rain water and therefore have almost no life- style impact. However, many areas have long winter nights or dark cloudy days. In these climates, a solar installation might not pay for itself or large battery storage systems are necessary to achieve electric self- sufficiency. In stormy or windy climates, wind generators can replace or significantly supplement solar power. The average autonomous house needs only one small wind turbine, 5 metres or less in diameter. On a 30- metre( 100- foot) tower, this turbine can provide enough power to supplement solar power on cloudy days. Commercially available wind turbines use sealed, one- moving- part AC generators and passive, self- feathering blades for years of operation without service. The main advantage of wind power is that larger wind turbines have a lower per- watt cost than solar cells, provided there is wind. However, location is critical. Just as some locations lack sun for solar cells, many areas lack enough wind to make a turbine pay for itself. In the Great Plains of the United States, a 10- metre( 33- foot) turbine can supply enough energy to heat and cool a well- built all- electric house. Economic use in other areas requires research, and possibly a site- survey. Some sites have access to a stream with a change in elevation. These sites can use small hydropower systems to generate electricity. If the difference in | elevation is above 30 metres( |
100 feet), and the stream runs in all seasons, this can provide continuous power with a small, inexpensive installation. Lower changes of elevation require larger installations or dams, and can be less efficient. Clogging at the turbine intake can be a practical problem. The usual solution is a small pool and waterfall( a penstock) to carry away floating debris. Another solution is to utilize a turbine that resists debris, such as a Gorlov helical turbine or Ossberger turbine. During times of low demand, excess power can be stored in batteries for future use. However, batteries need to be replaced every few years. In many areas, battery expenses can be eliminated by attaching the building to the electric power grid and operating the power system with net metering. Utility permission is required, but such cooperative generation is legally mandated in some areas( for example, California). A grid- based building is less autonomous, but more economical and sustainable with fewer lifestyle sacrifices. In rural areas the grid' s cost and impacts can be reduced by using single- wire earth return systems( for example, the MALT- system). In areas that lack access to the grid, battery size can be reduced with a generator to recharge the batteries during energy droughts such as extended fogs. Auxiliary generators are usually run from propane, natural gas, or sometimes diesel. An hour of charging usually provides a day of operation. Modern residential chargers permit the user to set the charging times, so the generator is quiet at night. Some generators automatically test themselves once per week. Recent advances in passively stable magnetic bearings may someday permit inexpensive storage of power in a flywheel in a vacuum. Research groups like Canada' s Ballard Power Systems are also working to develop a" regenerative fuel cell", a device that can generate hydrogen and oxygen when power is available, and combine these efficiently when power is needed. Earth batteries tap electric currents in the earth called telluric current. They can be installed anywhere in the ground. They provide only low voltages and current.Theywereusedtopowertelegraphsinthe19th century. As appliance efficiencies increase, they may become practical. Microbial fuel cells and thermoelectric generators allow electricity to be generated from biomass. The plant can be dried, chopped and converted or burned as a whole, or it can be left alive so that waste saps from the plant can be converted by bacteria. Heating. Most autonomous buildings are designed to use insulation, thermal mass and passive solar heating and cooling. Examples of these are trombe walls and other technologies as skylights. Passive solar heating can heat most buildings in even the mild and chilly climates. In colder climates, extra construction costs can be as little as 15% more than new, conventional buildings. In warm climates, those having less than two weeks of frosty nights per year, there is no cost impact. The basic requirement for passive solar heating is that the solar collectors must face the prevailing sunlight( south in the Northern Hemisphere, north in the Southern Hemisphere), and the building must incorporate thermal mass to keep it warm in | the night. A recent, somewhat |
experimental solar heating system" Annualized geo solar heating" is practical even in regions that get little or no sunlight in winter. It uses the ground beneath a building for thermal mass. Precipitation can carry away the heat, so the ground is shielded with skirts of plastic insulation. The thermal mass of this system is sufficiently inexpensive and large that it can store enough summer heat to warm a building for the whole winter, and enough winter cold to cool the building in summer. In annualized geo solar systems, the solar collector is often separate from( and hotter or colder than) the living space. The building may actually be constructed from insulation, for example, straw- bale construction. Some buildings have been aerodynamically designed so that convection via ducts and interior spaces eliminates any need for electric fans. A more modest" daily solar" design is very practical. For example, for about a 15% premium in building costs, the Passivhaus building codes in Europe use high performance insulating windows, R- 30 insulation, HRV ventilation, and a small thermal mass. With modest changes in the building' s position, modern krypton- or argon- insulated windows permit normal- looking windows to provide passive solar heat without compromising insulation or structural strength. If a small heater is available for the coldest nights, a slab or basement cistern can inexpensively provide the required thermal mass. Passivhaus building codes, in particular, bring unusually good interior air quality, because the buildings change the air several times per hour, passing it through a heat exchanger to keep heat inside. In all systems, a small supplementary heater increases personal security and reduces lifestyle impacts for a small reduction of autonomy. The two most popular heaters for ultra- high- efficiency houses are a small heat pump, which also provides air conditioning, or a central hydronic( radiator) air heater with water recirculating from the water heater. Passivhaus designs usually integrate the heater with the ventilation system. Earth sheltering and windbreaks can also reduce the absolute amount of heat needed by a building. Several feet below the earth, temperature ranges from in North Dakota to, in Southern Florida. Wind breaks reduce the amount of heat carried away from a building. Rounded, aerodynamic buildings also lose less heat. An increasing number of commercial buildings use a combined cycle with cogeneration to provide heating, often water heating, from the output of a natural gas reciprocating engine, gas turbine or stirling electric generator. Houses designed to cope with interruptions in civil services generally incorporate a wood stove, or heat and power from diesel fuel or bottled gas, regardless of their other heating mechanisms. Electric heaters and electric stoves may provide pollution- free heat( depending on the power source), but use large amounts of electricity. If enough electricity is provided by solar panels, wind turbines, or other means, then electric heaters and stoves become a practical autonomous design. Water heating. Hot water heat recycling units recover heat from water drain lines. They increase a building' s autonomy by decreasing the heat or fuel used to heat water. They are attractive because | they have no lifestyle changes. |
Current practical, comfortable domestic water- heating systems combine a solar preheating system with a thermostatic gas- powered flow- through heater, so that the temperature of the water is consistent, and the amount is unlimited. This reduces life- style impacts at some cost in autonomy. Solar water heaters can save large amounts of fuel. Also, small changes in lifestyle, such as doing laundry, dishes and bathing on sunny days, can greatly increase their efficiency. Pure solar heaters are especially useful for laundries, swimming pools and external baths, because these can be scheduled for use on sunny days. The basic trick in a solar water heating system is to use a well- insulated holding tank. Some systems are vacuum- insulated, acting something like large thermos bottles. The tank is filled with hot water on sunny days, and made available at all times. Unlike a conventional tank water heater, the tank is filled only when there is sunlight. Good storage makes a smaller, higher- technology collector feasible. Such collectors can use relatively exotic technologies, such as vacuum insulation, and reflective concentration of sunlight. Cogeneration systems produce hot water from waste heat. They usually get the heat from the exhaust of a generator or fuel cell. Heat recycling, cogeneration and solar pre- heating can save 50– 75% of the gas otherwise used. Also, some combinations provide redundant reliability by having several sources of heat. Some authorities advocate replacing bottled gas or natural gas with biogas. However, this is usually impractical unless live- stock are on- site. The wastes of a single family are usually insufficient to produce enough methane for anything more than small amounts of cooking. Cooling. Annualized geo solar buildings often have buried, sloped water- tight skirts of insulation that extend from the foundations, to prevent heat leakage between the earth used as thermal mass, and the surface. Less dramatic improvements are possible. Windows can be shaded in summer. Eaves can be overhung to provide the necessary shade. These also shade the walls of the house, reducing cooling costs. Another trick is to cool the building' s thermal mass at night, perhaps with a whole- house fan and then cool the building from the thermal mass during the day. It helps to be able to route cold air from a sky- facing radiator( perhaps an air heating solar collector with an alternate purpose) or evaporative cooler directly through the thermal mass. On clear nights, even in tropical areas, sky- facing radiators can cool below freezing. If a circular building is aerodynamically smooth, and cooler than the ground, it can be passively cooled by the" dome effect." Many installations have reported that a reflective or light- colored dome induces a local vertical heat- driven vortex that sucks cooler overhead air downward into a dome if the dome is vented properly( a single overhead vent, and peripheral vents). Some people have reported a temperature differential as high as() between the inside of the dome and the outside. Buckminster Fuller discovered this effect with a simple house design adapted from a grain silo, and adapted his Dymaxion | house and geodesic domes to |
use it. Refrigerators and air conditioners operating from the waste heat of a diesel engine exhaust, heater flue or solar collector are entering use. These use the same principles as a gas refrigerator. Normally, the heat from a flue powers an" absorptive chiller". The cold water or brine from the chiller is used to cool air or a refrigerated space. Cogeneration is popular in new commercial buildings. In current cogeneration systems small gas turbines or stirling engines powered from natural gas produce electricity and their exhaust drives an absorptive chiller. A truck trailer refrigerator operating from the waste heat of a tractor' s diesel exhaust was demonstrated by NRG Solutions, Inc. NRG developed a hydronic ammonia gas heat exchanger and vaporizer, the two essential new, not commercially available components of a waste heat driven refrigerator. A similar scheme( multiphase cooling) can be by a multistage evaporative cooler. The air is passed through a spray of salt solution to dehumidify it, then through a spray of water solution to cool it, then another salt solution to dehumidify it again. The brine has to be regenerated, and that can be done economically with a low- temperature solar still. Multiphase evaporative coolers can lower the air' s temperature by 50° F( 28° C), and still control humidity. If the brine regenerator uses high heat, they also partially sterilise the air. If enough electric power is available, cooling can be provided by conventional air conditioning using a heat pump. Food production. Food production has often been included in historic autonomous projects to provide security. Skilled, intensive gardening can support an adult from as little as 100 square meters of land per person, possibly requiring the use of organic farming and aeroponics. Some proven intensive, low- effort food- production systems include urban gardening( indoors and outdoors). Indoor cultivation may be set up using hydroponics, while outdoor cultivation may be done using permaculture, forest gardening, no- till farming, and do nothing farming. Greenhouses are also sometimes included. Sometimes they are also outfitted with irrigation systems or heat sink- systems which can respectively irrigate the plants or help to store energy from the sun and redistribute it at night( when the greenhouses starts to cool down). Bacillus Calmette– Guérin( BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis( TB). It is named after its inventors Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin. In countries where tuberculosis or leprosy is common, one dose is recommended in healthy babies as soon after birth as possible. In areas where tuberculosis is not common, only children at high risk are typically immunized, while suspected cases of tuberculosis are individually tested for and treated. Adults who do not have tuberculosis and have not been previously immunized, but are frequently exposed, may be immunized, as well. BCG also has some effectiveness against Buruli ulcer infection and other nontuberculous mycobacterial infections. Additionally it is sometimes used as part of the treatment of bladder cancer. Rates of protection against tuberculosis infection vary widely and protection lasts up to 20 years. Among children, it prevents about 20% from getting infected | and among those who do |
get infected, it protects half from developing disease. The vaccine is given by injection into the skin. No evidence shows that additional doses are beneficial. Serious side effects are rare. Often, redness, swelling, and mild pain occur at the site of injection. A small ulcer may also form with some scarring after healing. Side effects are more common and potentially more severe in those with immunosuppression. It is not safe for use during pregnancy. The vaccine was originally developed from" Mycobacterium bovis", which is commonly found in cattle. While it has been weakened, it is still live. The BCG vaccine was first used medically in 1921. It is on the World Health Organization' s List of Essential Medicines., the vaccine is given to about 100 million children per year globally. Medical uses. Tuberculosis. The main use of BCG is for vaccination against tuberculosis. BCG vaccine can be administered after birth intradermally. BCG vaccination can cause a false positive Mantoux test, although a very high- grade reading is usually due to active disease. The most controversial aspect of BCG is the variable efficacy found in different clinical trials, which appears to depend on geography. Trials conducted in the UK have consistently shown a protective effect of 60 to 80%, but those conducted elsewhere have shown no protective effect, and efficacy appears to fall the closer one gets to the equator. A 1994 systematic review found that BCG reduces the risk of getting tuberculosis by about 50%. Differences in effectiveness depend on region, due to factors such as genetic differences in the populations, changes in environment, exposure to other bacterial infections, and conditions in the laboratory where the vaccine is grown, including genetic differences between the strains being cultured and the choice of growth medium. A systematic review and meta- analysis conducted in 2014 demonstrated that the BCG vaccine reduced infections by 19– 27% and reduced progression to active tuberculosis by 71%. The studies included in this review were limited to those that used interferon gamma release assay. The duration of protection of BCG is not clearly known. In those studies showing a protective effect, the data are inconsistent. The MRC study showed protection waned to 59% after 15 years and to zero after 20 years; however, a studylookingatNativeAmericansimmunizedinthe1930s found evidence of protection even 60 years after immunization, with only a slight waning in efficacy. BCG seems to have its greatest effect in preventing miliary tuberculosis or tuberculosis meningitis, so it is still extensively used even in countries where efficacy against pulmonary tuberculosis is negligible.The100th anniversary of BCG was in 2021. It remains the only vaccine licensed against tuberculosis, which is an ongoing pandemic. Tuberculosis elimination is a goal of the World Health Organization( WHO), although the development of new vaccines with greater efficacy against adult pulmonary tuberculosis may be needed to make substantial progress. Efficacy. A number of possible reasons for the variable efficacy of BCG in different countries have been proposed. None has been proven, some have been disproved, and none can explain the lack of efficacy in both low tuberculosis- burden | countries( US) and high tuberculosis- |
burden countries( India). The reasons for variable efficacy have been discussed at length in a WHO document on BCG. Mycobacteria. BCG has protective effects against some nontuberculosis mycobacteria. Cancer. BCG has been one of the most successful immunotherapies. BCG vaccine has been the" standard of care for patients with bladder cancer( NMIBC)" since 1977. By 2014 there were more than eight different considered biosimilar agents or strains used for the treatment of nonmuscle- invasive bladder cancer. Method of administration. A tuberculin skin test is usually carried out before administering BCG. A reactive tuberculin skin test is a contraindication to BCG due to the risk of severe local inflammation and scarring; it does not indicate any immunity. BCG is also contraindicated in certain people who have IL- 12 receptor pathway defects. BCG is given as a single intradermal injection at the insertion of the deltoid. If BCG is accidentally given subcutaneously, then a local abscess may form( a" BCG- oma") that can sometimes ulcerate, and may require treatment with antibiotics immediately, otherwise without treatment it could spread the infection, causing severe damage to vital organs. An abscess is not always associated with incorrect administration, and it is one of the more common complications that can occur with the vaccination. Numerous medical studies on treatment of these abscesses with antibiotics have been done with varying results, but the consensus is once pus is aspirated and analysed, provided no unusual bacilli are present, the abscess will generally heal on its own in a matter of weeks. The characteristic raised scar that BCG immunization leaves is often used as proof of prior immunization. This scar must be distinguished from that of smallpox vaccination, which it may resemble. When given for bladder cancer, the vaccine is not injected through the skin, but is instilled into the bladder through the urethra using a soft catheter. Adverse effects. BCG immunization generally causes some pain and scarring at the site of injection. The main adverse effects are keloids— large, raised scars. The insertion to the deltoid muscle is most frequently used because the local complication rate is smallest when that site is used. Nonetheless, the buttock is an alternative site of administration because it provides better cosmetic outcomes. BCG vaccine should be given intradermally. If given subcutaneously, it may induce local infection and spread to the regional lymph nodes, causing either suppurative( production of pus) and nonsuppurative lymphadenitis. Conservative management is usually adequate for nonsuppurative lymphadenitis. If suppuration occurs, it may need needle aspiration. For nonresolving suppuration, surgical excision may be required. Evidence for the treatment of these complications is scarce. Uncommonly, breast and gluteal abscesses can occur due to haematogenous( carried by the blood) and lymphangiomatous spread. Regional bone infection( BCG osteomyelitis or osteitis) and disseminated BCG infection are rare complications of BCG vaccination, but potentially life- threatening. Systemic antituberculous therapy may be helpful in severe complications. When BCG is used for bladder cancer, around 2. 9% of treated patients discontinue immunotherapy due to a genitourinary or systemic BCG- related infection, however while symptomatic bladder BCG infection is frequent, | the involvement of other organs |
is very uncommon. When systemic involvement occurs, liver and lungs are the first organs to be affected( 1 week[ median] after the last BCG instillation). If BCG is accidentally given to an immunocompromised patient( e. g., an infant with severe combined immune deficiency, it can cause disseminated or life- threatening infection. The documented incidence of this happening is less than one per million immunizations given. In 2007, the WHO stopped recommending BCG for infants with HIV, even if the risk of exposure to tuberculosis is high, because of the risk of disseminated BCG infection( which is roughly 400 per 100, 000 in that higher risk context). Usage. The age of the person and the frequency with which BCG is given has always varied from country to country. The WHO currently recommends childhood BCG for all countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis and/ or high leprosy burden. This is a partial list of historic and current BCG practice around the globe. A complete atlas of past and present practice has been generated. Manufacture. BCG is prepared from a strain of the attenuated( virulence- reduced) live bovine tuberculosis bacillus," Mycobacterium bovis", that has lost its ability to cause disease in humans. Because the living bacilli evolve to make the best use of available nutrients, they become less well- adapted to human blood and can no longer induce disease when introduced into a human host. Still, they are similar enough to their wild ancestors to provide some degree of immunity against human tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine can be anywhere from 0 to 80% effective in preventing tuberculosis for a duration of 15 years; however, its protective effect appears to vary according to geography and the lab in which the vaccine strain was grown. A number of different companies make BCG, sometimes using different genetic strains of the bacterium. This may result in different product characteristics. OncoTICE, used for bladder instillation for bladder cancer, was developed by Organon Laboratories( since acquired by Schering- Plough, and in turn acquired by Merck& amp; Co.). A similar application is the product of Onko BCG of the Polish company Biomed- Lublin, which owns the Brazilian substrain M. bovis BCG Moreau which is less reactogenic than vaccines including other BCG strains. Pacis BCG, made from the Montréal( Institut Armand- Frappier) strain, was first marketed by Urocor in about 2002. Urocor was since acquired by Dianon Systems. Evans Vaccines( a subsidiary of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals). Statens Serum Institut in Denmark markets BCG vaccine prepared using Danish strain 1331. Japan BCG Laboratory markets its vaccine, based on the Tokyo 172 substrain of Pasteur BCG, in 50 countries worldwide. According to a UNICEF report published in December 2015, on BCG vaccine supply security, global demand increased in 2015 from 123 to 152. 2 million doses. To improve security and to[ diversify] sources of affordable and flexible supply," UNICEF awarded seven new manufacturers contracts to produce BCG. Along with supply availability from existing manufacturers, and a" new WHO prequalified vaccine" the total supply will be" sufficient to meet both suppressed 2015 demand carried over to | 2016, as well as total |
forecast demand through 2016– 2018." Supply shortage. In 2011, the Sanofi Pasteur plant flooded, causing problems with mold. The facility, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, produced BCG vaccine products made with substrain Connaught such as a tuberculosis vaccine and ImmuCYST, a BCG immunotherapeutic and bladder cancer drug. By April 2012 the FDA had found dozens of documented problems with sterility at the plant including mold, nesting birds and rusted electrical conduits. The resulting closure of the plant for over two years caused shortages of bladder cancer and tuberculosis vaccines. On 29 October 2014 Health Canada gave the permission for Sanofi to resume production of BCG. A 2018 analysis of the global supply concluded that the supplies are adequate to meet forecast BCG vaccine demand, but that risks of shortages remain, mainly due to dependence of 75 percent of WHO pre- qualified supply on just two suppliers. Preparation. A weakened strain of bovine tuberculosis bacillus," Mycobacterium bovis" is specially subcultured in a culture medium,usuallyMiddlebrook7H9. Dried. Some BCG vaccines are freeze dried and become fine powder. Sometimes the powder is sealed with vacuum in a glass ampoule. Such a glass ampoule has to be opened slowly to prevent the airflow from blowing out the powder. Then the powder has to be diluted with saline water before injecting. History. The history of BCG is tied to that of smallpox. By 1865 Jean Antoine Villemin had demonstrated that rabbits could be infected with tuberculosis from humans; by 1868 he had found that rabbits could be infected with tuberculosis from cows, and that rabbits could be infected with tuberculosis from other rabbits. Thus, he concluded that tuberculosis was transmitted via some unidentified microorganism( or" virus", as he called it). In 1882 Robert Koch regarded human and bovine tuberculosis as identical. But in 1895, Theobald Smith presented differences between human and bovine tuberculosis, which he reported to Koch. By 1901 Koch distinguished" Mycobacterium bovis" from" Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Following the success of vaccination in preventing smallpox,establishedduringthe18th century, scientists thought to find a corollary in tuberculosis by drawing a parallel between bovine tuberculosis and cowpox: it was hypothesized that infection with bovine tuberculosis might protect against infection with human tuberculosis.Inthelate19th century, clinical trials using" M. bovis" were conducted in Italy with disastrous results, because" M. bovis" was found to be just as virulent as" M. tuberculosis". Albert Calmette, a French physician and bacteriologist, and his assistant and later colleague, Camille Guérin, a veterinarian, were working at the Institut Pasteur de Lille( Lille, France) in 1908. Their work included subculturing virulent strains of the tuberculosis bacillus and testing different culture media. They noted a glycerin- bile- potato mixture grew bacilli that seemed less virulent, and changed the course of their research to see if repeated subculturing would produce a strain that was attenuated enough to be considered for use as a vaccine. The BCG strain was isolated after subculturing 239 times during 13 years from virulent strain on glycerine potato medium. The research continued throughout World War I until 1919, when the now avirulent bacilli were unable to cause tuberculosis disease | in research animals. Calmette and |
Guerin transferred to the Paris Pasteur Institute in 1919. The BCG vaccine was first used in humans in 1921. Public acceptance was slow, and the Lübeck disaster, in particular, did much to harm it. Between 1929 and 1933 in Lübeck, 251 infants were vaccinated in the first 10 days of life; 173 developed tuberculosis and 72 died. It was subsequently discovered that the BCG administered there had been contaminated with a virulent strain that was being stored in the same incubator, which led to legal action against the manufacturers of the vaccine. Dr. R. G. Ferguson, working at the Fort Qu' Appelle Sanatorium in Saskatchewan, was among the pioneers in developing the practice of vaccination against tuberculosis. In Canada, more than 600 children from residential schools were used as involuntary participants in BCG vaccine trials between 1933 and 1945. In 1928, BCG was adopted by the Health Committee of the League of Nations( predecessor to the World Health Organization( WHO)). Because of opposition, however, it only became widely used after World War II. From 1945 to 1948, relief organizations( International Tuberculosis Campaign or Joint Enterprises) vaccinated over eight million babies in eastern Europe and prevented the predicted typical increase of tuberculosis after a major war. BCG is very efficacious against tuberculous meningitis in the pediatric age group, but its efficacy against pulmonary tuberculosis appears to be variable. As of 2006, only a few countries do not use BCG for routine vaccination. Two countries that have never used it routinely are the United States and the Netherlands( in both countries, it is felt that having a reliable Mantoux test and therefore being able to accurately detect active disease is more beneficial to society than vaccinating against a condition that is now relatively rare there). Other names include" Vaccin Bilié de Calmette et Guérin vaccine" and" Bacille de Calmette et Guérin vaccine". Research. Tentative evidence exists for a beneficial non- specific effect of BCG vaccination on overall mortality in low income countries, or for its reducing other health problems including sepsis and respiratory infections when given early, with greater benefit the earlier it is used. In rhesus macaques, BCG shows improved rates of protection when given intravenously. Some risks must be evaluated before it can be translated to human. Type 1 diabetes., BCG vaccine is in the early stages of being studied in type 1 diabetes. COVID- 19. Use of the BCG vaccine may provide protection against COVID‑ 19. However, epidemiologic observations in this respect are ambiguous. The WHO does not recommend its use for prevention., twenty BCG trials are in various clinical stages. Bunsen may refer to: The common buzzard(" Buteo buteo") is a medium- to- large bird of prey which has a large range. A member of the genus" Buteo", it is a member of the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of the Palearctic as far as northwestern China( Tian Shan), far western Siberia and northwestern Mongolia. Over much of its range, it is a year- round resident. However, buzzards from | the colder parts of the |
Northern Hemisphere as well as those that breed in the eastern part of their range typically migrate south for the northern winter, many journeying as far as South Africa. The common buzzard is an opportunistic predator that can take a wide variety of prey, but it feeds mostly on small mammals, especially rodents such as voles. It typically hunts from a perch. Like most accipitrid birds of prey, it builds a nest, typically in trees in this species, and is a devoted parent to a relatively small brood of young. The common buzzard appears to be the most common diurnal raptor in Europe, as estimates of its total global population run well into the millions. Taxonomy. The first formal description of the common buzzard was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his" Systema Naturae" under the binomial name" Falco buteo". The genus" Buteo" was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799 by tautonymy with the specific name of this species. The word" buteo" is Latin for a buzzard. It should not be confused with the Turkey vulture, which is sometimes called a buzzard in American English. The Buteoninae subfamily originated from and is most diversified in the Americas, with occasional broader radiations that led to common buzzards and other Eurasian and African buzzards. The common buzzard is a member of the genus" Buteo", a group of medium- sized raptors with robust bodies and broad wings. The" Buteo" species of Eurasia and Africa are usually commonly referred to as" buzzards" while those in the Americas are called hawks. Under current classification, the genus includes approximately 28 species, the second most diverse of all extant accipitrid genera behind only" Accipiter". DNA testing shows that the common buzzard is fairly closely related to the red- tailed hawk(" Buteo jamaicensis") of North America, which occupies a similar ecological niche to the buzzard in that continent. The two species may belong to the same species complex. Two buzzards in Africa are likely closely related to the common buzzard based on genetic materials, the mountain(" Buteo oreophilus") and forest buzzards(" Buteo trizonatus"), to the point where it has been questioned whether they are sufficiently distinct to qualify as full species. However, the distinctiveness of these African buzzards has generally been supported. Genetic studies have further indicated that the modern buzzards of Eurasia and Africa are a relatively young group, showing that they diverged at about 300, 000 years ago. Nonetheless, fossils dating earlier than 5 million year old( the late Miocene period) showed" Buteo" species were present in Europe much earlier than that would imply, although it cannot be stated to a certainty that these would’ ve been related to the extant buzzards. Subspecies and species splits. Some 16 subspecies have been described in the past and up to 11 are often considered valid, although some authorities accept as few as seven. Common buzzard subspecies fall into two groups. The western" buteo" group is mainly resident or short- distance migrants and includes: The eastern" vulpinus" group includes: | At one time, races of |
the common buzzard were thought to range as far in Asia as a breeding bird well into the Himalayas and as far east as northeastern China, Russia to the Sea of Okhotsk, and all the islands of the Kurile Islands and of Japan, despite both the Himalayan and eastern birds showing a natural gap in distribution from the next nearest breeding common buzzard. However, DNA testing has revealed that the buzzards of these populations probably belong to different species. Most authorities now accept these buzzards as full species: the eastern buzzard(" Buteo japonicus"; with three subspecies of its own) and the Himalayan buzzard(" Buteo refectus"). Buzzards found on the islands of Cape Verde off of the coast of western Africa, once referred to as the subspecies" B. b. bannermani", and Socotra Island off of the northern peninsula of Arabia, once referred to as the rarely recognized subspecies" B. b. socotrae", are now generally thought not to belong to the common buzzard. DNA testing has indicated that these insular buzzards are actually more closely related to the long- legged buzzard(" Buteo rufinus") than to the common buzzard. Subsequently, some researchers have advocated full species status for the Cape Verde population, but the placement of these buzzards is generally deemed unclear. Description. The common buzzard is a medium- sized raptor that is highly variable in plumage. Most buzzards are distinctly round headed with a somewhat slender bill, relatively long wings that either reach or fall slightly short of the tail tip when perched, a fairly short tail, and somewhat short and mainly bare tarsi. They can appear fairly compact in overall appearance but may also appear large relative to other commoner raptorial birds such as kestrels and sparrowhawks. The common buzzard measures between in length with a wingspan. Females average about 2– 7% larger than males linearly and weigh about 15% more. Body mass can show considerable variation. Buzzards from Great Britain alone can vary from in males, while females there can range from. In Europe, most typical buzzards are dark brown above and on the upperside of the head and mantle, but can become paler and warmer brown with worn plumage. The flight feathers on perched European buzzards are always brown in the nominate subspecies(" B. b. buteo"). Usually the tail will usually be narrowly barred grey- brown and dark brown with a pale tip and a broad dark subterminal band but the tail in palest birds can show a varying amount a white and reduced subterminal band or even appear almost all white. In European buzzards, the underside coloring can be variable but most typically show a brown- streaked white throat with a somewhat darker chest. A pale U across breast is often present; followed by a pale line running down the belly which separates the dark areas on breast- side and flanks. These pale areas tend to have highly variable markings that tend to form irregular bars. Juvenile buzzards are quite similar to adult in the nominate race, being best told apart by having a paler eye, a narrower subterminal band | on the tail and underside |
markings that appear as streaks rather than bars. Furthermore, juveniles may show variable creamy to rufous fringes to upperwing coverts but these also may not be present. Seen from below in flight, buzzards in Europe typically have a dark trailing edge to the wings. If seen from above, one of the best marks is their broad dark subterminal tail band. Flight feathers of typical European buzzards are largely greyish, the aforementioned dark wing linings at front with contrasting paler band along the median coverts. In flight, paler individuals tend to show dark carpal patches that can appears as blackish arches or commas but these may be indistinct in darker individuals or can appear light brownish or faded in paler individuals. Juvenile nominate buzzards are best told apart from adults in flight by the lack of a distinct subterminal band( instead showing fairly even barring throughout) and below by having less sharp and brownish rather than blackish trailing wing edge. Juvenile buzzards show streaking paler parts of under wing and body showing rather than barring as do adults. Beyond the typical mid- range brownish buzzard, birds in Europe can range from almost uniform black- brown above to mainly white. Extreme dark individuals may range from chocolate brown to blackish with almost no pale showing but a variable, faded U on the breast and with or without faint lighter brown throat streaks. Extreme pale birds are largely whitish with variable widely spaced streaks or arrowheads of light brown about the mid- chest and flanks and may or may not show dark feather- centres on the head, wing- coverts and sometimes all but part of mantle. Individuals can show nearly endless variation of colours and hues in between these extremes and the common buzzard is counted among the most variably plumage diurnal raptors for this reason. One study showed that this variation may actually be the result of diminished single- locus genetic diversity. Beyond the nominate form(" B. b. buteo") that occupies most of the common buzzard' s European range, a second main, widely distributed subspecies is known as the steppe buzzard(" B. b. vulpinus"). The steppe buzzard race shows three main colour morphs, each of which can be predominant in a region of breeding range. It is more distinctly polymorphic rather than just individually very variable like the nominate race. This may be because, unlike the nominate buzzard, the steppe buzzard is highly migratory. Polymorphism has been linked with migratory behaviour. The most common type of steppe buzzard is the rufous morph which gives this subspecies its scientific name(" vulpes" is Latin for" fox"). This morph comprises a majority of birds seen in passage east of the Mediterranean. Rufous morph buzzards are a paler grey- brown above than most nominate" B. b. buteo". Compared to the nominate race, rufous" vulpinus" show a patterning not dissimilar but generally far more rufous- toned on head, the fringes to mantle wing coverts and, especially, on the tail and the underside. The head is grey- brown with rufous tinges usually while the tail is rufous and can vary | from almost unmarked to thinly |
dark- barred with a subterminal band. The underside can be uniformly pale to dark rufous, barred heavily or lightly with rufous or with dusky barring, usually with darker individuals showing the U as in nominate but with a rufous hue. The pale morph of the steppe buzzard is commonest in the west of its subspecies range, predominantly seen in winter and migration at the various land bridge of the Mediterranean. As in the rufous morph, the pale morph" vulpinus" is grey- brown above but the tail is generally marked with thin dark bars and a subterminal band, only showing rufous near the tip. The underside in the pale morph is greyish- white with dark grey- brown or somewhat streaked head to chest and barred belly and chest, occasionally showing darker flanks that can be somewhat rufous. Dark morph" vulpinus" tend to be found in the east and southeast of the subspecies range and are easily outnumbered by rufous morph while largely using similar migration points. Dark morph individuals vary from grey- brown to much darker blackish- brown, and have a tail that is dark grey or somewhat mixed grey and rufous, is distinctly marked with dark barring and has a broad, black subterminal band. Dark morph" vulpinus" have a head and underside that is mostly uniform dark, from dark brown to blackish- brown to almost pure black. Rufous morph juveniles are often distinctly paler in ground colour( ranging even to creamy- grey) than adults with distinct barring below actually increased in pale morph type juvenile. Pale and rufous morph juveniles can only be distinguished from each other in extreme cases. Dark morph juveniles are more similar to adult dark morph" vulpinus" but often show a little whitish streaking below, and like all other races have lighter coloured eyes and more evenly barred tails than adults. Steppe buzzards tend to appear smaller and more agile in flight than nominate whose wing beats can look slower and clumsier. In flight, rufous morph" vulpinus" have their whole body and underwing varying from uniform to patterned rufous( if patterning present, it is variable, but can be on chest and often thighs, sometimes flanks, pale band across median coverts), while the under- tail usually paler rufous than above. Whitish flight feathers are more prominent than in nominate and more marked contrast with the bold dark brown band along the trailing edges. Markings of pale" vulpinus" as seen in flight are similar to rufous morph( such as paler wing markings) but more greyish both on wings and body. In dark morph" vulpinus" the broad black trailing edges and colour of body make whitish areas of inner wing stand out further with an often bolder and blacker carpal patch than in other morphs. As in nominate, juvenile" vulpinus"( rufous/ pale) tend to have much less distinct trailing edges, general streaking on body and along median underwing coverts. Dark morph" vulpinus" resemble adult in flight more so than other morphs. Similar species. The common buzzard is often confused with other raptors especially in flight or at a distance. Inexperienced and | over- enthusiastic observers have even |
mistaken darker birds for the far larger and differently proportioned golden eagle(" Aquila chrysaetos") and also dark birds for western marsh harrier(" Circus aeruginosus") which also flies in a dihedral but is obviously relatively much longer and slenderer winged and tailed and with far different flying methods. Also buzzards may possibly be confused with dark or light morph booted eagles(" Hieraeetus pennatus"), which are similar in size, but the eagle flies on level, parallel- edged wings which usually appear broader, has a longer squarer tail, with no carpal patch in pale birds and all dark flight feathers but for whitish wedge on inner primaries in dark morph ones. Pale individuals are sometimes also mistaken with pale morph short- toed eagles(" Circaetus gallicus") which are much larger with a considerably bigger head, longer wings( which are usually held evenly in flight rather than in a dihedral) and paler underwing lacking any carpal patch or dark wing lining. More serious identification concerns lie in other" Buteo" species and in flight with honey buzzards, which are quite different looking when seen perched at close range. The European honey buzzard(" Pernis apivorus") is thought in engage in mimicry of more powerful raptors, in particular, juveniles may mimic the plumage of the more powerful common buzzard. While less individually variable in Europe, the honey buzzard is more extensive polymorphic on underparts than even the common buzzard. The most common morph of the adult European honey buzzard is heavily and rufous barred on the underside, quite different from the common buzzard, however the brownish juvenile much more resembles an intermediate common buzzard. Honey buzzards flap with distinctively slower and more even wing beats than common buzzard. The wings are also lifted higher on each upstroke, creating a more regular and mechanical effect, furthermore their wings are held slightly arched when soaring but not in a V. On the honey buzzard, the head appears smaller, the body thinner, the tail longer and the wings narrower and more parallel edged. The steppe buzzard race is particularly often mistaken for juvenile European honey buzzards, to the point where early observers of raptor migration in Israel considered distant individuals indistinguishable. However, when compared to a steppe buzzard, the honey buzzard has distinctly darker secondaries on the underwing with fewer and broader bars and more extensive black wing- tips( whole fingers) contrasting with a less extensively pale hand. Found in the same range as the steppe buzzard in some parts of southern Siberia as well as( with wintering steppes) in southwestern India, the Oriental honey buzzard(" Pernis ptilorhynchus") is larger than both the European honey buzzard and the common buzzard. The oriental species is with more similar in body plan to common buzzards, being relatively broader winged, shorter tailed and more amply- headed( though the head is still relatively small) relative to the European honey buzzard, but all plumages lack carpal patches. In much of Europe, the common buzzard is the only type of buzzard. However, the subarctic breeding rough- legged buzzard(" Buteo lagopus") comes down to occupy much of the northern part | of the continent during winter |
in the same haunts as the common buzzard. However, the rough- legged buzzard is typically larger and distinctly longer- winged with feathered legs, as well as having a white based tail with a broad subterminal band. Rough- legged buzzards have slower wing beats and hover far more frequently than do common buzzards. The carpal patch marking on the under- wing are also bolder and blacker on all paler forms of rough- legged hawk. Many pale morph rough- legged buzzards have a bold, blackish band across the belly against contrasting paler feathers, a feature which rarely appears in individual common buzzard. Usually the face also appears somewhat whitish in most pale morphs of rough- legged buzzards, which is true of only extremely pale common buzzards. Dark morph rough- legged buzzards are usually distinctly darker( ranging to almost blackish) than even extreme dark individuals of common buzzards in Europe and still have the distinct white- based tail and broad subterminal band of other roughlegs. In eastern Europe and much of the Asian range of common buzzards, the long- legged buzzard(" Buteo rufinus") may live alongside the common species. As in the steppe buzzard race, the long- legged buzzard has three main colour morphs that are more or less similar in hue. In both the steppe buzzard race and long- legged buzzard, the main colour is overall fairly rufous. More so than steppe buzzards, long- legged buzzards tend to have a distinctly paler head and neck compared to other feathers, and, more distinctly, a normally unbarred tail. Furthermore, the long- legged buzzard is usually a rather larger bird, often considered fairly eagle- like in appearance( although it does appear gracile and small- billed even compared to smaller true eagles), an effect enhanced by its longer tarsi, somewhat longer neck and relatively elongated wings. The flight style of the latter species is deeper, slower and more aquiline, with much more frequent hovering, showing a more protruding head and a slightly higher V held in a soar. The smaller North African and Arabian race of long- legged buzzard(" B. r. cirtensis") is more similar in size and nearly all colour characteristics to steppe buzzard, extending to the heavily streaked juvenile plumage, in some cases such birds can be distinguished only by their proportions and flight patterns which remain unchanged. Hybridization with the latter race(" B. r. cirtensis") and nominate common buzzards has been observed in the Strait of Gibraltar, a few such birds have been reported potentially in the southern Mediterranean due to mutually encroaching ranges, which are blurring possibly due to climate change. Wintering steppe buzzards may live alongside mountain buzzards and especially with forest buzzard while wintering in Africa. The juveniles of steppe and forest buzzards are more or less indistinguishable and only told apart by proportions and flight style, the latter species being smaller, more compact, having a smaller bill, shorter legs and shorter and thinner wings than a steppe buzzard. However, size is not diagnostic unless side by side as the two buzzards overlap in this regard. Most reliable are the species wing | proportions and their flight actions. |
Forest buzzard have more flexible wing beats interspersed with glides, additionally soaring on flatter wings and apparently never engage in hovering. Adult forest buzzards compared to the typical adult steppe buzzard( rufous morph) are also similar, but the forest typically has a whiter underside, sometimes mostly plain white, usually with heavy blotches or drop- shaped marks on abdomen, with barring on thighs, more narrow tear- shaped on chest and more spotted on leading edges of underwing, usually lacking marking on the white U across chest( which is otherwise similar but usually broader than that of" vulpinus"). In comparison, the mountain buzzard, which is more similar in size to the steppe buzzard and slightly larger than the forest buzzard, is usually duller brown above than a steppe buzzard and is more whitish below with distinctive heavy brown blotches from breasts to the belly, flanks and wing linings while juvenile mountain buzzard is buffy below with smaller and streakier markings. The steppe buzzard when compared to another African species, the red- necked buzzard(" Buteo auguralis"), which has red tail similar to" vulpinus", is distinct in all other plumage aspects despite their similar size. The latter buzzard has a streaky rufous head and is white below with a contrasting bold dark chest in adult plumage and, in juvenile plumage, has heavy, dark blotches on the chest and flanks with pale wing- linings. Jackal and augur buzzards(" Buteo rufofuscus"& amp;" augur"), also both rufous on the tail, are larger and bulkier than steppe buzzards and have several distinctive plumage characteristics, most notably both having their own striking, contrasting patterns of black- brown, rufous and cream. Distribution and habitat. The common buzzard is found throughout several islands in the eastern Atlantic islands, including the Canary Islands and Azores and almost throughout Europe. It is today found in Ireland and in nearly every part of Scotland, Wales and England. In mainland Europe, remarkably, there are no substantial gaps without breeding common buzzards from Portugal and Spain to Greece, Estonia, Belarus and Ukraine, though are present mainly only in the breeding season in much of the eastern half of the latter three countries. They are also present in all larger Mediterranean islands such as Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete. Further north in Scandinavia, they are found mainly in southeastern Norway( though also some points in southwestern Norway close to the coast and one section north of Trondheim), just over the southern half of Sweden and hugging over the Gulf of Bothnia to Finland where they live as a breeding species over nearly two- thirds of the land. The common buzzard reaches its northern limits as a breeder in far eastern Finland and over the border to European Russia, continuing as a breeder over to the narrowest straits of the White Sea and nearly to the Kola Peninsula. In these northern quarters, the common buzzard is present typically only in summer but is a year- around resident of a hearty bit of southern Sweden and some of southern Norway. Outside of Europe, it is a resident of northern Turkey( largely | close to the Black Sea) |
otherwise occurring mainly as a passage migrant or winter visitor in the remainder of Turkey, Georgia, sporadically but not rarely in Azerbaijan and Armenia, northern Iran( largely hugging the Caspian Sea) to northern Turkmenistan. Further north though its absent from either side of the northern Caspian Sea, the common buzzard is found in much of western Russia( though exclusively as a breeder) including all of the Central Federal District and the Volga Federal District, all but the northernmost parts of the Northwestern and Ural Federal Districts and nearly the southern half of the Siberian Federal District, its farthest easterly occurrence as a breeder. It also found in northern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, far northwestern China( Tien Shan) and northwestern Mongolia. Non- breeding populations occur, either as migrants or wintering birds, in southwestern India, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt( northeastern), northern Tunisia( and far northwestern Algeria), northern Morocco, near the coasts of The Gambia, Senegal and far southwestern Mauritania and Ivory Coast( and bordering Burkina Faso). In eastern and central Africa, it is found in winter from southeastern Sudan, Eritrea, about two- thirds of Ethiopia, much of Kenya( though apparently absent from the northeast and northwest), Uganda, southern and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more or less the entirety of southern Africa from Angola across to Tanzania down the remainder of the continent( but for an apparent gap along the coast from southwestern Angola to northwestern South Africa). Habitat. The common buzzard generally inhabits the interface of woodlands and open grounds; most typically the species lives in forest edge, small woods or shelterbelts with adjacent grassland, arables or other farmland. It acquits to open moorland as long as there is some trees for perch hunting and nesting use. The woods they inhabit may be coniferous, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest with occasional preferences for the local dominant tree. It is absent from treeless tundra, as well as the Subarctic where the species almost entirely gives way to the rough- legged buzzard. The common buzzard is sporadic or rare in treeless steppe but can occasionally migrate through it( despite its name, the steppe buzzard subspecies breeds primarily in the wooded fringes of the steppe). The species may be found to some extent in both in mountainous or flat country. Although adaptable to and sometimes seen in wetlands and in coastal areas, buzzards are often considered more of an upland species and neither appear to be regularly attracted to or to strongly avoid bodies of waters in non- migratory times. Buzzards in well- wooded areas of eastern Poland largely used large, mature stands of trees that were more humid, richer and denser than prevalent in surrounding area, but showed preference for those within of openings. Mostly resident buzzards live in lowlands and foothills, but they can live in timbered ridges and uplands as well as rocky coasts, sometimes nesting on cliff ledges rather than trees. Buzzards may live from sea level to elevations of, breeding mostly below but they can winter to an elevation of and migrates easily to. In the mountainous | Italian Apennines, buzzard nests were |
at a mean elevation of and were, relative to the surrounding area, further from human developed areas( i. e. roads) and nearer to valley bottoms in rugged, irregularly topographed places, especially ones that faced northeast. Common buzzards are fairly adaptable to agricultural lands but will show can show regional declines in apparent response to agriculture. Changes to more extensive agricultural practices were shown to reduce buzzard populations in western France where reduction of“ hedgerows, woodlots and grasslands areas" caused a decline of buzzards and in Hampshire, England where more extensive grazing by free- range cattle and horses led to declines of buzzards, probably largely due to the seeming reduction of small mammal populations there. On the contrary, buzzards in central Poland adapted to removal of pine trees and reduction of rodent prey by changing nest sites and prey for a time with no strong change in their local numbers. Extensive urbanization seems to negatively affect buzzards, this species being generally less adaptable to urban areas than their New World counterparts, the red- tailed hawk. Although peri- urban areas can actually increase potential prey populations in a location at times, individual buzzard mortality, nest disturbances and nest site habitat degradation rises significantly in such areas. Common buzzards are fairly adaptive to rural areas as well as suburban areas with parks and large gardens, in addition to such areas if they' re near farms. Behaviour. The common buzzard is a typical" Buteo" in much of its behaviour. It is most often seen either soaring at varying heights or perched prominently on tree tops, bare branches, telegraph poles, fence posts, rocks or ledges, or alternately well inside tree canopies. Buzzards will also stand and forage on the ground. In resident populations, it may spend more than half of its day inactively perched. Furthermore, it has been described a" sluggish and not very bold" bird of prey. It is a gifted soarer once aloft and can do so for extended periods but can appear laborious and heavy in level flight, more so nominate buzzards than steppe buzzards. Particularly in migration, as was recorded in the case of steppe buzzards' movement over Israel, buzzards readily adjust their direction, tail and wing placement and flying height to adjust for the surrounding environment and wind conditions. In Israel, migrant buzzards rarely soar all that high( maximum above ground) due to the lack of mountain ridges that in other areas typically produce flyways; however tail- winds are significant and allow birds to cover a mean of. Migration. The common buzzard is aptly described as a partial migrant. The autumn and spring movements of buzzards are subject to extensive variation, even down to the individual level, based on a region' s food resources, competition( both from other buzzards and other predators), extent of human disturbance and weather conditions. Short distance movements are the norm for juveniles and some adults in autumn and winter, but more adults in central Europe and the British Isles remain on their year- around residence than do not. Even for first year juvenile buzzards dispersal may not | take them very far. In |
England, 96% of first- years moved in winter to less than from their natal site. Southwestern Poland was recorded to be a fairly important wintering grounds for central European buzzards in early spring that apparently travelled from somewhat farther north, in winter average density was a locally high 2. 12 individual per square kilometer. Habitat and prey availability seemed to be the primary drivers of habitat selection in fall for European buzzards. In northern Germany, buzzards were recorded to show preferences in fall for areas fairly distant from nesting site, with a large quantity of vole- holes and more widely dispersed perches. In Bulgaria, the mean wintering density was 0. 34 individual per square kilometer, and buzzards showed a preference for agricultural over forested areas. Similar habitat preferences were recorded in northeastern Romania, where buzzard density was 0. 334– 0. 539 individuals per square kilometer. The nominate buzzards of Scandinavia are somewhat more strongly migratory than most central European populations. However, birds from Sweden show some variation in migratory behaviours. A maximum of 41, 000 individuals have been recorded at one of the main migration sites within southern Sweden in Falsterbo. In southern Sweden, winter movements and migration was studied via observation of buzzard colour. White individuals were substantially more common in southern Sweden rather than further north in their Swedish range. The southern population migrates earlier than intermediate to dark buzzards, in both adults and juveniles. A larger proportion of juveniles than of adults migrate in the southern population. Especially adults in the southern population are resident to a higher degree than more northerly breeders. The entire population of the steppe buzzard is strongly migratory, covering substantial distances during migration. In no part of the range do steppe buzzards use the same summering and wintering grounds. Steppe buzzards are slightly gregarious in migration, and travel in variously sized flocks. This race migrates in September to October often from Asia Minor to the Cape of Africa in about a month but does not cross water, following around the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria rather than crossing the several kilometer wide gulf. Similarly, they will funnel along both sides of the Black Sea. Migratory behavior of steppe buzzards mirrors those of broad- winged& amp; Swainson' s hawks(" Buteo platypterus"& amp;" swainsoni") in every significant way as similar long- distance migrating" Buteos", including trans- equatorial movements, avoidance of large bodies of waters and flocking behaviour. Migrating steppe buzzards will rise up with the morning thermals and can cover an average of hundreds of miles a day using the available currents along mountain ridges and other topographic features. The spring migration for steppe buzzards peaks around March– April, but the latest" vulpinus" arrive in their breeding grounds by late April or early May. Distances covered by migrating steppe buzzards in one way flights from northern Europe( i. e. Finland or Sweden) to southern Africa have ranged over within a season. For the steppe buzzards from eastern and northern Europe and western Russia( which compromise a majority of all steppe buzzards), peak migratory numbers occur in | differing areas in autumn, when |
the largest recorded movements occurs through Asia Minor such as Turkey, than in spring, when the largest recorded movement are to the south in the Middle East, especially Israel. The two migratory movements barely differ overall until they reach the Middle East and east Africa, where the largest volume of migrants in autumn occurs at the southern part of the Red Sea, around Djibouti and Yemen, while the main volume in spring is in the northernmost strait, around Egypt and Israel. In autumn, numbers of steppe buzzards recorded in migration have ranged up to 32, 000( recorded 1971) in northwestern Turkey( Bosporus) and in northeastern Turkey( Black Sea) up to 205, 000( recorded 1976). Further down in migration, autumn numbers of up to 98, 000 have been recorded in passage in Djibouti. Between 150, 000 and nearly 466, 000 Steppe Buzzard have been recorded migrating through Israel during spring, making this not only the most abundant migratory raptor here but one of the largest raptor migrations anywhere in the world. Migratory movements of southern Africa buzzards largely occur along the major mountain ranges, such as the Drakensberg and Lebombo Mountains. Wintering steppe buzzards occur far more irregularly in Transvaal than Cape region in winter. The onset of migratory movement for steppe buzzards back to the breeding grounds in southern Africa is mainly in March, peaking in the second week. Steppe buzzard molt their feathers rapidly upon arrival at wintering grounds and seems to split their flight feather molt between breeding ground in Eurasia and wintering ground in southern Africa, the molt pausing during migration. In last 50 years, it was recorded that nominate buzzards are typically migrating shorter distances and wintering further north, possibly in response to climate change, resulting in relatively smaller numbers of them at migration sites. They are also extending their breeding range possibly reducing/ supplanting steppe buzzards. Vocalizations. Resident populations of common buzzards tend to vocalize all year around, whereas migrants tend to vocalize only during the breeding season. Both nominate buzzards and steppe buzzards( and their numerous related subspecies within their types) tend to have similar voices. The main call of the species is a plaintive, far- carrying" pee- yow" or" peee- oo", used as both contact call and more excitedly in aerial displays. Their call is sharper, more ringing when used in aggression, tends to be more drawn- out and wavering when chasing intruders, sharper, more yelping when as warning when approaching the nest or shorter and more explosive when called in alarm. Other variations of their vocal performances include a cat- like" mew", uttered repeatedly on the wing or when perched, especially in display; a repeated" mah" has been recorded as uttered by pairs answering each other, further chuckles and croaks have also been recorded at nests. Juveniles can usually be distinguished by the discordant nature of their calls compared to those of adults. Dietary biology. The common buzzard is a generalist predator which hunts a wide variety of prey given the opportunity. Their prey spectrum extents to a wide variety of vertebrates including mammals, | birds( from any age from |
eggs to adult birds), reptiles, amphibians and, rarely, fish, as well as to various invertebrates, mostly insects. Young animals are often attacked, largely the nidifugous young of various vertebrates. In total well over 300 prey species are known to be taken by common buzzards. Furthermore, prey size can vary from tiny beetles, caterpillars and ants to large adult grouse and rabbits up to nearly twice their body mass. Mean body mass of vertebrate prey was estimated at in Belarus. At times, they will also subsist partially on carrion, usually of dead mammals or fish. However, dietary studies have shown that they mostly prey upon small mammals, largely small rodents. Like many temperate zone raptorial birds of varied lineages, voles are an essential part of the common buzzard' s diet. This bird' s preference for the interface between woods and open areas frequently puts them in ideal vole habitat. Hunting in relatively open areas has been found to increase hunting success whereas more complete shrub cover lowered success. A majority of prey is taken by dropping from perch, and is normally taken on ground. Alternately, prey may be hunted in a low flight. This species tends not to hunt in a spectacular stoop but generally drops gently then gradually accelerate at bottom with wings held above the back. Sometimes, the buzzard also forages by random glides or soars over open country, wood edges or clearings. Perch hunting may be done preferentially but buzzards fairly regularly also hunt from a ground position when the habitat demands it. Outside the breeding season, as many 15– 30 buzzards have been recorded foraging on ground in a single large field, especially juveniles. Normally the rarest foraging type is hovering. A study from Great Britain indicated that hovering does not seem to increase hunting success. Mammals. A high diversity of rodents may be taken given the chance, as around 60 species of rodent have been recorded in the foods of common buzzards. It seems clear that voles are the most significant prey type for European buzzards. Nearly every study from the continent makes reference to the importance, in particular, of the two most numerous and widely distributed European voles: the common vole(" Microtus arvalis") and the somewhat more northerly ranging field vole(" Microtus agrestis"). In southern Scotland, field voles were the best represented species in pellets, accounting for 32. 1% of 581 pellets. In southern Norway, field voles were again the main food in years with peak vole numbers, accounting for 40. 8% of 179 prey items in 1985 and 24. 7% of 332 prey items in 1994. Altogether, rodents amount to 67. 6% and 58. 4% of the foods in these respective peak vole years. However, in low vole population years, the contribution of rodents to the diet was minor. As far west as the Netherlands, common voles were the most regular prey, amounting to 19. 6% of 6624 prey items in a very large study. Common voles were the main foods recorded in central Slovakia, accounting for 26. 5% of 606 prey items. The common vole, | or other related vole species |
at times, were the main foods as well in the Ukraine( 17. 2% of 146 prey items) ranging east to Russia in the Privolshky Steppe Nature Reserve( 41. 8% of 74 prey items) and in Samara( 21. 4% of 183 prey items). Other records from Russia and the Ukraine show voles ranging from slightly secondary prey to as much as 42. 2% of the diet. In Belarus, voles, including" Microtus" species and bank voles(" Myodes glareolus"), accounted for 34. 8% of the biomass on average in 1065 prey items from different study areas over 4 years. At least 12 species of the genus" Microtus" are known to be hunted by common buzzards and even this is probably conservative, moreover similar species like lemmings will be taken if available. Other rodents are taken largely opportunistically rather than by preference. Several wood mice(" Apodemus ssp.") are known to be taken quite frequently but given their preference for activity in deeper woods than the field- forest interfaces preferred, they are rarely more than secondary food items. An exception was in Samara where the yellow- necked mouse(" Apodemus flavicollis"), one of the largest of its genus at, made up 20. 9%, putting it just behind the common vole in importance. Similarly, tree squirrels are readily taken but rarely important in the foods of buzzards in Europe, as buzzards apparently prefer to avoid taking prey from trees nor do they possess the agility typically necessary to capture significant quantities of tree squirrels. All four ground squirrels that range( mostly) into eastern Europe are also known to be common buzzard prey but little quantitative analysis has gone into how significant such predator- prey relations are. Rodent prey taken have ranged in size from the Eurasian harvest mouse(" Micromys minutus") to the non- native, muskrat(" Ondatra zibethicus"). Other rodents taken either seldomly or in areas where the food habits of buzzards are spottily known include flying squirrels, marmots( presumably very young if taken alive), chipmunks, spiny rats, hamsters, mole- rats, gerbils, jirds and jerboas and occasionally hearty numbers of dormice, although these are nocturnal. Surprisingly little research has gone into the diets of wintering steppe buzzards in southern Africa, considering their numerous status there. However, it has been indicated that the main prey remains consist of rodents such as the four- striped grass mouse(" Rhabdomys pumilio") and Cape mole- rats(" Georychus capensis"). Other than rodents, two other groups of mammals can be counted as significant to the diet of common buzzards. One of these main prey type of import in the diets of common buzzards are leporids or lagomorphs, especially the European rabbit(" Oryctolagus cuniculus") where it is found in numbers in a wild or feral state. In all dietary studies from Scotland, rabbits were highly important to the buzzard' s diet. In southern Scotland, rabbits constituted 40. 8% of remains at nests and 21. 6% of pellet contents, while lagomorphs( mainly rabbits but also some young hares) were present in 99% of remains in Moray, Scotland. The nutritional richness relative to the commonest prey elsewhere, such as voles, | might account for the high |
productivity of buzzards here. For example, clutch sizes were twice as large on average where rabbits were common( Moray) than were where they were rare( Glen Urquhart). In northern Ireland, an area of interest because it is devoid of any native vole species, rabbits were again the main prey. Here, lagomorphs constituted 22. 5% of prey items by number and 43. 7% by biomass. While rabbits are non- native, albeit long- established, in the British Isles, in their native area of the Iberian peninsula, rabbits are similarly significant to the buzzard' s diet. In Murcia, Spain, rabbits were the most common mammal in the diet, making up 16. 8% of 167 prey items. In a large study from northeastern Spain, rabbits were dominant in the buzzard' s foods, making up 66. 5% of 598 prey items. In the Netherlands, European rabbits were second in number( 19. 1% of 6624 prey items) only to common voles and the largest contributor of biomass to nests( 36. 7%). Outside of these( at least historically) rabbit- rich areas, leverets of the common hare species found in Europe can be important supplemental prey. European hare(" Lepus europaeus") were the fourth most important prey species in central Poland and the third most significant prey species in Stavropol Krai, Russia. Buzzards normally attack the young of European rabbits, which as adults can average nearly, and invariably( so far as is known) only the young of hares, which can average up to twice as massive as rabbits. The mean weights of rabbits taken have various been estimated from in different areas while mountain hares(" Lepus timidus") taken in Norway were estimated to average about, in both cases about a third of the weight of full- grown, prime adults of the respective species. However, hares and rabbits taken by female buzzards can infrequently include specimens that weigh up to, including at times adult rabbits. The other significant mammalian prey type is insectivores, among which more than 20 species are known to be taken by this species, including nearly all the species of shrew, mole and hedgehog found in Europe. Moles are taken particularly often among this order, since as is the case with" vole- holes", buzzard probably tend to watch molehills in fields for activity and dive quickly from their perch when one of the subterranean mammals pops up. The most widely found mole in the buzzard' s northern range is the European mole(" Talpa europaea") and this is one of the more important non- rodent prey items for the species. This species was present in 55% of 101 remains in Glen Urquhart, Scotland and was the second most common prey species( 18. 6%) in 606 prey items in Slovakia. In Bari, Italy, the Roman mole(" Talpa romana"), of similar size to the European species, was the leading identified mammalian prey, making up 10. 7% of the diet. The full size range of insectivores may be taken by buzzards, ranging from the world' s smallest mammal( by weight), the Etruscan shrew(" Suncus etruscus") to arguably the heaviest insectivore, the European hedgehog(" | Erinaceus europaeus"). Mammalian prey for |
common buzzards other than rodents, insectivores and lagomorphs is rarely taken. Occasionally, some weasels( including polecats) and perhaps martens might be attacked by buzzards, more likely the more powerful female buzzard since such prey is potentially dangerous and of similar size to a buzzard itself. Numerous larger mammals, including medium- sized carnivores such as dogs, cats and foxes and various ungulates, are sometimes eaten as carrion by buzzards, mainly during lean winter months. Still- borns of deer are also visited with some frequency. Birds. When attacking birds, common buzzards chiefly prey on nestlings and fledglings of small to medium- sized birds, largely passerines but also a variety of gamebirds, but sometimes also injured, sickly or unwary but healthy adults. While capable of overpowering birds larger than itself, the common buzzard is usually considered to lack the agility necessary to capture many adult birds, even gamebirds which would presumably be weaker fliers considering their relatively heavy bodies and small wings. The amount of fledgling and younger birds preyed upon relative to adults is variable, however. For example, in the Italian Alps, 72% of birds taken were fledglings or recently fledged juveniles, 19% were nestlings and 8% were adults. On the contrary, in southern Scotland, even though the buzzards were taking relatively large bird prey, largely red grouse(" Lagopus lagopus scotica"), 87% of birds taken were reportedly adults. In total, as in many raptorial birds that are far from bird- hunting specialists, birds are the most diverse group in the buzzard' s prey spectrum due to the sheer number and diversity of birds, few raptors do not hunt them at least occasionally. Nearly 150 species of bird have been identified in the common buzzard' s diet. In general, despite many that are taken, birds usually take a secondary position in the diet after mammals. In northern Scotland, birds were fairly numerous in the foods of buzzards. The mostoftenrecordedavianpreyand2ndand3rd most frequent prey species( after only field voles) in Glen Urquhart, were chaffinch(" Fringilla coelebs") and meadow pipits(" Anthus pratensis"), with the buzzards taking 195 fledglings of these species against only 90 adults. This differed from Moray where the mostfrequentavianpreyand2nd most frequent prey species behind the rabbit was the common wood pigeon(" Columba palumbus") and the buzzards took four times as many adults relative to fledglings. Birds were the primary food for common buzzards in the Italian Alps, where they made up 46% of the diet against mammal which accounted for 29% in 146 prey items. The leading prey species here were Eurasian blackbirds(" Turdus merula") and Eurasian jays(" Garrulus glandarius"), albeit largely fledglings were taken of both. Birds could also take the leading position in years with low vole populations in southern Norway, in particular thrushes, namely the blackbird, the song thrush(" Turdus philomelos") and the redwing(" Turdus iliacus"), which were collectively 22. 1% of 244 prey items in 1993. In southern Spain, birds were equal in number to mammals in the diet, both at 38. 3%, but most remains were classified as" unidentified medium- sized birds", although the most often identified species of those | that apparently could be determined |
were Eurasian jays and red- legged partridges(" Alectoris rufa"). Similarly, in northern Ireland, birds were roughly equal in import to mammals but most were unidentified corvids. In Seversky Donets, Ukraine, birds and mammals both made up 39. 3% of the foods of buzzards. Common buzzards may hunt nearly 80 species passerines and nearly all available gamebirds. Like many other largish raptors, gamebirds are attractive to hunt for buzzards due to their ground- dwelling habits. Buzzards were the most frequent predator in a study of juvenile pheasants in England, accounting for 4. 3% of 725 deaths( against 3. 2% by foxes, 0. 7% by owls and 0. 5% by other mammals). They also prey on a wide size range of birds, ranging down to Europe' s smallest bird, the goldcrest(" Regulus regulus"). Very few individual birds hunted by buzzards weigh more than. However, there have been some particularly large avian kills by buzzards, including any that weigh more or, or about the largest average size of a buzzard, have including adults of mallard(" Anas platyrhynchos"), black grouse(" Tetrao tetrix"), ring- necked pheasant(" Phasianus colchicus"), common raven(" Corvus corax") and some of the larger gulls if ambushed on their nests. The largest avian kill by a buzzard, and possibly largest known overall for the species, was an adult female western capercaillie(" Tetrao urogallus") that weighed an estimated. At times, buzzards will hunt the young of large birds such as herons and cranes. Other assorted avian prey has included a few species of waterfowl, most available pigeons and doves, cuckoos, swifts, grebes, rails, nearly 20 assorted shorebirds, tubenoses, hoopoes, bee- eaters and several types of woodpecker. Birds with more conspicuous or open nesting areas or habits are more likely to have fledglings or nestlings attacked, such as water birds, while those with more secluded or inaccessible nests, such as pigeons/ doves and woodpeckers, adults are more likely to be hunted. Reptiles and amphibians. The common buzzard may be the most regular avian predator of reptiles and amphibians in Europe apart from the sections where they are sympatric with the largely snake- eating short- toed eagle. In total, the prey spectrum of common buzzards include nearly 50 herpetological prey species. In studies from northern and southern Spain, the leading prey numerically were both reptilian, although in Biscay( northern Spain) the leading prey( 19%) was classified as" unidentified snakes". In Murcia, the most numerous prey was the ocellated lizard(" Timon lepidus"), at 32. 9%. In total, at Biscay and Murcia, reptiles accounted for 30. 4% and 35. 9% of the prey items, respectively. Findings were similar in a separate study from northeastern Spain, where reptiles amounted to 35. 9% of prey. In Bari, Italy, reptiles were the main prey, making up almost exactly half of the biomass, led by the large green whip snake(" Hierophis viridiflavus"), maximum size up to, at 24. 2% of food mass. In Stavropol Krai, Russia, the sand lizard(" Lacerta agilis") was the main prey at 23. 7% of 55 prey items. The slowworm(" Anguis fragilis"), a legless lizard, became the most numerous | prey for the buzzards of |
southern Norway in low vole years, amounting to 21. 3% of 244 prey items in 1993 and were also common even in the peak vole year of 1994( 19% of 332 prey items). More or less any snake in Europe is potential prey and the buzzard has been known to be uncharacteristically bold in going after and overpowering large snakes such as rat snakes, ranging up to nearly in length, and healthy, large vipers despite the danger of being struck by such prey. However, in at least one case, the corpse of a female buzzard was found envenomed over the body of an adder that it had killed. In some parts of range, the common buzzard acquires the habit of taking many frogs and toads. This was the case in the Mogilev Region of Belarus where the moor frog(" Rana arvalis") was the major prey( 28. 5%) over several years, followed by other frogs and toads amounting to 39. 4% of the diet over the years. In central Scotland, the common toad(" Bufo bufo") was the most numerous prey species, accounting for 21. 7% of 263 prey items, while the common frog(" Rana temporaria") made up a further 14. 7% of the diet. Frogs made up about 10% of the diet in central Poland as well. Invertebrates and other prey. When common buzzards feed on invertebrates, these are chiefly earthworms, beetles and caterpillars in Europe and largely seemed to be preyed on by juvenile buzzards with less refined hunting skills or in areas with mild winters and ample swarming or social insects. In most dietary studies, invertebrates are at best a minor supplemental contributor to the buzzard' s diet. Nonetheless, roughly a dozen beetle species have found in the foods of buzzards from the Ukraine alone. In winter in northeastern Spain, it was found that the buzzards switched largely from the vertebrate prey typically taken during spring and summer to a largely insect- based diet. Most of this prey was unidentified but the most frequently identified were European mantis(" Mantis religiosa") and European mole cricket(" Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa"). In the Ukraine, 30. 8% of the food by number was found to be insects. Especially in winter quarters such as southern Africa, common buzzards are often attracted to swarming locusts and other orthopterans. In this way the steppe buzzard may mirror a similar long- distance migrant from the Americas, the Swainson' s hawk, which feeds its young largely on nutritious vertebrates but switches to a largely insect- based once the reach their distant wintering grounds in South America. In Eritea, 18 returning migrant steppe buzzards were seen to feed together on swarms of grasshoppers. For wintering steppe buzzards in Zimbabwe, one source went so far as to refer to them as primarily insectivorous, apparently being somewhat locally specialized to feeding on termites. Stomach contents in buzzards from Malawi apparently consisted largely of grasshoppers( alternately with lizards). Fish tend to be the rarest class of prey found in the common buzzard' s foods. There are a couple cases of predation of fish detected in the | Netherlands, while elsewhere they' ve |
been known to have fed upon eels and carp. Interspecies predatory relationships. Common buzzards co- occur with dozens of other raptorial birds through their breeding, resident and wintering grounds. There may be many other birds that broadly overlap in prey selection to some extent. Furthermore, their preference for interferences of forest and field is used heavily by many birds of prey. Some of the most similar species by diet are the common kestrel(" Falco tinniculus"), hen harrier(" Circus cyaenus") and lesser spotted eagle(" Clanga clanga"), not to mention nearly every European species of owl, as all but two may locally prefer rodents such as voles in their diets. Diet overlap was found to be extensive between buzzards and red foxes(" Vulpes vulpes") in Poland, with 61. 9% of prey selection overlapping by species although the dietary breadth of the fox was broader and more opportunistic. Both fox dens and buzzard roosts were found to be significantly closer to high vole areas relative to the overall environment here. The only other widely found European" Buteo", the rough- legged buzzard, comes to winter extensively with common buzzards. It was found in southern Sweden, habitat, hunting and prey selection often overlapped considerably. Rough- legged buzzards appear to prefer slightly more open habitat and took slightly fewer wood mice than common buzzard. Roughlegs also hover much more frequently and are more given to hunting in high winds. The two buzzards are aggressive towards one another and excluded each other from winter feeding territories in similar ways to the way they exclude conspecifics. In northern Germany, the buffer of their habitat preferences apparently accounted for the lack of effect on each other' s occupancy between the two buzzard species. Despite a broad range of overlap, very little is known about the ecology of common and long- legged buzzards where they co- exist. However, it can be inferred from the long- legged species preference for predation on differing prey, such as blind mole- rats, ground squirrels, hamsters and gerbils, from the voles usually preferred by the common species, that serious competition for food is unlikely. A more direct negative effect has been found in buzzard' s co- existence with northern goshawk(" Accipiter gentilis"). Despite the considerable discrepancy of the two species dietary habits, habitat selection in Europe is largely similar between buzzards and goshawks. Goshawks are slightly larger than buzzards and are more powerful, agile and generally more aggressive birds, and so they are considered dominant. In studies from Germany and Sweden, buzzards were found to be less disturbance sensitive than goshawks but were probably displaced into inferior nesting spots by the dominant goshawks. The exposure of buzzards to a dummy goshawk was found to decrease breeding success whereas there was no effect on breeding goshawks when they were exposed to a dummy buzzard. In many cases, in Germany and Sweden, goshawks displaced buzzards from their nests to take them over for themselves. In Poland, buzzards productivity was correlated to prey population variations, particularly voles which could vary from 10– 80 per hectare, whereas goshawks were seemingly unaffected | by prey variations; buzzards were |
found here to number 1. 73 pair per against goshawk 1. 63 pair per. In contrast, the slightly larger counterpart of buzzards in North America, the red- tailed hawk( which is also slightly larger than American goshawks, the latter averaging smaller than European ones) are more similar in diet to goshawks there. Redtails are not invariably dominated by goshawks and are frequently able to outcompete them by virtue of greater dietary and habitat flexibility. Furthermore, red- tailed hawks are apparently equally capable of killing goshawks as goshawks are of killing them( killings are more one- sided in buzzard- goshawk interactions in favour of the latter). Other raptorial birds, including many of similar or mildly larger size than common buzzards themselves, may dominate or displace the buzzard, especially with aims to take over their nests. Species such as the black kite(" Milvus migrans"), booted eagle(" Hieraeetus pennatus") and the lesser spotted eagle have been known to displace actively nesting buzzards, although in some cases the buzzards may attempt to defend themselves. The broad range of accipitrids that take over buzzard nests is somewhat unusual. More typically, common buzzards are victims of nest parasitism to owls and falcons, as neither of these other kinds of raptorial birds builds their own nests, but these may regularly take up occupancy on already abandoned or alternate nests rather than ones the buzzards are actively using. Even with birds not traditionally considered raptorial, such as common ravens, may compete for nesting sites with buzzards. In urban vicinities of southwestern England, it was found that peregrine falcons(" Falco peregrinus") were harassing buzzards so persistently, in many cases resulting in injury or death for the buzzards, the attacks tending to peak during the falcon' s breeding seasons and tend to be focused on subadult buzzards. Despite often being dominated in nesting site confrontations by even similarly sized raptors, buzzards appear to be bolder in direct competition over food with other raptors outside of the context of breeding, and has even been known to displace larger birds of prey such as red kites(" Milvus milvus") and female buzzards may also dominate male goshawks( which are much smaller than the female goshawk) at disputed kills. Common buzzards are occasionally threatened by predation by other raptorial birds. Northern goshawks have been known to have preyed upon buzzards in a few cases. Much larger raptors are known to have killed a few buzzards as well, including steppe eagles(" Aquila nipalensis") on migrating steppe buzzards in Israel. Further instances of predation on buzzards have involved golden, eastern imperial(" Aquila heliaca"), Bonelli' s(" Aquila fasciata") and white- tailed eagles(" Haliaeetus albicilla") in Europe. Besides preying on adult buzzard, white- tailed eagles have been known to raise buzzards with their own young. These are most likely cases of eagles carrying off young buzzard nestlings with the intention of predation but, for unclear reasons, not killing them. Instead the mother eagle comes to brood the young buzzard. Despite the difference of the two species diets, white- tailed eagles are surprisingly successful at raising young buzzards( which are conspicuously | much smaller than their own |
nestlings) to fledging. Studies in Lithuania of white- tailed eagle diets found that predation on common buzzards was more frequent than anticipated, with 36 buzzard remains found in 11 years of study of the summer diet of the white- tailed eagles. While nestling buzzards were multiple times more vulnerable to predation than adult buzzards in the Lithuanian data, the region' s buzzards expelled considerable time and energy during the late nesting period trying to protect their nests. The most serious predator of common buzzards, however, is almost certainly the Eurasian eagle- owl(" Bubo bubo"). This is a very large owl with a mean body mass about three to four times greater than that of a buzzard. The eagle- owl, despite often taking small mammals that broadly overlap with those selected by buzzards, is considered a" super- predator" that is a major threat to nearly all co- existing raptorial birds, capably destroying whole broods of other raptorial birds and dispatching adult raptors even as large as eagles. Due to their large numbers in edge habitats, common buzzards frequently feature heavily in the eagle- owl' s diet. Eagle- owls, as will some other large owls, also readily expropriate the nests of buzzards. In the Czech Republic and in Luxembourg, the buzzard was the third and fifth most frequent prey species for eagle- owls, respectively. The reintroduction of eagle- owls to sections of Germany has been found to have a slight deleterious effect on the local occupancy of common buzzards. The only sparing factor is the temporal difference( the buzzard nesting later in the year than the eagle- owl) and buzzards may locally be able to avoid nesting near an active eagle- owl family. As the ecology of the wintering population is relatively little studied, a similar very large owl at the top of the avian food chain, the Verreaux' s eagle- owl(" Bubo lacteus"), is the only known predator of wintering steppe buzzards in southern Africa. Despite not being known predators of buzzards, other large, vole- eating owls are known to displace or to be avoided by nesting buzzards, such as great grey owls(" Strix nebulosa") and Ural owls(" Strix uralensis"). Unlike with large birds of prey, next to nothing is known of mammalian predators of common buzzards, despite up to several nestlings and fledglings being likely depredated by mammals. Common buzzards themselves rarely present a threat to other raptorial birds but may occasionally kill a few of those of smaller size. The buzzard is a known predator of Eurasian sparrowhawks(" Accipiter nisus"), common kestrel and lesser kestrel(" Falco naumanni"). Perhaps surprisingly, given the nocturnal habits of this prey, the group of raptorial birds the buzzard is known to hunt most extensively is owls. Known owl prey has included barn owls(" Tyto alba"), European scops owls(" Otus scops"), tawny owls(" Strix aluco"), little owls(" Athene noctua"), boreal owls(" Aegolius funereus"), long- eared owls(" Asio otus") and short- eared owls(" Asio flammeus"). Despite their relatively large size, tawny owls are known to avoid buzzards as there are several records of them preying upon the owls. | Breeding. Nesting territories and density. |
Home ranges of common buzzards are generally. The size of breeding territory seem to be generally correlated with food supply. In a German study, the range was with an average of. Some of the lowest pair densities of common buzzards seem to come from Russia. For instance, in Kerzhenets Nature Reserve, the recorded density was 0. 6 pairs per and the average distance of nearest neighbors was. The Snowdonia region of northern Wales held a pair per with a mean nearest neighbor distance of; in adjacent Migneint, pair occurrence was, with a mean distance of. In the Teno massif of the Canary Islands, the average density was estimated as 23 pairs per, similar to that of a middling continental population. On another set of islands, on Crete the density of pairs was lower at 5. 7 pairs per; here buzzards tend to have an irregular distribution, some in lower intensity harvest olive groves but their occurrence actually more common in agricultural than natural areas. In the Italian Alps, it was recorded in 1993– 96 that there were from 28 to 30 pairs per. In central Italy, density average was lower at 19. 74 pairs per. Higher density areas are known than those above. Two areas of the Midlands of England showed occupancies of 81 and 22 territorial pairs per. High buzzard densities there were associated with high proportions of unimproved pasture and mature woodland within the estimated territories. Similarly high densities of common buzzards were estimated in central Slovakia using two different methods, here indicating densities of 96 to 129 pairs per. Despite claims from the study of the English midlands were the highest known territory density for the species, a number ranging from 32 to 51 pairs in wooded area of merely in Czech Republic seems to surely exceed even those densities. The Czech study hypothesized that fragmentation of forest in human management of lands for wild sheep and deer, creating exceptional concentrations of prey such as voles, and lack of appropriate habitat in surrounding regions for the exceptionally high density. Common buzzards maintain their territories through flight displays. In Europe, territorial behaviour generally starts in February. However, displays are not uncommon throughout year in resident pairs, especially by males, and can elicit similar displays by neighbors. In them, common buzzards generally engage in high circling, spiraling upward on slightly raised wings. Mutual high circling by pairs sometimes go on at length, especially during the period prior to or during breeding season. In mutual displays, a pair may follow each other at in level flight. During the mutual displays, the male may engage in exaggerated deep flapping or zig- zag tumbling, apparently in response to the female being too distant. Two or three pairs may circle together at times and as many as 14 individual adults have been recorded over established display sites. Sky- dancing by common buzzards have been recorded in spring and autumn, typically by male but sometimes by female, nearly always with much calling. Their sky- dances are of the rollercoaster type, with upward sweep until they start | to stall, but sometimes embellished |
with loops or rolls at the top. Next in the sky- dance, they dive on more or less closed wings before spreading them and shooting up again, upward sweeps of up to, with dive drops of up to at least. These dances may be repeated in series of 10 to 20. In the climax of the sky dance, the undulations become progressive shallower, often slowing and terminating directly onto a perch. Various other aerial displays include low contour flight or weaving among trees, frequently with deep beats and exaggerated upstrokes which show underwing pattern to rivals perched below. Talon grappling and occasionally cartwheeling downward with feet interlocked has been recorded in buzzards and, as in many raptors, is likely the physical culmination of the aggressive territorial display, especially between males. Despite the highly territorial nature of buzzards and their devotion to a single mate and breeding ground each summer, there is one case of a polyandrous trio of buzzards nesting in the Canary Islands. In North- Estonian Neeruti landscape reserve( area 1272 ha) found in years 1989 and 1990 Marek Vahula 9 populated nest. This is sovereign public density of population. One nest founded in 12. 06. 1982 and this is apparently oldest nest of Common Buzzard, what is populated until today. Nests. Common buzzards tend to build a bulky nest of sticks, twigs and often heather. Commonly, nests are up to across and deep. With reuse over years, the diameter can reach or exceed and weight of nests can reach over. Active nests tend to be lined with greenery, most often this consists of broad- leafed foliage but sometimes also includes rush or seaweed locally. Nest height in trees is commonly, usually by main trunk or main crutch of the tree. In Germany, trees used for nesting consisted mostly of red beeches(" Fagus sylvatica")( in 337 cases), whereas a further 84 were in assorted oaks. Buzzards were recorded to nest almost exclusively in pines in Spain at a mean height of. Trees are generally used for a nesting location but they will also utilize crags or bluffs if trees are unavailable. Buzzards in one English study were surprisingly partial to nesting on well- vegetated banks and due to the rich surrounding environment habitat and prey population, were actually more productive than nests located in other locations here. Furthermore, a few ground nests were recorded in high prey- level agricultural areas in the Netherlands. In the Italian Alps, 81% of 108 nests were on cliffs. The common buzzard generally lacks the propensity of its Nearctic counterpart, the red- tailed hawk, to occasionally nest on or near manmade structures( often in heavily urbanized areas) but in Spain some pairs recorded nesting along the perimeter of abandoned buildings. Pairs often have several nests but some pairs may use one over several consecutive years. Two to four alternate nests in a territory is typical for common buzzards, especially those breeding further north in their range. Reproduction and eggs. The breeding season commences at differing times based on latitude. Common buzzard breeding seasons may fall as | early as January to April |
but typically the breeding season is March to July in much of Palearctic. In the northern stretches of the range the breeding season may last into May– August. Mating usually occurs on or near the nest and lasts about 15 seconds, typically occurring several times a day. Eggs are usually laid in 2 to 3- day intervals. The clutch size can range from to 2 to 6, a relatively large clutch for an accipitrid. More northerly and westerly buzzard usually bear larger clutches, which average nearer 3, than those further east and south. In Spain, the average clutch size is about 2 to 2. 3. From 4 locations in different parts of Europe, 43% had clutch size of 2, 41% had size of 3, clutches of 1 and 4 each constituted about 8%. Laying dates are remarkably constant throughout Great Britain. There are, however, highly significant differences in clutch size between British study areas. These do not follow any latitudinal gradient and it is likely that local factors such as habitat and prey availability are more important determinants of clutch size. The eggs are white in ground colour, rather round in shape with sporadic red to brown markings sometimes lightly showing. In the nominate race, egg size is in height by in diameter with an average of in 600 eggs. In the race of" vulpinus", egg height is by with an average of in 303 eggs. Eggs are generally laid in late March to early April in extreme south, sometime in April in most of Europe, into May and possibly even early June in the extreme north. If eggs are lost to a predator( including humans) or fail in some other way, common buzzards do not usually lay replacement clutches but they have been recorded, even with 3 attempts of clutches by a single female. The females does most but not all of the incubating, doing so for a total of 33– 35 days. The female remains at the nest brooding the young in the early stages with the male bringing all prey. At about 8– 12 days, both the male and female will bring prey but female continues to do all feeding until the young can tear up their own prey. Development of young. Once hatching commences, it may take 48 hours for the chick to chip out. Hatching may take place over 3– 7 days, with new hatchlings averaging about in body mass. Often the youngest nestling dies from starvation, especially in broods of three or more. In nestlings, the first down replaces by longer, coarser down at about 7 days of age with the first proper feathers appearing at 12 to 15 days. The young are nearly fully feathered rather than downy at about a month of age and can start to feed themselves as well. The first attempts to leave the nest are often at about 40– 50 days, averaging usually 40– 45 in nominate buzzards in Europe, but more quickly on average at 40– 42 in" vulpinus". Fledging occurs typically at 43– 54 days but in extreme | cases at as late 62 |
days. Sexual dimorphism is apparent in European fledglings, as females often scale about against in males. After leaving the nest, buzzards generally stay close by, but with migratory ones there is more definitive movement generally southbound. Full independence is generally sought 6 to 8 weeks after fledging.1st year birds generally remain in wintering area for following summer but then return to near area of origin but then migrate south again without breeding. Radio- tracking suggests that most dispersal, even relatively early dispersals, by juvenile buzzards is undertaken independently rather than via exile by parents, as has been recorded in some other birds of prey. In common buzzards, generally speaking, siblings stay quite close to each other after dispersal from their parents and form something of a social group, although parents usually tolerate their presence on their territory until they are laying another clutch. However, the social group of siblings disbands at about a year of age. Juvenile buzzards are subordinate to adults during most encounters and tend to avoid direct confrontations and actively defended territories until they are of appropriate age( usually at least 2 years of age). This was the case as well for steppe buzzard juveniles wintering in southern Africa, although in some cases juveniles were able to successfully steal prey from adults there. Breeding success rates. Numerous factors may weigh into the breeding success of common buzzards. Chiefly among these are prey populations, habitat, disturbance and persecution levels and innerspecies competition. In Germany, intra- and interspecific competition, plumage morph, laying date, precipitation levels and anthropogenic disturbances in the breeding territory, in declining order, were deemed to be the most significant bearers of breeding success. In an accompanying study, it was found that a mere 17% of adult birds of both sexes present in a German study area produced 50% of offspring, so breeding success may be lower than perceived and many adult buzzards for unknown causes may not attempt to breed at all. High breeding success was detected in Argyll, Scotland, due likely to hearty prey populations( rabbits) but also probably a lower local rate of persecution than elsewhere in the British isles. Here, the mean number of fledglings were 1. 75 against 0. 82– 1. 41 in other parts of Britain. It was found in the English Midlands that breeding success both by measure of clutch size and mean number of fledglings, was relatively high thanks again to high prey populations. Breeding success was lower farther from significant stands of trees in the Midlands and most nesting failures that could be determined occurred in the incubation stage, possibly in correlation with predation of eggs by corvids. More significant than even prey, late winter- early spring was found to be likely the primary driver of breeding success in buzzards from southern Norway. Here, even in peak vole years, nesting success could be considerably hampered by heavy snow at this crucial stage. In Norway, large clutches of 3+ were expected only in years with minimal snow cover, high vole populations and lighter rains in May– June. In the Italian Alps, | the mean number of fledglings |
per pair was 1. 07. 33. 4% of nesting attempts were failures per a study in southwestern Germany, with an average of 1. 06 of all nesting attempts and 1. 61 for all successful attempt. In Germany, weather conditions and rodent populations seemed to be the primary drivers of nesting success. In Murcia part of Spain contrasted with Biscay to the north, higher levels of interspecific competition from booted eagles and northern goshawks did not appear to negatively affect breeding success due to more ample prey populations( rabbits again) in Murcia than in Biscay. In the Westphalia area of Germany, it was found that intermediate colour morphs were more productive than those that were darker or lighter. For reasons that are not entirely clear, apparently fewer parasites were found to afflict broods of intermediate plumaged buzzard less so than dark and light phenotypes, in particular higher melanin levels somehow were found to be more inviting to parasitic organism that effect the health of the buzzard' s offspring. The composition of habitat and its relation to human disturbance were important variables for the dark and light phenotypes but were less important to intermediate individuals. Thus selection pressures resulting from different factors did not vary much between sexes but varied between the three phenotypes in the population. Breeding success in areas with wild European rabbits was considerably effected by rabbit myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease, both of which have heavily depleted wild rabbit population. Breeding success in formerly rabbit- rich areas were recorded to decrease from as much as 2. 6 to as little as 0. 9 young per pair. Age of first breeding in several radio- tagged buzzards showedonlyasinglemalebreedingasearlyashis2nd summer( at about a year of age). Significantly more buzzards were found to start breeding at the 3 summer but breeding attempts can be individually erratic given the availability of habitat, food and mates. The mean life expectancy was estimated at 6.3yearsinthelate1950s, but this was at a time of high persecution when humans were causing 50– 80% of buzzard deaths. In a more modern context with regionally reduced persecution rates, the lifespan expected can be higher( possibly in excess of 10 years at times) but is still widely variable due to a wide variety of factors. Status. The common buzzard is one of the most numerous birds of prey in its range. Almost certainly, it is the most numerous diurnal bird of prey throughout Europe. Conservative estimates put the total population at no fewer than 700, 000 pairs in Europe, which are more than twice the total estimates for the next four birds of prey estimated as most common: the Eurasian sparrowhawk( more than 340, 000 pairs), the common kestrel( more than 330, 000 pairs) and the northern goshawk( more than 160, 000 pairs). Ferguson- Lees et al. roughly estimated that the total population of the common buzzard ranges to nearly 5 million pairs but at time was including the now spilit- off species of eastern and Himalayan buzzards in those numbers. These numbers may be excessive but the total population of common buzzards | is certain to total well |
over seven figures. More recently, the IUCN estimated the common buzzard( sans the Himalayan and eastern subspecies) to number somewhere between 2. 1 and 3. 7 million birds, which would put this buzzard one of the most numerous of all accipitrid family members( estimates for Eurasian sparrowhawks, red- tailed hawks and northern goshawks also may range over 2 million). In 1991, other than their absence in Iceland, after having been extent as breeder by 1910,buzzardsrecolonizedIrelandsometimeinthe1950sandhasincreasedbythe1990s to 26 pairs. Supplemental feeding has reportedly helped the Irish buzzard population to rebound, especially where rabbits have decreased. Most other countries have at least four figures of breeding pairs.Asofthe1990s, other countries such as Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Belarus and the Ukraine all numbered pairs well into five figures, while Germany had an estimated 140, 000 pairs and European Russian may have held 500, 000 pairs. Between 44, 000 and 61, 000 pairs nested in Great Britain by 2001 with numbers gradually increasing after past persecution, habitat alteration and prey reductions, making it by far the most abundant diurnal raptor there. In Westphalia, Germany, population of Buzzards was shown to nearly triple over the last few decades. The Westphalian buzzards are possibly benefiting from increasingly warmer mean climate, which in turn is increasing vulnerability of voles. However, the rate of increase was significantly greater in males than in females, in part because of reintroduced Eurasian eagle- owls to the region preying on nests( including the brooding mother), which may in turn put undue pressure on the local buzzard population. At least 238 common buzzards killed through persecution were recovered in England from 1975 to 1989, largely through poisoning. Persecution did not significantly differ at any time due this span of years nor did the persecution rates decrease, nor did it when compared to rates of last survey of this in 1981. While some persecution persists in England, it is probably slightly less common today. The buzzard was found to be the most vulnerable raptor to power- line collision fatalities in Spain probably as it is one of the most common largish birds, and together with the common raven, it accounted for nearly a third of recorded electrocutions. Given its relative abundance, the common buzzard is held as an ideal bioindicator, as they are effected by a range of pesticide and metal contamination through pollution like other raptors but are largely resilient to these at the population levels. In turn, this allows biologists to study( and harvest if needed) the buzzards intensively and their environments without affecting their overall population. The lack of affect may be due to the buzzard' s adaptability as well as its relatively short, terrestrially- based food chain, which exposes them to less risk of contamination and population depletions than raptors that prey more heavily on water- based prey( such as some large eagles) or other birds( such as falcons). Common buzzards are seldom vulnerable to egg- shell thinning from DDT as are other raptors but egg- shell thinning has been recorded. Other factors that negatively effect raptors have been | studied in common buzzards are |
helminths, avipoxvirus and assorted other viruses. Bohrium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Bh and atomic number 107. It is named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr. As a synthetic element, it can be created in a laboratory but is not found in nature. All known isotopes of bohrium are extremely radioactive;themoststableknownisotopeis270Bh with a half- life of approximately 61 seconds,thoughtheunconfirmed278Bh may have a longer half- life of about 690 seconds. In the periodic table, it is a d- block transactinide element.Itisamemberofthe7thperiodandbelongstothegroup7elementsasthefifthmemberofthe6d series of transition metals. Chemistry experiments have confirmed that bohrium behaves as the heavier homologue to rhenium in group 7. The chemical properties of bohrium are characterized only partly, but they compare well with the chemistry of the other group 7 elements. History. Discovery. Two groups claimed discovery of the element. Evidence of bohrium was first reported in 1976 by a Soviet research team led by Yuri Oganessian, in which targets of bismuth- 209 and lead- 208 were bombarded with accelerated nuclei of chromium- 54 and manganese- 55 respectively. Two activities, one with a half- life of one to two milliseconds, and the other with an approximately five- second half- life, were seen. Since the ratio of the intensities of these two activities was constant throughout the experiment, it was proposed that the first was from the isotope bohrium- 261 and that the second was from its daughter dubnium- 257. Later, the dubnium isotope was corrected to dubnium- 258, which indeed has a five- second half- life( dubnium- 257 has a one- second half- life); however, the half- life observed for its parent is much shorter than the half- lives later observed in the definitive discovery of bohrium at Darmstadt in 1981. The IUPAC/ IUPAP Transfermium Working Group( TWG) concluded that while dubnium- 258 was probably seen in this experiment, the evidence for the production of its parent bohrium- 262 was not convincing enough. In 1981, a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research( GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt bombarded a target of bismuth- 209 with accelerated nuclei of chromium- 54 to produce 5 atoms of the isotope bohrium- 262: This discovery was further substantiated by their detailed measurements of the alpha decay chain of the produced bohrium atoms to previously known isotopes of fermium and californium. The IUPAC/ IUPAP Transfermium Working Group( TWG) recognised the GSI collaboration as official discoverers in their 1992 report. Proposed names. In September 1992, the German group suggested the name" nielsbohrium" with symbol" Ns" to honor the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Soviet scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia had suggested this name be given to element 105( which was finally called dubnium) and the German team wished to recognise both Bohr and the fact that the Dubna team had been the first to propose the cold fusion reaction to solve the controversial problem of the naming of element 105. The Dubna team agreed with the German group' s naming proposal for element 107. There was | an element naming controversy as |
to what the elements from 104 to 106 were to be called; the IUPAC adopted" unnilseptium"( symbol" Uns") as a temporary, systematic element name for this element. In 1994 a committee of IUPAC recommended that element 107 be named" bohrium", not" nielsbohrium", since there was no precedent for using a scientist' s complete name in the naming of an element. This was opposed by the discoverers as there was some concern that the name might be confused with boron and in particular the distinguishing of the names of their respective oxyanions," bohrate" and" borate". The matter was handed to the Danish branch of IUPAC which, despite this, voted in favour of the name" bohrium", and thus the name" bohrium" for element 107 was recognized internationally in 1997; the names of the respective oxyanions of boron and bohrium remain unchanged despite their homophony. Isotopes. Bohrium has no stable or naturally occurring isotopes. Several radioactive isotopes have been synthesized in the laboratory, either by fusing two atoms or by observing the decay of heavier elements. Twelve different isotopes of bohrium have been reported with atomic masses 260– 262, 264– 267, 270– 272, 274, and 278, one of which, bohrium- 262, has a known metastable state.Allofthesebuttheunconfirmed278Bh decay only through alpha decay, although some unknown bohrium isotopes are predicted to undergo spontaneous fission. The lighter isotopes usually have shorter half- lives; half-livesofunder100msfor260Bh,261Bh,262Bh,and262mBh were observed.264Bh,265Bh,266Bh,and271Bh are more stable at around 1 s,and267Bhand272Bh have half- lives of about 10 s. The heaviest isotopes are the most stable,with270Bhand274Bh having measured half- lives of about 61 s and 40 s respectively,andtheevenheavierunconfirmedisotope278Bh appearing to have an even longer half- life of about 690 s. The most proton- rich isotopes with masses 260, 261, and 262 were directly produced by cold fusion, those with mass 262 and 264 were reported in the decay chains of meitnerium and roentgenium, while the neutron- rich isotopes with masses 265, 266, 267 were created in irradiations of actinide targets. The five most neutron- rich ones with masses 270, 271, 272, 274, and 278( unconfirmed)appearinthedecaychainsof282Nh,287Mc,288Mc,294Ts,and290Fl respectively. These eleven isotopes have half-livesrangingfromabouttenmillisecondsfor262mBhtoaboutoneminutefor270Bhand274Bh,extendingtoabouttwelveminutesfortheunconfirmed278Bh, one of the longest- lived known superheavy nuclides. Predicted properties. Very few properties of bohrium or its compounds have been measured; this is due to its extremely limited and expensive production and the fact that bohrium( and its parents) decays very quickly. A few singular chemistry- related properties have been measured, but properties of bohrium metal remain unknown and only predictions are available. Chemical. Bohriumisthefifthmemberofthe6d series of transition metals and the heaviest member of group 7 in the periodic table, below manganese, technetium and rhenium. All the members of the group readily portray their group oxidation state of+ 7 and the state becomes more stable as the group is descended. Thus bohrium is expected to form a stable+ 7 state. Technetium also shows a stable+ 4 state whilst rhenium exhibits stable+ 4 and+ 3 states. Bohrium may therefore show these lower states as well. The higher+ 7 oxidation state is more likely to exist in oxyanions, such as perbohrate,, analogous to the lighter permanganate, pertechnetate, and | perrhenate. Nevertheless, bohrium( VII) is |
likely to be unstable in aqueous solution, and would probably be easily reduced to the more stable bohrium( IV).TechnetiumandrheniumareknowntoformvolatileheptoxidesM2O7( M= Tc, Re),sobohriumshouldalsoformthevolatileoxideBh2O7. The oxide should dissolve in water to form perbohric acid,HBhO4. Rhenium and technetium form a range of oxyhalides from the halogenation of the oxide.ThechlorinationoftheoxideformstheoxychloridesMO3Cl,soBhO3Cl should be formed in this reaction.FluorinationresultsinMO3FandMO2F3fortheheavierelementsinadditiontotherheniumcompoundsReOF5andReF7. Therefore, oxyfluoride formation for bohrium may help to indicate eka- rhenium properties. Since the oxychlorides are asymmetrical, and they should have increasingly large dipole moments going down the group,theyshouldbecomelessvolatileintheorderTcO3Cl& gt;ReO3Cl& gt;BhO3Cl: this was experimentally confirmed in 2000 by measuring the enthalpies of adsorption of these three compounds.ThevaluesareforTcO3ClandReO3Cl are− 51 kJ/ mol and− 61 kJ/ mol respectively;theexperimentalvalueforBhO3Cl is− 77. 8 kJ/ mol, very close to the theoretically expected value of− 78. 5 kJ/ mol. Physical and atomic. Bohrium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and assume a hexagonal close- packed crystal structure(" c"/" a"= 1. 62), similar to its lighter congener rhenium. Early predictions by Fricke estimated its density at 37. 1 g/cm3, but newer calculations predict a somewhat lower value of 26– 27 g/cm3. The atomic radius of bohrium is expected to be around 128 pm.Duetotherelativisticstabilizationofthe7sorbitalanddestabilizationofthe6d orbital, the Bh+ ion is predicted to have an electron configuration of[ Rn]5f146d47s2,givingupa6delectroninsteadofa7s electron, which is the opposite of the behavior of its lighter homologues manganese and technetium. Rhenium, on the other hand,followsitsheaviercongenerbohriumingivingupa5delectronbeforea6s electron, as relativistic effects have become significant by the sixth period, where they cause among other things the yellow color of gold and the low melting point of mercury.TheBh2+ ion is expected to have an electron configuration of[ Rn]5f146d37s2; in contrast,theRe2+ ion is expected to have a[ Xe]4f145d5 configuration, this time analogous to manganese and technetium. The ionic radius of hexacoordinate heptavalent bohrium is expected to be 58 pm( heptavalent manganese, technetium, and rhenium having values of 46, 57, and 53 pm respectively). Pentavalent bohrium should have a larger ionic radius of 83 pm. Experimental chemistry. In 1995, the first report on attempted isolation of the element was unsuccessful, prompting new theoretical studies to investigate how best to investigate bohrium( using its lighter homologs technetium and rhenium for comparison) and removing unwanted contaminating elements such as the trivalent actinides, the group 5 elements, and polonium. In 2000, it was confirmed that although relativistic effects are important, bohrium behaves like a typical group 7 element. A team at the Paul Scherrer Institute( PSI) conducted achemistryreactionusingsixatomsof267Bhproducedinthereactionbetween249Bkand22Ne ions. The resulting atoms were thermalised and reacted with a HCl/O2 mixture to form a volatile oxychloride. The reaction also produced isotopes of its lighter homologues, technetium(as108Tc) and rhenium(as169Re). The isothermal adsorption curves were measured and gave strong evidence for the formation of a volatile oxychloride with properties similar to that of rhenium oxychloride. This placed bohrium as a typical member of group 7. The adsorption enthalpies of the oxychlorides of technetium, rhenium, and bohrium were measured in this experiment, agreeing very well with the theoretical predictions and implying a sequence of decreasing oxychloride volatility down group 7ofTcO3Cl& gt;ReO3Cl& gt;BhO3Cl. The longer- lived heavy isotopes of bohrium, produced as the daughters of heavier elements, | offer advantages for future radiochemical |
experiments.Althoughtheheavyisotope274Bh requires a rare and highly radioactive berkelium target for its production,theisotopes272Bh,271Bh,and270Bh can be readily produced as daughters of more easily produced moscovium and nihonium isotopes. Barbara Kay Olson( née Bracher; December 27,1955September 11, 2001) was an American lawyer and conservative television commentator who worked for CNN, Fox News Channel, and several other outlets. She was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 en route to a taping of Bill Maher' s television show" Politically Incorrect" when it was flown into the Pentagon in the September 11 attacks. Early life. Olson was born Barbara Kay Bracher in Houston, Texas, on December 27, 1955. Her older sister, Toni Bracher- Lawrence, was a member of the Houston City Council from 2004 to 2010. She graduated from Waltrip High School. Personal life. She married Theodore Olson in 1996, becoming his third wife. Olson was a frequent critic of the Bill Clinton administration and wrote a book about then First Lady Hillary Clinton," Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton"( 1999). Olson' s second book," The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House" was published posthumously. Death and legacy. Olson was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 on her way to a taping of" Politically Incorrect" in Los Angeles, when it was flown into the Pentagon in the September 11 attacks. Her original plan had been to fly to California on September 10, but she waited until the next day so that she could wake up with her husband on his birthday, September 11. At the National September 11 Memorial, Olson' s name is located on Panel S- 70 of the South Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 77. Three months after the attacks, Olsen' s remains were identified. She was buried at her family' s retreat in Wisconsin. Barnard' s Star is a red dwarf about six light- years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth- nearest- known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and the closest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its stellar mass is about 14% of the Sun' s. Despite its proximity, the star has a dim apparent magnitude of+ 9. 5 and is invisible to the unaided eye; it is much brighter in the infrared than in visible light. The star is named after the American astronomer E. E. Barnard, who in 1916 measured its proper motion as 10. 3 arcseconds per year relative to the Sun, the highest known for any star. The star had previously appeared on Harvard University photographic plates in 1888 and 1890. Barnard' s Star is among the most studied red dwarfs because of its proximity and favorable location for observation near the celestial equator. Historically, research on Barnard' s Star has focused on measuring its stellar characteristics, its astrometry, and also refining the limits of possible extrasolar planets. Although Barnard' s Star is ancient, it still experiences star flare events, one being observed in 1998. From the early1960s to | the early1970s, Peter van de |
Kamp argued that planets orbited Barnard' s star. His specific claims of large gas giants were refuted in the mid-1970s after much debate. In November 2018, a candidate super- Earth planetary companion known as Barnard' s Star b was reported to orbit Barnard' s Star. It was believed to have a minimum of( Earth masses) and orbit at. However, work presented in July 2021 cast doubts upon the existence of this planet. Naming. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names( WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name" Barnard' s Star" for this star on 1 February 2017 and it is now included in the List of IAU- approved Star Names. Description. Barnard'sStarisareddwarfofthedimspectraltypeM4, and it is too faint to see without a telescope. Its apparent magnitude is 9. 5. At 7– 12 billion years of age, Barnard' s Star is considerably older than the Sun, which is 4. 5 billion years old, and it might be among the oldest stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Barnard' s Star has lost a great deal of rotational energy, and the periodic slight changes in its brightness indicate that it rotates once in 130 days( the Sun rotates in 25). Given its age, Barnard' s Star was long assumed to be quiescent in terms of stellar activity. In 1998, astronomers observed an intense stellar flare, showing that Barnard' s Star is a flare star. Barnard'sStarhasthevariablestardesignationV2500 Ophiuchi. In 2003, Barnard' s Star presented the first detectable change in the radial velocity of a star caused by its motion. Further variability in the radial velocity of Barnard' s Star was attributed to its stellar activity. The proper motion of Barnard' s Star corresponds toarelativelateralspeedof90km/ s. The 10. 3 arcseconds it travels in a year amount to a quarter of a degree in a human lifetime, roughly half the angular diameter of the full Moon. The radial velocity of Barnard' s Star towards the Sun is measured from its blueshift to be−110km/ s. Combined with its proper motion, this gives a space velocity( actual velocity relative to the Sun) of− 142. 6± 0.2km/ s. Barnard' s Star will make its closest approach to the Sun around 11, 800 CE, when it will approach to within about 3. 75 light- years. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun at a position currently 4. 24 light- years distant from it. However, despite Barnard' s Star' s even closer pass to the Sun in 11, 800 CE, it will still not then be the nearest star, since by that time Proxima Centauri will have moved to a yet- nearer proximity to the Sun. At the time of the star' s closest pass by the Sun, Barnard' s Star will still be too dim to be seen with the naked eye, since its apparent magnitude will only have increased by one magnitude to about 8. 5 by then, still being 2. 5 magnitudes short of visibility to the naked eye. Barnard' s Star has a mass of about | 0. 14 solar masses(), and |
a radius 0. 2 times that of the Sun. Thus, although Barnard' s Star has roughly 150 times the mass of Jupiter(), its radius is only roughly 2 times larger, due to its much higher density. Its effective temperature is 3, 100 kelvin, and it has a visual luminosity of 0. 0004 solar luminosities. Barnard' s Star is so faint that if it were at the same distance from Earth as the Sun is, it would appear only 100 times brighter than a full moon, comparable to the brightness of the Sun at 80 astronomical units. Barnard' s Star has 10– 32% of the solar metallicity. Metallicity is the proportion of stellar mass made up of elements heavier than helium and helps classify stars relative to the galactic population. Barnard' s Star seems to be typical of the old, red dwarf population II stars, yet these are also generally metal- poor halo stars. While sub- solar, Barnard' s Star' s metallicity is higher than that of a halo star and is in keeping with the low end of the metal- rich disk star range; this, plus its high space motion, have led to the designation" intermediate population II star", between a halo and disk star. Although some recently published scientific papers have given much higher estimates for the metallicity of the star, very close to the Sun' s level, between 75 and 125% of the solar metallicity. Planetary system. In November 2018 an international team of astronomers announced the detection of a candidate super- Earth orbiting in relatively close proximity to Barnard' s Star. Led by Ignasi Ribas of Spain their work, conducted over two decades of observation, provided strong evidence of the planet' s existence. The existence of the planet was questioned in 2021 though, because the radial velocity signal with planetary orbital period apparently vanished in newer data. Dubbed Barnard' s Star b, the planet was found near the stellar system' s snow line, which is an ideal spot for the icy accretion of proto- planetary material. It orbits at 0.4AU every 233 days and has a proposed mass of. The planet is most likely frigid, with an estimated surface temperature of about, and lies outside Barnard Star' s presumed habitable zone. However, more work is needed on the planet' s atmospherics to better understand surface conditions. Direct imaging of the planet and its tell- tale light signature are possible in the decade after its discovery. Further faint and unaccounted- for perturbations in the system suggest there may be a second planetary companion even farther out. Previous planetary claims. For a decade from 1963 to about 1973, a substantial number of astronomers accepted a claim by Peter van de Kamp that he had detected, by using astrometry, a perturbation in the proper motion of Barnard' s Star consistent with its having one or more planets comparable in mass with Jupiter. Van de Kamp had been observing the star from 1938, attempting, with colleagues at the Sproul Observatory at Swarthmore College, to find minuscule variations of one micrometre in its position | on photographic plates consistent with |
orbital perturbations that would indicate a planetary companion; this involved as many as ten people averaging their results in looking at plates, to avoid systemic individual errors. Van de Kamp' s initial suggestion was a planet having about at a distance of 4.4AU in a slightly eccentric orbit, and these measurements were apparently refined in a 1969 paper. Later that year, Van de Kamp suggested that there were two planets of 1. 1 and. Other astronomers subsequently repeated Van de Kamp' s measurements, and two papers in 1973 undermined the claim of a planet or planets. George Gatewood and Heinrich Eichhorn, at a different observatory and using newer plate measuring techniques, failed to verify the planetary companion. Another paper published by John L. Hershey four months earlier, also using the Swarthmore observatory, found that changes in the astrometric field of various stars correlated to the timing of adjustments and modifications that had been carried out on the refractor telescope' s objective lens; the claimed planet was attributed to an artifact of maintenance and upgrade work. The affair has been discussed as part of a broader scientific review. Van de Kamp never acknowledged any error and published a further claim of two planets' existence as late as 1982; he died in 1995. Wulff Heintz, Van de Kamp' s successor at Swarthmore and an expert on double stars, questioned his findings and began publishing criticisms from 1976 onwards. The two men were reported to have become estranged because of this. Refining planetary boundaries. For the more than four decades between van de Kamp' s rejected claim and the eventual announcement of a planet candidate, Barnard' s Star was carefully studied and the mass and orbital boundaries for possible planets were slowly tightened. M dwarfs such as Barnard' s Star are more easily studied than larger stars in this regard because their lower masses render perturbations more obvious. Null results forplanetarycompanionscontinuedthroughoutthe1980sand1990s, including interferometric work with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999. Gatewood was able to show in 1995 that planets with were impossible around Barnard' s Star, in a paper which helped refine the negative certainty regarding planetary objects in general. In 1999, the Hubble work further excluded planetary companions of with an orbital period of less than 1, 000 days( Jupiter' s orbital period is 4, 332 days), while Kuerster determined in 2003 that within the habitable zone around Barnard' s Star, planets are not possible with an"" M" sin" i" value greater than 7. 5 times the mass of the Earth(), or with a mass greater than 3. 1 times the mass of Neptune( much lower than van de Kamp' s smallest suggested value). In 2013, a research paper was published that further refined planet mass boundaries for the star. Using radial velocity measurements, taken over a period of 25 years, from the Lick and Keck Observatories and applying Monte Carlo analysis for both circular and eccentric orbits, upper masses for planets out to 1, 000- day orbits were determined. Planets above two Earth masses in orbits of less than 10 days were | excluded, and planets of more |
than ten Earth masses out to a two- year orbit were also confidently ruled out. It was also discovered that the habitable zone of the star seemed to be devoid of roughly Earth- mass planets or larger, save for face- on orbits. Even though this research greatly restricted the possible properties of planets around Barnard' s Star, it did not rule them out completely as terrestrial planets were always going to be difficult to detect. NASA' s Space Interferometry Mission, which was to begin searching for extrasolar Earth- like planets, was reported to have chosen Barnard' s Star as an early search target. This mission was shut down in 2010. ESA' s similar Darwin interferometry mission had the same goal, but was stripped of funding in 2007. The analysis of radial velocities that eventually led to discovery of the candidate super- Earth orbiting Barnard' s Star was also used to set more precise upper mass limits for possible planets, up to and within the habitable zone: a maximum of up to the inner edge and on the outer edge of the optimistic habitable zone, corresponding to orbital periods of up to 10 and 40 days respectively. Therefore, it appears that Barnard' s Star indeed does not host Earth- mass planets, or larger, in hot and temperate orbits, unlike other M- dwarf stars that commonly have these type of planets in close- in orbits. Proposed exploration. Project Daedalus. Barnard' s Star was studied as part of Project Daedalus. Undertaken between 1973 and 1978, the study suggested that rapid, unmanned travel to another star system was possible with existing or near- future technology. Barnard' s Star was chosen as a target partly because it was believed to have planets. The theoretical model suggested that a nuclear pulse rocket employing nuclear fusion( specifically, electron bombardment of deuterium and helium- 3) and accelerating for four years could achieve a velocity of 12% of the speed of light. The star could then be reached in 50 years, within a human lifetime. Along with detailed investigation of the star and any companions, the interstellar medium would be examined and baseline astrometric readings performed. The initial Project Daedalus model sparked further theoretical research. In 1980, Robert Freitas suggested a more ambitious plan: a self- replicating spacecraft intended to search for and make contact with extraterrestrial life. Built and launched in Jupiter' s orbit, it would reach Barnard' s Star in 47 years under parameters similar to those of the original Project Daedalus. Once at the star, it would begin automated self- replication, constructing a factory, initially to manufacture exploratory probes and eventually to create a copy of the original spacecraft after 1, 000 years. 1998 flare. In 1998 a stellar flare on Barnard' s Star was detected based on changes in the spectral emissions on 17 July during an unrelated search for variations in the proper motion. Four years passed before the flare was fully analyzed, at which point it was suggested that the flare' s temperature was 8,000K, more than twice the normal temperature of the star. Given | the essentially random nature of |
flares, Diane Paulson, one of the authors of that study, noted that" the star would be fantastic for amateurs to observe". The flare was surprising because intense stellar activity is not expected in stars of such age. Flares are not completely understood, but are believed to be caused by strong magnetic fields, which suppress plasma convection and lead to sudden outbursts: strong magnetic fields occur in rapidly rotating stars, while old stars tend to rotate slowly. For Barnard' s Star to undergo an event of such magnitude is thus presumed to be a rarity. Research on the star' s periodicity, or changes in stellar activity over a given timescale, also suggest it ought to be quiescent; 1998 research showed weak evidence for periodic variation in the star' s brightness, noting only one possible starspot over 130 days. Stellar activity of this sort has created interest in using Barnard' s Star as a proxy to understand similar stars. It is hoped that photometric studies of its X- ray and UV emissions will shed light on the large population of old M dwarfs in the galaxy. Such research has astrobiological implications: given that the habitable zones of M dwarfs are close to the star, any planets would be strongly influenced by solar flares, winds, and plasma ejection events. 2019 flares. In 2019, two additional ultraviolet stellar flares were detected, each with far- ultraviolet energy of 3× 1022 joules, together with one X- ray stellar flare with energy 1. 6× 1022 joules. The flare rate observed to date is enough to cause loss of 87 Earth atmospheres per billion years through thermal processes and≈ 3 Earth atmospheres per billion years through ion loss processes on Barnard' s Star b. Environment. Barnard' s Star shares much the same neighborhood as the Sun. The neighbors of Barnard' s Star are generally of red dwarf size, the smallest and most common star type. Its closest neighbor is currently the red dwarf Ross 154, at a distance of 1. 66 parsecs( 5. 41 light- years). The Sun and Alpha Centauri are, respectively, the next closest systems. From Barnard' s Star, the Sun would appear on the diametrically opposite side of the sky at coordinates RA=, Dec=, in the westernmost part of the constellation Monoceros. The absolute magnitude of the Sun is 4. 83, and at a distance of 1. 834 parsecs, it would be a first- magnitude star, as Pollux is from the Earth. A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation' s Latin name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1, 564 stars. The brighter stars were assigned their first systematic names by the German astronomer Johann Bayer in 1603, in his star atlas" Uranometria". Bayer catalogued only a few stars too far south to be seen from Germany, but later astronomers( including Nicolas- Louis de Lacaille and Benjamin Apthorp Gould) supplemented Bayer' s catalog with entries for southern constellations. Scheme. Bayer assigned a lowercase Greek | letter( alpha( α), beta( β), |
gamma( γ), etc.) or a Latin letter( A, b, c, etc.) to each star he catalogued, combined with the Latin name of the star' s parent constellation in genitive( possessive) form. The constellation name is frequently abbreviated to a standard three- letter form. For example, Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus( the Bull) is designated" α Tauri"( abbreviated" α Tau", pronounced" Alpha Tauri"), which means" Alpha of the Bull". Bayer used Greek letters for the brighter stars, but the Greek alphabet has only twenty- four letters, while a single constellation may contain fifty or more stars visible to the naked eye. When the Greek letters ran out, Bayer continued with Latin letters: uppercase" A", followed by lowercase" b" through" z"( omitting" j" and" v", but" o" was included), for a total of another 24 letters. Bayer did not label" permanent" stars with uppercase letters( except for" A", which he used instead of" a" to avoid confusion with" α"). However, a number of stars in southern constellations have uppercase letter designations, like B Centauri and G Scorpii. These letters were assigned by later astronomers, notably Lacaille in his" Coelum Australe Stelliferum" and Gould in his" Uranometria Argentina". Lacaille followed Bayer' s use of Greek letters, but this was insufficient for many constellations. He used first the lowercase letters, starting with" a", and if needed the uppercase letters, starting with" A", thus deviating somewhat from Bayer' s practice. Lacaille used the Latin alphabet three times over in the large constellation Argo Navis, once for each of the three areas that are now the constellations of Carina, Puppis and Vela. That was still insufficient for the number of stars, so he also used uppercase Latin letters such as N Velorum and Q Puppis. Lacaille assigned uppercase letters between R and Z in several constellations, but these have either been dropped to allow the assignment of those letters to variable stars or have actually turned out to be variable. Order by magnitude class. In most constellations, Bayer assigned Greek and Latin letters to stars within a constellation in rough order of apparent brightness, from brightest to dimmest. Since the brightest star in a majority of constellations is designated Alpha( α), many people assume that Bayer meant to order the stars exclusively by brightness. In Bayer' s day, however, stellar brightness could not be measured precisely. Stars were traditionally assigned to one of six magnitude classes( the brightest to first magnitude, the dimmest to sixth), and Bayer typically ordered stars within a constellation by class: all the first- magnitude stars, followed by all the second- magnitude stars, and so on. Within each magnitude class, Bayer made no attempt to arrange stars by relative brightness. As a result, the brightest star in each class did not always get listed first in Bayer' s order. In addition, Bayer did not always follow the magnitude class rule; he sometimes assigned letters to stars according to their location within a constellation, or the order of their rising, or to historical or mythological details. Occasionally the order looks quite arbitrary. Of the 88 | modern constellations, there are at |
least 30 in which" Alpha" is not the brightest star, and four of those lack an alpha star altogether. The constellations with no alpha- designated star include Vela and Puppis— both formerly part of Argo Navis, whose Greek- letter stars were split between three constellations. α Arg is Canopus and was moved to the modern constellation Carina. Orion as an example. In Orion, Bayer first designated Betelgeuse and Rigel,thetwo1st- magnitude stars( those of magnitude 1. 5 or less), as Alpha and Beta from north to south, with Betelgeuse( the shoulder) coming ahead of Rigel( the foot), even though the latter is usually the brighter.( Betelgeuse is a variable star and can at its maximum occasionally outshine Rigel.)Bayerthenrepeatedtheprocedureforthestarsofthe2nd magnitude, labeling them from" gamma" through" zeta" in" top- down"( north- to- south) order. Letters as far as Latin" p" were used for stars of the sixth magnitude. Bayer' s miscellaneous labels. Although Bayer did not use uppercase Latin letters( except" A") for" fixed stars", he did use them to label other items shown on his charts, such as neighboring constellations," temporary stars", miscellaneous astronomical objects, or reference lines like the Tropic of Cancer. In Cygnus, for example, Bayer' s fixed stars run through" g", and on this chart Bayer employs" H" through" P" as miscellaneous labels, mostly for neighboring constellations. Bayer did not intend such labels as catalog designations, but some have survived to refer to astronomical objects: P Cygni for example is still used as a designation for Nova Cyg 1600. Tycho' s Star( SN 1572), another" temporary star", appears as B Cassiopeiae. In charts for constellations that did not exhaust the Greek letters, Bayer sometimes used the leftover Greek letters for miscellaneous labels as well. Revised designations. Ptolemy designated four stars as" border stars", each shared by two constellations: Alpheratz( in Andromeda and Pegasus), Elnath( in Taurus and Auriga), Nu Boötis( in Boötes and Hercules) and Fomalhaut( in Piscis Austrinus and Aquarius). Bayer assigned the first three of these stars a Greek letter from both constellations:,, and.( He catalogued Fomalhaut only once, as Alpha Piscis Austrini.) When the International Astronomical Union( IAU) assigned definite boundaries to the constellations in 1930, it declared that stars and other celestial objects can belong to only one constellation. Consequently, the redundant second designation in each pair above has dropped out of use. Bayer assigned two stars duplicate names by mistake:( duplicated as) and( duplicated as). He corrected these in a later atlas, and the duplicate names were no longer used. Other cases of multiple Bayer designations arose when stars named by Bayer in one constellation were transferred by later astronomers to a different constellation. Bayer' s Gamma and Omicron Scorpii, for example, were later reassigned from Scorpius to Libra and given the new names Sigma and Upsilon Librae.( To add to the confusion, the star now known as Omicron Scorpii was not named by Bayer but was assigned the designation o Scorpii( Latin lowercase' o') by Lacaille— which later astronomers misinterpreted as omicron once Bayer' s omicron had been reassigned to Libra.) A few stars no | longer lie( according to the |
modern constellation boundaries) within the constellation for which they are named. The proper motion of Rho Aquilae, for example, carried it across the boundary into Delphinus in 1992. A further complication is the use of numeric superscripts to distinguish neighboring stars that Bayer( or a later astronomer) labeled with a common letter. Usually these are double stars( mostly optical doubles rather than true binary stars),buttherearesomeexceptionssuchasthechainofstarsπ1,π2,π3,π4,π5andπ6 Orionis. Boötes() is a constellation in the northern sky, located between 0° and+ 60° declination, and 13 and 16 hours of right ascension on the celestial sphere. The name comes from Latin" Boōtēs", which comes from Greek Βοώτης" Boṓtēs"' herdsman' or' plowman'( literally,' ox- driver'; from βοῦς" boûs"' cow').Oneofthe48constellationsdescribedbythe2nd- century astronomer Ptolemy, Boötes is now one of the 88 modern constellations. It contains the fourth- brightest star in the night sky, the orange giant Arcturus. Epsilon Boötis, or Izar, is a colourful multiple star popular with amateur astronomers. Boötes is home to many other bright stars, including eight above the fourth magnitude and an additional 21 above the fifth magnitude, making a total of 29 stars easily visible to the naked eye. History and mythology. In ancient Babylon, the stars of Boötes were known as SHU. PA. They were apparently depicted as the god Enlil, who was the leader of the Babylonian pantheon and special patron of farmers. Boötes may have been represented by the animal foreleg constellation in ancient Egypt, resembling that of an ox sufficiently to have been originally proposed as the" foreleg of ox" by Berio. Homer mentions Boötes in the" Odyssey" as a celestial reference for navigation, describing it as" late- setting" or" slow to set". Exactly whom Boötes is supposed to represent in Greek mythology is not clear. According to one version, he was a son of Demeter, Philomenus, twin brother of Plutus, a plowman who drove the oxen in the constellation Ursa Major. This agrees with the constellation' s name. The ancient Greeks saw the asterism now called the" Big Dipper" or" Plough" as a cart with oxen. Some myths say that Boötes invented the plow and was memorialized for his ingenuity as a constellation. Another myth associated with Boötes by Hyginus is that of Icarius, who was schooled as a grape farmer and winemaker by Dionysus. Icarius made wine so strong that those who drank it appeared poisoned, which caused shepherds to avenge their supposedly poisoned friends by killing Icarius. Maera, Icarius' dog, brought his daughter Erigone to her father' s body, whereupon both she and the dog committed suicide. Zeus then chose to honor all three by placing them in the sky as constellations: Icarius as Boötes, Erigone as Virgo, and Maera as Canis Major or Canis Minor. Following another reading, the constellation is identified with Arcas and also referred to as Arcas and Arcturus, son of Zeus and Callisto. Arcas was brought up by his maternal grandfather Lycaon, to whom one day Zeus went and had a meal. To verify that the guest was really the king of the gods, Lycaon killed his grandson and prepared a meal | made from his flesh. Zeus |
noticed and became very angry, transforming Lycaon into a wolf and giving life back to his son. In the meantime Callisto had been transformed into a she- bear by Zeus' s wife Hera, who was angry at Zeus' s infidelity. This is corroborated by the Greek name for Boötes," Arctophylax", which means" Bear Watcher". Callisto, in the form of a bear was almost killed by her son, who was out hunting. Zeus rescued her, taking her into the sky where she became Ursa Major," the Great Bear". Arcturus, the name of the constellation' s brightest star, comes from the Greek word meaning" guardian of the bear". Sometimes Arcturus is depicted as leading the hunting dogs of nearby Canes Venatici and driving the bears of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Several former constellations were formed from stars now included in Boötes. Quadrans Muralis, the Quadrant, was a constellation created near Beta Boötis from faint stars. It was designated in 1795 by Jérôme Lalande, an astronomer who used a quadrant to perform detailed astronometric measurements. Lalande worked with Nicole- Reine Lepaute and others to predict the 1758 return of Halley' s Comet. Quadrans Muralis was formed from the stars of eastern Boötes, western Hercules and Draco. It was originally called" Le Mural" by Jean Fortin in his 1795" Atlas Céleste"; it was not given the name" Quadrans Muralis" until Johann Bode' s 1801" Uranographia". The constellation was quite faint,withitsbrighteststarsreachingthe5th magnitude. Mons Maenalus, representing the Maenalus mountains, was created by Johannes Hevelius in 1687 at the foot of the constellation' s figure. The mountain was named for the son of Lycaon, Maenalus. The mountain, one of Diana' s hunting grounds, was also holy to Pan. Non- Western astronomy. The stars of Boötes were incorporated into many different Chinese constellations. Arcturus was part of the most prominent of these, variously designated as the celestial king' s throne(" Tian Wang") or the Blue Dragon' s horn(" Daijiao"); the name" Daijiao", meaning" great horn", is more common. Arcturus was given such importance in Chinese celestial mythology because of its status marking the beginning of the lunar calendar, as well as its status as the brightest star in the northern night sky. Two constellations flanked" Daijiao":" Yousheti" to the right and" Zuosheti" to the left; they represented companions that orchestrated the seasons." Zuosheti" was formed from modern Zeta, Omicron and Pi Boötis, while" Yousheti" was formed from modern Eta, Tau and Upsilon Boötis." Dixi", the Emperor' s ceremonial banquet mat, was north of Arcturus, consisting of the stars 12, 11 and 9 Boötis. Another northern constellation was" Qigong", the Seven Dukes, which mostly straddled the Boötes- Hercules border. It included either Delta Boötis or Beta Boötis as its terminus. The other Chinese constellations made up of the stars of Boötes existed in the modern constellation' s north; they are all representations of weapons." Tianqiang", the spear, was formed from Iota, Kappa and Theta Boötis;" Genghe", variously representing a lance or shield, was formed from Epsilon, Rho and Sigma Boötis. There were also two weapons made up of a singular | star." Xuange", the halberd, was |
represented by Lambda Boötis, and" Zhaoyao", either the sword or the spear, was represented by Gamma Boötis. Two Chinese constellations have an uncertain placement in Boötes." Kangchi", the lake, was placed south of Arcturus, though its specific location is disputed. It may have been placed entirely in Boötes, on either side of the Boötes- Virgo border, or on either side of the Virgo- Libra border. The constellation" Zhouding", a bronze tripod- mounted container used for food, was sometimes cited as the stars 1, 2 and 6 Boötis. However, it has also been associated with three stars in Coma Berenices. Boötes is also known to Native American cultures. In Yup' ik language, Boötes is" Taluyaq", literally" fish trap," and the funnel- shaped part of the fish trap is known as" Ilulirat." Characteristics. Boötes is a constellation bordered by Virgo to the south, Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici to the west, Ursa Major to the northwest, Draco to the northeast, and Hercules, Corona Borealis and Serpens Caput to the east. The three- letter abbreviation for the constellation, as adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1922, is" Boo". The official constellation boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a polygon of 16 segments. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and, while the declination coordinates stretch from+ 7. 36° to+ 55. 1°. Covering 907 square degrees,Boötesculminatesatmidnightaround2Mayandranks13th in area. Colloquially, its pattern of stars has been likened to a kite or ice cream cone. However, depictions of Boötes have varied historically. Aratus described him circling the north pole, herding the two bears. Later ancient Greek depictions, described by Ptolemy, have him holding the reins of his hunting dogs( Canes Venatici) in his left hand, with a spear, club, or staff in his right hand. After Hevelius introduced Mons Maenalus in 1681, Boötes was often depicted standing on the Peloponnese mountain. By 1801, when Johann Bode published his" Uranographia", Boötes had acquired a sickle, which was also held in his left hand. The placement of Arcturus has also been mutable through the centuries. Traditionally, Arcturus lay between his thighs, as Ptolemy depicted him. However, Germanicus Caesar deviated from this tradition by placing Arcturus" where his garment is fastened by a knot". Features. Stars. In his" Uranometria", Johann Bayer used the Greek letters alpha through to omega and then A to k to label what he saw as the most prominent 35 stars in the constellation, with subsequent astronomers splitting Kappa, Mu, Nu and Pi as two stars each. Nu is also the same star as Psi Herculis. John Flamsteed numbered 54 stars for the constellation. Located 36. 7 light- years from Earth, Arcturus, or Alpha Boötis, is the brightest star in Boötes and the fourth- brightest star in the sky at an apparent magnitude of− 0. 05; It is also the brightest star north of the celestial equator, just shading out Vega and Capella. Its name comes from the Greek for" bear- keeper". An orange giant of spectral classK1.5III, Arcturus is an ageing | star that has exhausted its |
core supply of hydrogen and cooled and expanded to a diameter of 27 solar diameters, equivalent to approximately 32 million kilometers. Though its mass is approximately one solar mass(), Arcturus shines with 133 times the luminosity of the Sun(). Bayer located Arcturus above the Herdman' s left knee in his" Uranometria". Nearby Eta Boötis, or Muphrid, is the uppermost star denoting the left leg. It is a 2. 68- magnitude star 37 light-yearsdistantwithaspectralclassofG0IV, indicating it has just exhausted its core hydrogen and is beginning to expand and cool. It is 9 times as luminous as the Sun and has 2. 7 times its diameter. Analysis of its spectrum reveals that it is a spectroscopic binary. Muphrid and Arcturus lie only 3. 3 light- years away from each other. Viewed from Arcturus, Muphrid would have a visual magnitude of−2½, while Arcturus would be around visual magnitude−4½ when seen from Muphrid. Marking the herdsman' s head is Beta Boötis, or Nekkar, a yellow giant of magnitude 3.5andspectraltypeG8IIIa. Like Arcturus, it has expanded and cooled off the main sequence— likely to have lived most of its stellar life as a blue- white B- type main sequence star. Its common name comes from the Arabic phrase for" ox- driver". It is 219 light- years away and has a luminosity of. Located 86 light- years distant, Gamma Boötis, or Seginus,isawhitegiantstarofspectralclassA7III, with a luminosity 34 times and diameter 3. 5 times that of the Sun. It is a Delta Scuti variable, ranging between magnitudes 3. 02 and 3. 07 every 7 hours. These stars are short period( six hours at most) pulsating stars that have been used as standard candles and as subjects to study asteroseismology. Delta Boötis is a wide double star with a primary of magnitude 3. 5 and a secondary of magnitude 7. 8. The primary is a yellow giant that has cooled and expanded to 10. 4 times the diameter of the Sun.OfspectralclassG8IV, it is around 121 light- years away, whilethesecondaryisayellowmainsequencestarofspectraltypeG0V. The two are thought to take 120, 000 years to orbit each other. Mu Boötis, known as Alkalurops, is a triple star popular with amateur astronomers. It has an overall magnitude of 4. 3 and is 121 light- years away. Its name is from the Arabic phrase for" club" or" staff". The primary appears to be of magnitude 4. 3 and is blue- white. The secondary appears to be of magnitude 6. 5, but is actually a close double star itself with a primary of magnitude 7. 0 and a secondary of magnitude 7. 6. The secondary and tertiary stars have an orbital period of 260 years. The primary has an absolute magnitude of 2. 6 andisofspectralclassF0. The secondary and tertiary stars are separated by 2 arcseconds; the primary and secondary are separated by 109. 1 arcseconds at an angle of 171 degrees. Nu Boötis is an optical double star. The primary is an orange giant of magnitude 5. 0 and the secondary is a white star of magnitude 5. 0. The primary is 870 light- years away and the secondary is 430 | light- years. Epsilon Boötis, also |
known as" Izar" or" Pulcherrima", is a close triple star popular with amateur astronomers and the most prominent binary star in Boötes. The primary is a yellow- or orange- hued magnitude 2. 5 giant star, the secondary is a magnitude 4. 6 blue- hued main- sequence star, and the tertiary is a magnitude 12. 0 star. The system is 210 light- years away. The name" Izar" comes from the Arabic word for" girdle" or" loincloth", referring to its location in the constellation. The name" Pulcherrima" comes from the Latin phrase for" most beautiful", referring to its contrasting colors in a telescope. The primary and secondary stars are separated by 2. 9 arcseconds at an angle of 341 degrees; the primary'sspectralclassisK0 and it has a luminosity of. To the naked eye, Izar has a magnitude of 2. 37. Nearby Rho and Sigma Boötis denote the herdsman' s waist.RhoisanorangegiantofspectraltypeK3III located around 160 light- years from Earth. It is ever so slightly variable, wavering by 0. 003 of a magnitude from its average of 3. 57. Sigma, a yellow- white main-sequencestarofspectraltypeF3V, is suspected of varying in brightness from 4. 45 to 4. 49. It is around 52 light- years distant. Traditionally known as" Aulād al Dhiʼbah"( أولاد الضباع–" aulād al dhiʼb")," the Whelps of the Hyenas", Theta, Iota, Kappa and Lambda Boötis( or Xuange) are a small group of stars in the far north of the constellation. The magnitude 4.05ThetaBoötishasaspectraltypeofF7 and an absolute magnitude of 3. 8. Iota Boötis is a triple star with a primary of magnitude 4.8andspectralclassofA7, a secondary of magnitude 7. 5, and a tertiary of magnitude 12. 6. The primary is 97 light- years away. The primary and secondary stars are separated by 38. 5 arcseconds, at an angle of 33 degrees. The primary and tertiary stars are separated by 86. 7 arcseconds at an angle of 194 degrees. Both the primary and tertiary appear white in a telescope, but the secondary appears yellow- hued. Kappa Boötis is another wide double star. The primary is 155 light- years away and has a magnitude of 4. 5. The secondary is 196 light- years away and has a magnitude of 6. 6. The two components are separated by 13. 4 arcseconds, at an angle of 236 degrees. The primary,withspectralclassA7, appears white and the secondary appears bluish. An apparent magnitude 4.18typeA0p star, Lambda Boötis is the prototype of a class of chemically peculiar stars, only some of which pulsate as Delta Scuti- type stars. The distinction between the Lambda Boötis stars as a class of stars with peculiar spectra, and the Delta Scuti stars whose class describes pulsation in low- overtone pressure modes, is an important one. While many Lambda Boötis stars pulsate and are Delta Scuti stars, not many Delta Scuti stars have Lambda Boötis peculiarities, since the Lambda Boötis stars are a much rarer class whose members can be found both inside and outside the Delta Scuti instability strip. Lambda Boötis stars are dwarf stars that can be either spectral class A or F. Like BL Boötis- type stars they are metal- | poor. Scientists have had difficulty |
explaining the characteristics of Lambda Boötis stars, partly because only around 60 confirmed members exist, but also due to heterogeneity in the literature. Lambda has an absolute magnitude of 1. 8. There are two dimmer F- type stars, magnitude 4. 83 12 Boötis,classF8; and magnitude 4. 93 45 Boötis,classF5.XiBoötisisaG8 yellow dwarf of magnitude 4. 55, and absolute magnitude is 5. 5. Two dimmer G- type stars are magnitude 4. 86 31 Boötis,classG8, and magnitude 4. 76 44 Boötis,classG0. Of apparent magnitude 4. 06,UpsilonBoötishasaspectralclassofK5 and an absolute magnitude of− 0. 3. Dimmer than Upsilon Boötis is magnitude 4. 54 Phi Boötis,withaspectralclassofK2 and an absolute magnitude of− 0. 1. Just slightly dimmer than Phi at magnitude 4. 60 is O Boötis, which, like Izar,hasaspectralclassofK0. O Boötis has an absolute magnitude of 0. 2. The other four dim stars are magnitude 4. 91 6 Boötis,classK4; magnitude 4. 86 20 Boötis,classK3; magnitude 4. 81 Omega Boötis,classK4; and magnitude 4. 83 A Boötis,classK1. There is one bright B- class star in Boötes; magnitude 4.93Pi1 Boötis, also called Alazal.IthasaspectralclassofB9 and is 40 parsecs from Earth. There is also one M- type star, magnitude 4. 81 34 Boötis.ItisofclassgM0. Multiple stars. Besides Pulcherrima and Alkalurops, there are several other binary stars in Boötes: 44 Boötis( i Boötis) is a double variable star 42 light- years away. It has an overall magnitude of 4. 8 and appears yellow to the naked eye. The primary is of magnitude 5. 3 and the secondary is of magnitude 6. 1; their orbital period is 220 years. The secondary is itself an eclipsing variable star with a range of 0. 6 magnitudes; its orbital period is 6. 4 hours. It is a W Ursae Majoris variable that ranges in magnitude from a minimum of 7. 1 to a maximum of 6. 5 every 0. 27 days. Both stars are G- type stars. Another eclipsing binary star is ZZ Boötis,whichhastwoF2- type components of almost equal mass, and ranges in magnitude from a minimum of 6. 79 to a maximum of 7. 44 over a period of 5. 0 days. Variable stars. Two of the brighter Mira- type variable stars in the constellation are R and S Boötis. Both are red giants that range greatly in magnitude— from 6. 2 to 13. 1 over 223. 4 days, and 7. 8 to 13. 8 over a period of 270. 7 days, respectively. Also red giants, V and W Boötis are semi- regular variable stars that range in magnitude from 7. 0 to 12. 0 over a period of 258 days, and magnitude 4. 7 to 5. 4 over 450 days, respectively. BL Boötis is the prototype of its class of pulsating variable stars, the anomalous Cepheids. These stars are somewhat similar to Cepheid variables, but they do not have the same relationship between their period and luminosity. Their periods are similar to RRAB variables; however, they are far brighter than these stars. BL Boötis is a member of the cluster NGC 5466. Anomalous Cepheids are metal poor and have masses not much larger than the Sun' s, on | average,. BL Boötis type stars |
are a subtype of RR Lyrae variables. T Boötis was a nova observed in April 1860 at a magnitude of 9. 7. It has never been observed since, but that does not preclude the possibility of it being a highly irregular variable star or a recurrent nova. Stars with planetary systems. Extrasolar planets have been discovered encircling ten stars in Boötes as of 2012. Tau Boötis is orbited by a large planet, discovered in 1999. The host star itself is a magnitude 4.5staroftypeF7V, 15. 6 parsecs from Earth. It has a mass of and a radius of 1. 331 solar radii(); a companion,GJ527B, orbits at a distance of 240 AU. Tau Boötis b, the sole planet discovered in the system, orbits at a distance of 0. 046 AU every 3. 31 days. Discovered through radial velocity measurements, it has a mass of 5. 95 Jupiter masses(). This makes it a hot Jupiter. The host star and planet are tidally locked, meaning that the planet' s orbit and the star' s particularly high rotation are synchronized. Furthermore, a slight variability in the host star' s light may be caused by magnetic interactions with the planet. Carbon monoxide is present in the planet' s atmosphere. Tau Boötis b does not transit its star, rather, its orbit is inclined 46 degrees. Like Tau Boötis b, HAT- P-4b is also a hot Jupiter. It is noted for orbiting a particularly metal- rich host star and being of low density. Discovered in 2007, HAT- P- 4 b has a mass of and a radius of. It orbits every 3. 05 days at a distance of 0. 04 AU. HAT- P- 4, the host star, is an F- type star of magnitude 11. 2, 310 parsecs from Earth. It is larger than the Sun, with a mass of and a radius of. Boötes is also home to multiple- planet systems. HD 128311 is the host star for a two- planet system, consisting of HD 128311 b and HD 128311 c, discovered in 2002 and 2005, respectively. HD 128311 b is the smaller planet, with a mass of; it was discovered through radial velocity observations. It orbits at almost the same distance as Earth, at 1. 099 AU; however, its orbital period is significantly longer at 448. 6 days. The larger of the two, HD 128311 c, has a mass of and was discovered in the same manner. It orbits every 919 days inclined at 50°, and is 1. 76 AU from the host star. The host star, HD 128311,isaK0V- type star located 16. 6 parsecs from Earth. It is smaller than the Sun, with a mass of and a radius of; it also appears below the threshold of naked- eye visibility at an apparent magnitude of 7. 51. There are several single- planet systems in Boötes. HD 132406 is a Sun- like starofspectraltypeG0V with an apparent magnitude of 8. 45, 231. 5 light- years from Earth. It has a mass of and a radius of. The star is orbited by a gas giant, HD 132406 b, discovered in | 2007. HD 132406 orbits 1. |
98 AU from its host star with a period of 974 days and has a mass of. The planet was discovered by the radial velocity method. WASP- 23 is a star with one orbiting planet, WASP- 23 b. The planet, discovered by the transit method in 2010, orbits every 2. 944 very close to its Sun, at 0. 0376 AU. It is smaller than Jupiter, at and.ItsstarisaK1V- type star of apparent magnitude 12. 7, far below naked- eye visibility, and smaller than the Sun at and. HD 131496 is also encircled by one planet, HD 131496 b.ThestarisoftypeK0 and is located 110 parsecs from Earth; it appears at a visual magnitude of 7. 96. It is significantly larger than the Sun, with a mass of and a radius of 4. 6 solar radii. Its one planet, discovered in 2011 by the radial velocity method, has a mass of; its radius is as yet undetermined. HD 131496 b orbits at a distance of 2. 09 AU with a period of 883 days. Another single planetary system in Boötes is the HD 132563 system, a triple star system. The parent star,technicallyHD132563B, is a star of magnitude 9. 47, 96 parsecs from Earth. It is almost exactly the size of the Sun, with the same radius and a mass only 1% greater. Its planet,HD132563B b, was discovered in 2011 by the radial velocity method., it orbits 2. 62 AU from its star with a period of 1544 days. Its orbit is somewhat elliptical, with an eccentricity of 0. 22.HD132563B b is one of very few planets found in triple star systems; it orbits the isolated member of the system, which is separated from the other components, a spectroscopic binary, by 400 AU. Also discovered through the radial velocity method, albeit a year earlier, is HD 136418 b, a two- Jupiter- mass planet that orbits the star HD 136418 at a distance of 1. 32 AU with a period of 464. 3 days. Its host star is a magnitude 7.88G5- type star, 98. 2 parsecs from Earth. It has a radius of and a mass of. WASP- 14 b is one of the most massive and dense exoplanets known, with a mass of and a radius of. Discovered via the transit method, it orbits 0. 036 AU from its host star with a period of 2. 24 days. WASP- 14 b has a density of 4. 6 grams per cubic centimeter, making it one of the densest exoplanets known. Its host star, WASP- 14,isanF5V- type star of magnitude 9. 75, 160 parsecs from Earth. It has a radius of and a mass of. It also has a very high proportion of lithium. Deep- sky objects. Boötes is in a part of the celestial sphere facing away from the plane of our home Milky Way galaxy, and so does not have open clusters or nebulae. Instead, it has one bright globular cluster and many faint galaxies. The globular cluster NGC 5466 has an overall magnitude of 9. 1 and a diameter of 11 arcminutes. It is a very | loose globular cluster with fairly |
few stars and may appear as a rich, concentrated open cluster in a telescope. NGC 5466 is classified as a Shapley– Sawyer Concentration Class 12 cluster, reflecting its sparsity. Its fairly large diameter means that it has a low surface brightness, so it appears far dimmer than the catalogued magnitude of 9. 1 and requires a large amateur telescope to view. Only approximately 12 stars are resolved by an amateur instrument. Boötes has two bright galaxies. NGC 5248( Caldwell 45) is a type Sc galaxy( a variety of spiral galaxy) of magnitude 10. 2. It measures 6. 5 by 4. 9 arcminutes. Fifty million light- years from Earth, NGC 5248 is a member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies; it has dim outer arms and obvious H II regions, dust lanes and young star clusters. NGC 5676 is another type Sc galaxy of magnitude 10. 9. It measures 3. 9 by 2. 0 arcminutes. Other galaxies include NGC 5008, a type Sc emission- line galaxy, NGC 5548, a type S Seyfert galaxy, NGC 5653, a type S HII galaxy, NGC 5778( also classified as NGC 5825), a type E galaxy that is the brightest of its cluster, NGC 5886, and NGC 5888, a type SBb galaxy. NGC 5698 is a barred spiral galaxy,notableforbeingthehostofthe2005supernovaSN2005bc, which peaked at magnitude 15. 3. Further away lies the 250- million- light- year- diameter Boötes void, a huge space largely empty of galaxies. Discovered by Robert Kirshner and colleagues in 1981, it is roughly 700 million light- years from Earth. Beyond it and within the bounds of the constellation, lie two superclusters at around 830 million and 1 billion light- years distant. The Hercules– Corona Borealis Great Wall, the largest- known structure in the Universe, covers a significant part of Boötes. Meteor showers. Boötes is home to the Quadrantid meteor shower, the most prolific annual meteor shower. It was discovered in January 1835 and named in 1864 by Alexander Hershell. The radiant is located in northern Boötes near Kappa Boötis, in its namesake former constellation of Quadrans Muralis. Quadrantid meteors are dim, but have a peak visible hourly rate of approximately 100 per hour on January 3– 4. The zenithal hourly rate of the Quadrantids is approximately 130 meteors per hour at their peak; it is also a very narrow shower. The Quadrantids are notoriously difficult to observe because of a low radiant and often inclement weather. The parent body of the meteor shower has been disputed for decades; however,PeterJenniskenshasproposed2003EH1, a minor planet, as the parent.2003EH1 may be linked to C/1490Y1, a comet previously thought to be a potential parent body for the Quadrantids.2003EH1 is a short- period comet of the Jupiter family; 500 years ago, it experienced a catastrophic breakup event. It is now dormant. The Quadrantids had notable displays in 1982, 1985 and 2004. Meteors from this shower often appear to have a blue hue and travel at a moderate speed of 41. 5– 43 kilometers per second. On April 28, 1984, a remarkable outburst of the normally placid Alpha Bootids was observed by visual observer | Frank Witte from 00: 00 |
to 2: 30 UTC. In a 6 cm telescope, he observed 433 meteors in a field of view near Arcturus with a diameter of less than 1°. Peter Jenniskens comments that this outburst resembled a" typical dust trail crossing". The Alpha Bootids normally begin on April 14, peaking on April 27 and 28, and finishing on May 12. Its meteors are slow- moving, with a velocity of 20. 9 kilometers per second.TheymayberelatedtoComet73P/ Schwassmann– Wachmann 3, but this connection is only theorized. The June Bootids, also known as the Iota Draconids,isameteorshowerassociatedwiththecomet7P/ Pons– Winnecke, first recognized on May 27, 1916, by William F. Denning. The shower, with its slow meteors, was not observed prior to 1916 because Earth did not cross the comet' s dust trail until Jupiter perturbed Pons– Winnecke' s orbit, causing it to come within of Earth' s orbit the first year the June Bootids were observed. In 1982, E. A. Reznikov discovered that the 1916 outburst was caused by material released from the comet in 1819. Another outburst of the June Bootids was not observed until 1998, because Comet Pons– Winnecke' s orbit was not in a favorable position. However, on June 27, 1998, an outburst of meteors radiating from Boötes, later confirmed to be associated with Pons- Winnecke, was observed. They were incredibly long- lived, with trails of the brightest meteors lasting several seconds at times. Many fireballs, green- hued trails, and even some meteors that cast shadows were observed throughout the outburst, which had a maximum zenithal hourly rate of 200– 300 meteors per hour. Two Russian astronomers determined in 2002 that material ejected from the comet in 1825 was responsible for the 1998 outburst. Ejecta from the comet dating to 1819, 1825 and 1830 was predicted to enter Earth' s atmosphere on June 23, 2004. The predictions of a shower less spectacular than the 1998 showing were borne out in a display that had a maximum zenithal hourly rate of 16– 20 meteors per hour that night. The June Bootids are not expected to have another outburst in the next 50 years. Typically, only 1– 2 dim, very slow meteors are visible per hour; the average June Bootid has a magnitude of 5. 0. It is related to the Alpha Draconids and the Bootids- Draconids. The shower lasts from June 27 to July 5, with a peak on the night of June 28. The June Bootids are classified as a class III shower( variable), and has an average entry velocity of 18 kilometers per second. Its radiant is located 7 degrees north of Beta Boötis. The Beta Bootids is a weak shower that begins on January 5, peaks on January 16, and ends on January 18. Its meteors travel at 43 km/ s. The January Bootids is a short, young meteor shower that begins on January 9, peaks from January 16 to January 18, and ends on January 18. The Phi Bootids is another weak shower radiating from Boötes. It begins on April 16, peaks on April 30 and May 1, and ends on May 12. Its | meteors are slow- moving, with |
a velocity of 15. 1 km/ s. They were discovered in 2006. The shower' s peak hourly rate can be as high as six meteors per hour. Though named for a star in Boötes, the Phi Bootid radiant has moved into Hercules. The meteor stream is associated with three different asteroids: 1620 Geographos, 2062 Aten and 1978 CA. The Lambda Bootids, part of the Bootid- Coronae Borealid Complex, are a weak annual shower with moderately fast meteors; 41. 75 km/ s. The complex includes the Lambda Bootids, as well as the Theta Coronae Borealids and Xi Coronae Borealids. All of the Bootid- Coronae Borealid showers are Jupiter family comet showers; the streams in the complex have highly inclined orbits. There are several minor showers in Boötes, some of whose existence is yet to be verified. The Rho Bootids radiate from near the namesake star, and were hypothesized in 2010. The average Rho Bootid has an entry velocity of 43 km/ s. It peaks in November and lasts for three days. The Rho Bootid shower is part of the SMA complex, a group of meteor showers related to the Taurids,whichisinturnlinkedtothecomet2P/ Encke. However, the link to the Taurid shower remains unconfirmed and may be a chance correlation. Another such shower is the Gamma Bootids, which were hypothesized in 2006. Gamma Bootids have an entry velocity of 50. 3 km/ s. The Nu Bootids, hypothesized in 2012, have faster meteors, with an entry velocity of 62. 8 km/ s. References. CitationsReferencesBernardino Ochino( 1487– 1564) was an Italian, who was raised a Roman Catholic and later turned to Protestantism and became a Protestant reformer. Biography. Bernardino Ochino was born in Siena, the son of the barber Domenico Ochino, and at the age of 7 or 8, in around 1504, was entrusted to the order of Franciscan Friars. From 1510 he studied medicine at Perugia. Transfer to the Capuchins. At the age of 38, Ochino transferred himself in 1534 to the newly founded Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. By then he was the close friend of Juan de Valdés, Pietro Bembo, Vittoria Colonna, Pietro Martire, Carnesecchi. In 1538 he was elected vicar- general of his order. In 1539, urged by Bembo, he visited Venice and delivered a course of sermons showing a sympathy with justification by faith, which appeared more clearly in his" Dialogues" published the same year. He was suspected and denounced, but nothing ensued until the establishment of the Inquisition in Rome in June 1542, at the instigation of Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Carafa. Ochino received a citation to Rome, and set out to obey it about the middle of August. According to his own statement, he was deterred from presenting himself at Rome by the warnings of Cardinal Contarini, whom he found at Bologna, dying of poison administered by the reactionary party. Escape to Geneva. Ochino turned aside to Florence, and after some hesitation went across the Alps to Geneva. He was cordially received by John Calvin, and published within two years several volumes of" Prediche", controversial tracts rationalizing his change of religion. He also | addressed replies to marchioness Vittoria |
Colonna, Claudio Tolomei, and other Italian sympathizers who were reluctant to go to the same length as himself. His own breach with the Roman Catholic Church was final. Augsburg and England. In 1545 Ochino became minister of the Italian Protestant congregation at Augsburg. From this time dates his contact with Caspar Schwenckfeld. He was compelled to flee when, in January 1547, the city was occupied by the imperial forces for the Diet of Augsburg. Ochino found asylum in England, where he was made a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral, received a pension from Edward VI' s privy purse, and composed his major work, the" Tragoedie or Dialoge of the unjuste usurped primacie of the Bishop of Rome". This text, originally written in Latin, is extant only in the 1549 translation of Bishop John Ponet. The form is a series of dialogues. Lucifer, enraged at the spread of Jesus' s kingdom, convokes the fiends in council, and resolves to set up the pope as antichrist. The state, represented by the emperor Phocas, is persuaded to connive at the pope' s assumption of spiritual authority; the other churches are intimidated into acquiescence; Lucifer' s projects seem fully accomplished, when Heaven raises up Henry VIII of England and his son for their overthrow. Several of Ochino' s" Prediche" were translated into English by Anna Cooke; and he published numerous controversial treatises on the Continent. Ochino' s" Che Cosa è Christo" was translated into Latin and English by the future Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1547. Zürich. In 1553 the accession of Mary I drove Ochino from England. He went to Basel, where Lelio Sozzini and the lawyer Martino Muralto were sent to secure Ochino as pastor of the Italian church at Zürich, which Ochino accepted. The Italian congregation there was composed mainly of refugees from Locarno. There for 10 years Ochino wrote books which gave increasing evidence of his alienation from the orthodoxy around him. The most important of these was the" Labyrinth", a discussion of the freedom of the will, covertly undermining the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. In 1563 a long simmering storm burst on Ochino with the publication of his" Thirty Dialogues", in one of which his adversaries maintained that he had justified polygamy under the disguise of a pretended refutation. His dialogues on divorce and against the Trinity were also considered heretical. Poland, and death. Ochino was not given opportunity to defend himself, and was banished from Zürich. After being refused admission by other Protestant cities, he directed his steps towards Poland, at that time the most tolerant state in Europe. He had not resided there long when an edict appeared( August 8, 1564) banishing all foreign dissidents. Fleeing the country, he encountered the plague at Pińczów; three of his four children were carried off; and he himself, worn out by misfortune, died in solitude and obscurity at Slavkov in Moravia, about the end of 1564. Legacy. Ochino' s reputation among Protestants was low. He was charged by Thomas Browne in 1643 with the authorship of the legendary- apocryphal heretical treatise" De | tribus Impostoribus", as well as |
with having carried his alleged approval of polygamy into practice. His biographer Karl Benrath justified him, representing him as a fervent evangelist and at the same time as a speculative thinker with a passion for free inquiry. The picture is of Ochino always learning and unlearning and arguing out difficult questions with himself in his dialogues, frequently without attaining to any absolute conviction. The Bay of Quinte() is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter" Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is located about east of Toronto and west of Montreal. The name" Quinte" is derived from" Kenté", which was the name of an early French Catholic mission located on the north shore of what is now Prince Edward County. Officially, in the Mohawk language, the community is called" Kenhtè: ke", which means" the place of the bay". The Cayuga name is" Tayęda: ne: gęˀ or Detgayę: da: negęˀ"," land of two logs." The Bay, as it is known locally, provides some of the best trophy walleye angling in North America as well as most sport fish common to the great lakes. The bay is subject to algal blooms in late summer. Zebra mussels as well as the other invasive species found in the Great Lakes are present. The Quinte area played a vital role in bootlegging during Prohibition in the United States, with large volumes of liquor being produced in the area, and shipped via boat on the bay to Lake Ontario finally arriving in New York State where it was distributed. Illegal sales of liquor accounted for many fortunes in and around Belleville. Tourism in the area is significant, especially in the summer months due to the Bay of Quinte and its fishing, local golf courses, provincial parks, and wineries. Geography. The northern side of the bay is defined by Ontario' s mainland, while the southern side follows the shore of the Prince Edward County headland. Beginning in the east with the outlet to Lake Ontario, the bay runs west- southwest for to Picton( although this section is also called Adolphus Reach), where it turns north- northwest for another as far as Deseronto. From there it turns south- southwest again for another, running past Big Island on the south and Belleville on the north. The width of the bay rarely exceeds. The bay ends at Trenton( Quinte West) and the Trent River, both also on the north side. The Murray Canal has been cut through the" Carrying Place", the few kilometres separating the end of the bay and Lake Ontario on the west side. The Trent River is part of the Trent- Severn Waterway, a canal connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and then Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. There are several sub- bays off the Bay of Quinte, including Hay Bay, Big Bay, and Muscote Bay. Quinte Region. Quinte is also a region comprising several communities | situated along the Bay of |
Quinte, including Belleville, which is the largest city in the Quinte Region, and represents a midpoint between Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. The Greater Bay of Quinte area includes the municipalities of Brighton, Quinte West, Belleville, Prince Edward County, and Greater Napanee as well as the Native Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Overall population of the area exceeds 200, 000. Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte( Kenhtè: ke Kanyen' kehá: ka) on traditional Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. Their reserve Band number 244, their current land base, is on the Bay of Quinte in southeastern Ontario east of Belleville and immediately to the west of Deseronto. The community takes its name from a variant spelling of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant' s traditional Mohawk name, Thayendanegea( standardized spelling Thayentiné: ken), which means' two pieces of fire wood beside each other'. Officially, in the Mohawk language, the community is called" Kenhtè: ke"( Tyendinaga), which means" on the bay", and was the birthplace of Tekanawí: ta. The Cayuga name is Tyendinaga," Tayęda: ne: gęˀ or Detgayę: da: negęˀ"," land of two logs." Education. The Quinte Region, specifically the City of Belleville, is home to Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology. Other post- secondary schools in the region include Maxwell College of Advanced Technology, CDI College, and Quinte Literacy. Secondary schools in the region include Albert College( private school) and Sir James Whitney( a school for the deaf and severely hearing- impaired). Industry and employment. The Quinte Region is home to a large number of national and international food processing manufacturers. Quinte also houses a large number of industries in the plastics& amp; packaging sector, transportation sector, logistics sector and advanced manufacturing sector, including the following( just a few of over 350 industries located in the Bay of Quinte Region): The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity. It is a non- transposing instrument and typically its music is written in the bass and tenor clefs, and sometimes in the treble. There are two forms of modern bassoon: the Buffet( or French) and Heckel( or German) systems. It is typically played while sitting using a seat strap, but can be played while standing if the player has a harness to hold the instrument. Sound is produced by rolling both lips over the reed and blowing direct air pressure to cause the reed to vibrate. Its fingering system can be quite complex when compared to those of other instruments. Appearing initsmodernforminthe19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature, and is occasionally heard in pop, rock, and jazz settings as well. One who plays a bassoon is called a bassoonist. Etymology. The word bassoon comes from French and from Italian( with the augmentative suffix). However, the Italian name for the same instrument is, in Spanish and Romanian it is, and in German. Fagot | is an Old French word |
meaning a bundle of sticks. The dulcian came to be known as fagotto in Italy. However, the usual etymology that equates fagotto with" bundle of sticks" is somewhat misleading, as the latter term did not come into general use until later. However an early English variation," faget", was used as early as 1450 to refer to firewood, which is 100 years before the earliest recorded use of the dulcian( 1550). Further citation is needed to prove the lack of relation between the meaning" bundle of sticks" and" fagotto"( Italian) or variants. Some think that it may resemble the Roman fasces, a standard of bound sticks with an axe. A further discrepancy lies in the fact that the dulcian was carved out of a single block of wood— in other words, a single" stick" and not a bundle. Characteristics. Range.TherangeofthebassoonbeginsatB1( the first one below the bass staff) and extends upward over three octaves, roughly to the G above the treble staff(G5). However,mostwritingforbassoonrarelycallsfornotesaboveC5orD5; even Stravinsky' s opening solo in" The Rite of Spring"onlyascendstoD5. Notes higher than this are entirely possible, but seldom written, as they are difficult to produce( often requiring specific reed design features to ensure reliability), and at any rate are quite homogeneous in timbre to the same pitches on cor anglais, which can produce them with relative ease. French bassoon has greater facility in the extreme high register, and so repertoire written for it is somewhat likelier to include very high notes, although repertoire for French system can be executed on German system without alterations and vice versa. The extensive high register of the bassoon and its frequent role as a lyric tenor have meant that tenor clef is very commonly employed in its literature after the Baroque, partly to avoid excessive ledger lines, and,beginninginthe20th century, treble clef is also seen for similar reasons. Like the other woodwinds, the lowest note is fixed,butA1 is possible with a special extension to the instrument— see" Extended techniques" below. Although theprimarytoneholepitchesareapitchedperfect5th lower than other non- transposing Western woodwinds( effectively an octave beneath English horn) the bassoon is non- transposing, meaning that notes sounded match the written pitch. Construction. The bassoon disassembles into six main pieces, including the reed. The bell( 6), extending upward; the bass joint( or long joint)( 5), connecting the bell and the boot; the boot( or butt)( 4), at the bottom of the instrument and folding over on itself; the wing joint( or tenor joint)( 3), which extends from boot to bocal; and the bocal( or crook)( 2), a crooked metal tube that attaches the wing joint to a reed( 1)(). Some bassoons have two joints that together comprise the bass joint. Structure. The bore of the bassoon is conical, like that of the oboe and the saxophone, and the two adjoining bores of the boot joint are connected at the bottom of the instrument with a U- shaped metal connector. Both bore and tone holes are precision- machined, and each instrument is finished by hand for proper tuning. The walls of the bassoon are thicker at various points along the | bore; here, the tone holes |
are drilled at an angle to the axis of the bore, which reduces the distance between the holes on the exterior. This ensures coverage by the fingers of the average adult hand. Playing is facilitated by closing the distance between the widely spaced holes with a complex system of key work, which extends throughout nearly the entire length of the instrument. The overall height of the bassoon stretches to tall, but the total sounding length is considering that the tube is doubled back on itself. There are also short- reach bassoons made for the benefit of young or petite players. Materials. A modern beginner' s bassoon is generally made of maple, with medium- hardness types such as sycamore maple and sugar maple preferred. Less- expensive models are also made of materials such as polypropylene and ebonite, primarily for student and outdoor use. Metal bassoons were made in the past but have not been produced by any major manufacturer since 1889. Reeds. The art of reed- making has been practiced for several hundred years, some of the earliest known reeds having been made for the dulcian, a predecessor of the bassoon. Current methods of reed- making consist of a set of basic methods; however, individual bassoonists' playing styles vary greatly and thus require that reeds be customized to best suit their respective bassoonist. Advanced players usually make their own reeds to this end. With regards to commercially made reeds, many companies and individuals offer pre- made reeds for sale, but players often find that such reeds still require adjustments to suit their particular playing style. Modern bassoon reeds, made of" Arundo donax" cane, are often made by the players themselves, although beginner bassoonists tend to buy their reeds from professional reed makers or use reeds made by their teachers. Reeds begin with a length of tube cane that is split into three or four pieces using a tool called a cane splitter. The cane is then trimmed and" gouged" to the desired thickness, leaving the bark attached. After soaking, the gouged cane is cut to the proper shape and milled to the desired thickness, or" profiled", by removing material from the bark side. This can be done by hand with a file; more frequently it is done with a machine or tool designed for the purpose. After the profiled cane has soaked once again it is folded over in the middle. Prior to soaking, the reed maker will have lightly scored the bark with parallel lines with a knife; this ensures that the cane will assume a cylindrical shape during the forming stage. On the bark portion, the reed maker binds on one, two, or three coils or loops of brass wire to aid in the final forming process. The exact placement of these loops can vary somewhat depending on the reed maker. The bound reed blank is then wrapped with thick cotton or linen thread to protect it, and a conical steel mandrel( which sometimes has been heated in a flame) is quickly inserted in between the blades. Using a special pair | of pliers, the reed maker |
presses down the cane, making it conform to the shape of the mandrel.( The steam generated by the heated mandrel causes the cane to permanently assume the shape of the mandrel.) The upper portion of the cavity thus created is called the" throat", and its shape has an influence on the final playing characteristics of the reed. The lower, mostly cylindrical portion will be reamed out with a special tool called a reamer, allowing the reed to fit on the bocal. After the reed has dried, the wires are tightened around the reed, which has shrunk after drying, or replaced completely. The lower part is sealed( a nitrocellulose- based cement such as Duco may be used) and then wrapped with thread to ensure both that no air leaks out through the bottom of the reed and that the reed maintains its shape. The wrapping itself is often sealed with Duco or clear nail varnish( polish). Electrical tape can also be used as a wrapping for amateur reed makers. The bulge in the wrapping is sometimes referred to as the" Turk' s head"— it serves as a convenient handle when inserting the reed on the bocal. Recently, more players are choosing the more modern heat- shrink tubing instead of the time- consuming and fiddly thread. The thread wrapping( commonly known as a" Turban" due to the criss- crossing fabric) is still more common in commercially sold reeds. To finish the reed, the end of the reed blank, originally at the center of the unfolded piece of cane, is cut off, creating an opening. The blades above the first wire are now roughly long. For the reed to play, a slight bevel must be created at the tip with a knife, although there is also a machine that can perform this function. Other adjustments with the reed knife may be necessary, depending on the hardness, the profile of the cane, and the requirements of the player. The reed opening may also need to be adjusted by squeezing either the first or second wire with the pliers. Additional material may be removed from the sides( the" channels") or tip to balance the reed. Additionally, if the" e" in the bass clef staff is sagging in pitch, it may be necessary to" clip" the reed by removing from its length using a pair of very sharp scissors or the equivalent. History. Origin. Music historians generally consider the dulcian to be the forerunner of the modern bassoon, as the two instruments share many characteristics: a double reed fitted to a metal crook, obliquely drilled tone holes and a conical bore that doubles back on itself. The origins of the dulcian are obscure, but by the mid-16th century it was available in as many as eight different sizes, from soprano to great bass. A full consort of dulcians was a rarity; its primary function seems to have been to provide the bass in the typical wind band of the time, either loud( shawms) or soft( recorders), indicating a remarkable ability to vary dynamics to suit the need. Otherwise, | dulcian technique was rather primitive, |
with eight finger holes and two keys, indicating that it could play in only a limited number of key signatures. Circumstantial evidence indicates that the baroque bassoon was a newly invented instrument, rather than a simple modification of the old dulcian. The dulcian was not immediately supplanted,butcontinuedtobeusedwellintothe18th century by Bach and others; and, presumably for reasons of interchangeability, repertoire from this time is very unlikely to go beyond the smaller compass of the dulcian. The man most likely responsible for developing the true bassoon was Martin Hotteterre( d. 1712), who may also have invented the three- piece" flûte traversière"( transverse flute) and the" hautbois"( baroque oboe).Somehistoriansbelievethatsometimeinthe1650s, Hotteterre conceived the bassoon in four sections( bell, bass joint, boot and wing joint), an arrangement that allowed greater accuracy in machining the bore compared to the one- piece dulcian. He also extended the compass down to B by adding two keys. An alternate view maintains Hotteterre was one of several craftsmen responsible for the development of the early bassoon. These may have included additional members of the Hotteterre family, as well as other French makers active around the same time. No original French bassoon from this period survives, but if it did, itwouldmostlikelyresembletheearliestextantbassoonsofJohannChristophDennerandRichardHakafromthe1680s. Sometime around 1700, a fourth key( G♯) was added, and it was for this type of instrument that composers such as Antonio Vivaldi, Bach, and Georg Philipp Telemann wrote their demanding music. A fifth key, for the low E,wasaddedduringthefirsthalfofthe18th century. Notable makers of the 4- key and 5- key baroque bassoon include J. H. Eichentopf( c. 1678– 1769), J. Poerschmann( 1680– 1757), Thomas Stanesby, Jr.( 1668– 1734), G. H. Scherer( 1703– 1778), and Prudent Thieriot( 1732– 1786). Modern configuration.Increasingdemandsoncapabilitiesofinstrumentsandplayersinthe19th century— particularly larger concert halls requiring greater volume and the rise of virtuoso composer- performers— spurred further refinement. Increased sophistication, both in manufacturing techniques and acoustical knowledge, made possible great improvements in the instrument' s playability. The modern bassoon exists in two distinct primary forms, the Buffet( or" French") system and the Heckel(" German") system. Most of the world plays the Heckel system, while the Buffet system is primarily played in France, Belgium, and parts of Latin America. A number of other types of bassoons have been constructed by various instrument makers, such as the rare Galandronome. Owing to the ubiquity of the Heckel system in English- speaking countries, references in English to the contemporary bassoon always mean the Heckel system, with the Buffet system being explicitly qualified where it appears. Heckel( German) system. The design of the modern bassoon owes a great deal to the performer, teacher, and composer Carl Almenräder. Assisted by the German acoustic researcher Gottfried Weber, he developed the 17- key bassoon with a range spanning four octaves. Almenräder' s improvements to the bassoon began with an 1823 treatise describing ways of improving intonation, response, and technical ease of playing by augmenting and rearranging the keywork. Subsequent articles further developed his ideas. His employment at Schott gave him the freedom to construct and test instruments according to these new designs, and he published the results in" Caecilia", Schott' s | house journal. Almenräder continued publishing |
and building instruments until his death in 1846, and Ludwig van Beethoven himself requested one of the newly made instruments after hearing of the papers. In 1831, Almenräder left Schott to start his own factory with a partner, Johann Adam Heckel. Heckel and two generations of descendants continued to refine the bassoon, and their instruments became the standard, with other makers following. Because of their superior singing tone quality( an improvement upon one of the main drawbacks of the Almenräder instruments), the Heckel instruments competed for prominence with the reformed Wiener system, a Boehm- style bassoon, and a completely keyed instrument devised by Charles- Joseph Sax, father of Adolphe Sax. F. W. Kruspe implemented a latecomer attempt in 1893 to reform the fingering system, but it failed to catch on. Other attempts to improve the instrument included a 24- keyed model and a single- reed mouthpiece, but both these had adverse effects on tone and were abandoned.Comingintothe20th century, the Heckel- style German model of bassoon dominated the field. Heckel himself had made over 1,100instrumentsbytheturnofthe20th century( serial numbers begin at 3, 000), and the British makers' instruments were no longer desirable for the changing pitch requirements of the symphony orchestra, remaining primarily in military band use.Exceptforabrief1940s wartime conversion to ball bearing manufacture, the Heckel concern has produced instruments continuously to the present day. Heckel bassoons are considered by many to be the best, although a range of Heckel- style instruments is available from several other manufacturers, all with slightly different playing characteristics. Because its mechanism is primitive compared to most modern woodwinds, makers have occasionally attempted to" reinvent" the bassoon.Inthe1960s, Giles Brindley began to develop what he called the" logical bassoon", which aimed to improve intonation and evenness of tone through use of an electrically activated mechanism, making possible key combinations too complex for the human hand to manage. Brindley' s logical bassoon was never marketed. Buffet( French) system. The Buffet system bassoon achieved its basic acoustical properties somewhat earlier than the Heckel. Thereafter, it continued to develop in a more conservative manner. While the early history of the Heckel bassoon included a complete overhaul of the instrument in both acoustics and key work, the development of the Buffet system consisted primarily of incremental improvements to the key work. This minimalist approach of the Buffet deprived it of improved consistency of intonation, ease of operation, and increased power, which is found in Heckel bassoons, but the Buffet is considered by some to have a more vocal and expressive quality. The conductor John Foulds lamented in 1934 the dominance of the Heckel- style bassoon, considering them too homogeneous in sound with the horn. The modern Buffet system has 22 keys with its range being the same as the Heckel; although Buffet instruments have greater facility in the upper registers,reachingE5andF5 with far greater ease and less air resistance. Compared to the Heckel bassoon, Buffet system bassoons have a narrower bore and simpler mechanism, requiring different, and often more complex fingerings for many notes. Switching between Heckel and Buffet, or vice versa, requires extensive retraining. French | woodwind instruments' tone in general |
exhibits a certain amount of" edge", with more of a vocal quality than is usual elsewhere, and the Buffet bassoon is no exception. This sound has been utilised effectively in writing for Buffet bassoon, but is less inclined to blend than the tone of the Heckel bassoon. As with all bassoons, the tone varies considerably, depending on individual instrument, reed, and performer. In the hands of a lesser player, the Heckel bassoon can sound flat and woody, but good players succeed in producing a vibrant, singing tone. Conversely, a poorly played Buffet can sound buzzy and nasal, but good players succeed in producing a warm, expressive sound. Though the United Kingdom once favored the French system, Buffet-systeminstrumentsarenolongermadethereandthelastprominentBritishplayeroftheFrenchsystemretiredinthe1980s. However, with continued use in some regions and its distinctive tone, the Buffet continues to have a place in modern bassoon playing, particularly in France, where it originated. Buffet- model bassoons are currently made in Paris by Buffet Crampon and the atelier Ducasse( Romainville, France). The Selmer Company stopped fabrication of French system bassoons around the year 2012. Some players, for example the late Gerald Corey in Canada, have learned to play both types and will alternate between them depending on the repertoire. Use in ensembles.EnsemblesPriortothe20th Century. Pre- 1760. Prior to 1760, the early ancestor of the bassoon was the dulcian. It was used to reinforce the bass line in wind ensembles called consorts. However,itsuseinconcertorchestraswassporadicuntilthelate17th century when double reeds began to make their way into standard instrumentation. Increasing use of the dulcian as a" basso continuo" instrument meant that it began to be included in opera orchestras, in works such as those by Reinhard Keiser and Jean- Baptiste Lully. Meanwhile, as the dulcian advanced technologically and was able to achieve more virtuosity, composers such as Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Johann Ernst Galliard, Johann Friedrich Fasch and Georg Philip Telemann wrote demanding solo and ensemble music for the instrument. Antonio Vivaldi brought it to prominence by featuring it in thirty- nine concerti. c. 1760- 1830. While the bassoon was still often used to give clarity to the bassline due to its sonorous low register, the capabilities of wind instruments grew as technology advanced during the Classical era. This allowed the instrument to play in more keys than the dulcian. Joseph Haydn took advantage of this in his Symphony No. 45(" Farewell Symphony"), in which the bassoon plays in F- sharp minor. Following with these advances, composers also began to exploit the bassoon for its unique color, flexibility, and virtuosic ability, rather than for its perfunctory ability to double the bass line. Those who did this include Ludwig van Beethoven in his three Duos for Clarinet and Bassoon( WoO 27) for clarinet and bassoon and Niccolo Paganini in his duets for violin and bassoon. In his Bassoon Concerto in B- flat major, K. 191, W. A. Mozart utilized all aspects of the bassoon' s expressiveness with its contrasts in register, staccato playing, and expressive sound, and was especially noted for its singing quality in the second movement. This concerto is often considered the one of the most | important works in all of |
the bassoon' s repertoire, even today. The bassoon' s similarity to the human voice, in addition to its newfound virtuosic ability, was another quality many composers took advantage of during the classical era. After 1730, the German bassoon' s range expended up to B♭ 4, and much higher with the French instrument. Technological advances also caused the bassoon' s tenor register sound to become more resonant, and playing in this register grew in popularity, especially in the Austro- Germanic musical world. Pedagogues such as Josef Frohlich instructed students to practice scales, thirds, and fourths as vocal students would. In 1829, he wrote that the bassoon was capable of expressing" the worthy, the virile, the solemn, the great, the sublime, composure, mildness, intimacy, emotion, longing, heartfulness, reverence, and soulful ardour." In G. F. Brandt' s performance of Carl Maria von Weber' s Concerto for Bassoon in F Major, Op. 75( J. 127) it was also likened to the human voice. In France, Pierre Cugnier described the bassoon' s role as encompassing not only the bass part, but also to accompany the voice and harp, play in pairs with clarinets and horns in Harmonie, and to play in" nearly all types of music," including concerti, which were much more common than the sonatas of the previous era. Both Cugnier and Étienne Ozi emphasized the importance of the bassoon' s similarity to the singing voice. The role of the bassoon in the orchestra varied depending on the country. In the Viennese orchestra the instrument offered a three- dimensional sound to the ensemble by doubling other instruments such as violins, as heard in Mozart' s overture to" The Marriage of Figaro," K 492. where it plays a rather technical part alongside the strings. He also wrote for the bassoon to change its timbre depending on which instrument it was paired with; warmer with clarinets, hollow with flutes, and dark and dignified with violins. In Germany and Scandinavian countries, orchestras typically featured only two bassoons. But in France, orchestras increased the number to four in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In England, the bassoonist' s role varied depending on the ensemble. Johann Christian Bach wrote two concertos for solo bassoon, and it also appeared in more supportive roles such as accompanying church choirs after the Puritan revolution destroyed most church organs. In the American colonies, the bassoon was typically seen in a chamber setting. After the Revolutionary War, bassoonists were found in wind bands that gave public performances. By 1800, there was at least one bassoon in the United States Marine Band. In South America, the bassoon also appeared in small orchestras, bands, and military musique( similar to Harmonie ensembles). c. 1830- 1900. The role of the bassoon during the Romantic era varied between a role as a supportive bass instrument and a role as a virtuosic, expressive, solo instrument. In fact, it was very much considered an instrument that could be used in almost any circumstance. The comparison of the bassoon' s sound to the human voice continued on during this time, as much | of the pedagogy surrounded emulating |
this sound. Giuseppe Verdi used the instrument' s lyrical, singing voice to evoke emotion in pieces such as his" Messa da Requiem". Eugene Jancourt compared the use of vibrato on the bassoon to that of singers, and Luigi Orselli wrote that the bassoon blended well with human voice. He also noted the function of the bassoon in the French orchestra at the time, which served to support the sound of the viola, reinforce staccato sound, and double the bass, clarinet, flute, and oboe. Emphasis also began to be placed on the unique sound of the bassoon' s staccato, which might be described as quite short and aggressive, such as in Hector Berlioz' s" Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14" in the fifth movement. Paul Dukas utilized the staccato to depict the image of two brooms coming to life in" The Sorcerer' s Apprentice." It was common for there to be only two bassoons in German orchestras. Austrian and British military bands also only carried two bassoons, and were mainly used for accompaniment and offbeat playing. In France, Hector Berlioz also made it fashionable to use more than two bassoons; he often scored for three or four, and at time wrote for up to eight such as in his" l’ Impériale". At this point, composers expected bassoons to be as virtuosic as the other wind instruments, as they often wrote solos challenging the range and technique of the instrument. Examples of this include Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov' s bassoon solo and cadenza following the clarinet in" Sheherazade," Op. 35 and in Richard Wagner' s" Tannhäuser", which required the bassoonist to tripletongueandalsoplayuptothetopofitsrangeatanE5. Wagner also used the bassoon for its staccato ability in his work, and often wrote his three bassoon parts in thirds to evoke a darker sound with noticeable tone color. In Modest Mussorgsky' s" Night on Bald Mountain", the bassoons play fortissimo alongside other bass instruments in order to evoke" the voice of the Devil."20thand21st century ensembles. At this point in time, the development of the bassoon slowed. Rather than making large leaps in technological improvements, tiny imperfections in the instrument' s function were corrected. The instrument became quite versatile throughout the twentieth century; the instrument was at this point able to play three octaves, a variety of different trills, and maintained stable intonation across all registers and dynamic levels. The pedagogy among bassoonists varied among different countries, and so the overall instrument itself played a variety of roles. As was a common theme in previous eras, the bassoon was valued by composers for its unique voice, and its use rose higher in pitch. A famous example of this is in Igor Stravinsky' s" Rite of Spring" in which the bassoon must play in its highest register in order to mimic the Russian dudka. Composers also wrote for the bassoon' s middle register, such as in Stravinsky' s" Berceuse" in The" Firebird" and Symphony No. 5 in E- flat major, op. 82 by Jean Sibelius' s. They also continued to highlight the staccato sound of the bassoon, as heard in Sergei Prokofiev' s" Humorous Scherzo". | In Sergei Prokofiev' s Peter |
and the Wolf, the part of the grandfather is played by the bassoon. In orchestral settings, most orchestras from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present have three or four bassoonists, with the fourth typically covering contrabassoon as well. Greater emphasis on the use of timbre, vibrato, and phrasing began to appear in bassoon pedagogy, and many followed Marcel Tabuteau' s philosophy on musical phrasing. Vibrato began to be used in ensemble playing, depending on the phrasing of the music. The bassoon was, and currently is, expected to be fluent with other woodwinds in terms of virtuosity and technique. Examples of this include the cadenza for bassoons in Maurice Ravel' s" Rapsodie espagnole" and the multi- finger trills used in Stravinsky' s Octet. In the twentieth century, the bassoon was less of a concerto soloist, and when it was, the accompanying ensemble was made softer and quieter. In addition, it was no longer used in marching bands, though still existed in concert bands with one or two of them. Orchestral repertoire remained very much the same Austro- Germanic tradition throughout most Western countries. It mostly appeared in solo, chamber, and symphonic settings.Bythemid1900s, broadcasting and recording grew in popularity, allowing for new opportunities for bassoonists, and leading to a slow decline of live performances. Much of the new music for bassoon in the late twentieth and early twenty- first centuries, often included extended techniques and was written for solo or chamber settings. One piece that included extended techniques was Luciano Berio' s" Sequenza XII", which called for microtonal fingerings, glissandos, and timbral trills. Double and triple tonguing, flutter tonguing, multiphonics, quarter- tones, and singing are all utilized in Bruno Bartolozzi' s" Concertazioni." There were also a variety of concerti and bassoon and piano pieces written, such as John Williams' s" Five Sacred Trees" and André Previn' s" Sonata for bassoon and piano". There were also" performance" pieces such as Peter Schickele' s" Sonata Abassoonata", which required the bassoonist to be both a musician and an actor. The bassoon quartet became prominent at this time, with pieces such as Daniel Dorff' s" It Takes Four to Tango". Jazz. The bassoon is infrequently used as a jazz instrument and rarely seen in a jazz ensemble. Itfirstbeganappearinginthe1920s, when Garvin Bushell began incorporating the bassoon in his performances. Specific calls for its use occurred in Paul Whiteman' s group, the unusual octets of Alec Wilder, and a few other session appearances. The next few decades saw the instrument used only sporadically, as symphonic jazz fell out of favor,butthe1960s saw artists such as Yusef Lateef and Chick Corea incorporate bassoon into their recordings. Lateef' s diverse and eclectic instrumentation saw the bassoon as a natural addition( see, e. g.," The Centaur and the Phoenix"( 1960) which features bassoon as part of a 6- man horn section, including a few solos) while Corea employed the bassoon in combination with flautist Hubert Laws. More recently, Illinois Jacquet, Ray Pizzi, Frank Tiberi, and Marshall Allen have both doubled on bassoon in addition to their saxophone performances. Bassoonist Karen Borca, | a performer of free jazz, |
is one of the few jazz musicians to play only bassoon; Michael Rabinowitz, the Spanish bassoonist Javier Abad, and James Lassen, an American resident in Bergen, Norway, are others. Katherine Young plays the bassoon in the ensembles of Anthony Braxton. Lindsay Cooper, Paul Hanson, the Brazilian bassoonist Alexandre Silvério, Trent Jacobs and Daniel Smith are also currently using the bassoon in jazz. French bassoonists Jean- Jacques Decreux and Alexandre Ouzounoff have both recorded jazz, exploiting the flexibility of the Buffet system instrument to good effect. Popular music. In conjunction with the use of electronic pickups and amplification, the instrument began to be used more somewhat in jazz and rock settings. However, the bassoon is still quite rare as a regular member of rock bands.Several1960s pop music hits feature the bassoon, including" The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles( the bassoonist was Charles R. Sirard)," Jennifer Juniper" by Donovan,"59th Street Bridge Song" by Harpers Bizarre, and the oompah bassoon underlying The New Vaudeville Band' s" Winchester Cathedral". From 1974 to 1978, the bassoon was played by Lindsay Cooper in the British avant- garde band Henry Cow. The Leonard Nimoy song The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins features the Bassoon.Inthe1970s it was played, in the British medieval/ progressive rock band Gryphon, by Brian Gulland, as well as by the American band Ambrosia, where it was played by drummer Burleigh Drummond. The Belgian Rock in Opposition- band Univers Zero is also known for its use of the bassoon.Inthe1990s, AimeeDeFoe provided" grouchily lilting garage bassoon" for the indie- rock band Blogurt from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bengt Lagerberg, drummer with The Cardigans, played bassoon on several tracks on the band' s album Emmerdale. More recently, These New Puritans' s 2010 album Hidden makes heavy use of the instrument throughout; their principal songwriter, Jack Barnett, claimed repeatedly to be" writing a lot of music for bassoon" in the run- up to its recording. In early 2011, American hip- hop artist Kanye West updated his Twitter account to inform followers that he recently added the bassoon to a yet unnamed song. The rock band Better Than Ezra took their name from a passage in Ernest Hemingway' s" A Moveable Feast" in which the author comments that listening to an annoyingly talkative person is still" better than Ezra learning how to play the bassoon", referring to Ezra Pound. British psychedelic/ progressive rock band Knifeworld features the bassoon playing of Chloe Herrington, who also plays for experimental chamber rock orchestra Chrome Hoof. In 2016, the bassoon was featured on the album" Gang Signs and Prayers" by UK” grime" artist Stormzy. Played by UK bassoonist Louise Watson, the bassoon is heard in the tracks" Cold" and" Mr Skeng" as a complement to the electronic synthesizer bass lines typically found in this genre. The indie rock/ pop/ folk band, Dr. Bones Revival, based in Cleveland, Ohio features the bassoon in many of their songs. This instrument made its debut with the band in their 2020 charity concert in the Tremont neighborhood. The band members include four resident physicians in the Cleveland | metropolitan area. Technique. The bassoon |
is held diagonally in front of the player, but unlike the flute, oboe and clarinet, it cannot be easily supported by the player' s hands alone. Some means of additional support is usually required; the most common ones are a seat strap attached to the base of the boot joint, which is laid across the chair seat prior to sitting down, or a neck strap or shoulder harness attached to the top of the boot joint. Occasionally a spike similar to those used for the cello or the bass clarinet is attached to the bottom of the boot joint and rests on the floor. It is possible to play while standing up if the player uses a neck strap or similar harness, or if the seat strap is tied to the belt. Sometimes a device called a" balance hanger" is used when playing in a standing position. This is installed between the instrument and the neck strap, and shifts the point of support closer to the center of gravity, adjusting the distribution of weight between the two hands. The bassoon is played with both hands in a stationary position, the left above the right, with five main finger holes on the front of the instrument( nearest the audience) plus a sixth that is activated by an open- standing key. Five additional keys on the front are controlled by the little fingers of each hand. The back of the instrument( nearest the player) has twelve or more keys to be controlled by the thumbs, the exact number varying depending on model. To stabilize the right hand, many bassoonists use an adjustable comma- shaped apparatus called a" crutch", or a hand rest, which mounts to the boot joint. The crutch is secured with a thumb screw, which also allows the distance that it protrudes from the bassoon to be adjusted. Players rest the curve of the right hand where the thumb joins the palm against the crutch. The crutch also keeps the right hand from tiring and enables the player to keep the finger pads flat on the finger holes and keys. An aspect of bassoon technique not found on any other woodwind is called" flicking". It involves the left hand thumb momentarily pressing, or" flicking" the high A, C and D keys at the beginning of certain notes in the middle octave to achieve a clean slur from a lower note. This eliminates cracking, or brief multiphonics that happens without the use of this technique. The alternative method is" venting", which requires that the register key be used as part of the full fingering as opposed to being open momentarily at the start of the note. This is sometimes called the" European style"; venting raises the intonation of the notes slightly, and it can be advantageous when tuning to higher frequencies. Some bassoonists flick A and B when tongued, for clarity of articulation, but flicking( or venting) is practically ubiquitous for slurs. While flicking is used to slur up to higher notes, the whisper key is used for lower notes. From the A | right below middle C and |
lower, the whisper key is pressed with the left thumb and held for the duration of the note. This prevents cracking, as low notes can sometimes crack into a higher octave. Both flicking and using the whisper key is especially important to ensure notes speak properly during slurring between high and low registers. While bassoons are usually critically tuned at the factory, the player nonetheless has a great degree of flexibility of pitch control through the use of breath support, embouchure, and reed profile. Players can also use alternate fingerings to adjust the pitch of many notes. Similar to other woodwind instruments, the length of the bassoon can be increased to lower pitch or decreased to raise pitch. On the bassoon, this is done preferably by changing the bocal to one of a different length,( lengths are denoted by a number on the bocal, usually starting at 0 for the shortest length, and 3 for the longest, but there are some manufacturers who will use other numbers) but it is possible to push the bocal in or out slightly to grossly adjust the pitch. Embouchure and sound production. The bassoon embouchure is a very important aspect of producing a full, round, and rich sound on the instrument. The lips are both rolled over the teeth, often with the upper lip further along in an" overbite". The lips provide micromuscular pressure on the entire circumference of the reed, which grossly controls intonation and harmonic excitement, and thus must be constantly modulated with every change of note. How far along the reed the lips are placed affects both tone( with less reed in the mouth making the sound more edged or" reedy", and more reed making it smooth and less projectile) and the way the reed will respond to pressure. The musculature employed in a bassoon embouchure is primarily around the lips, which pressure the reed into the shapes needed for the desired sound. The jaw is raised or lowered to adjust the oral cavity for better reed control, but the jaw muscles are used much less for upward vertical pressure than in single reeds, only being substantially employed in the very high register. However, double reed students often" bite" the reed with these muscles because the control and tone of the labial and other muscles is still developing, but this generally makes the sound sharp and" choked" as it contracts the aperture of the reed and stifles the vibration of its blades. Apart from the embouchure proper, students must also develop substantial muscle tone and control in the diaphragm, throat, neck and upper chest, which are all employed to increase and direct air pressure. Air pressure is a very important aspect of the tone, intonation and projection of double reed instruments, affecting these qualities as much, or more than the embouchure does. Attacking a note on the bassoon with imprecise amounts of muscle or air pressure for the desired pitch will result in poor intonation, cracking or multiphonics, accidentally producing the incorrect partial, or the reed not speaking at all. These problems are | compounded by the individual qualities |
of reeds, which are categorically inconsistent in behaviour for inherent and exherent reasons. The muscle requirements and variability of reeds mean it takes some time for bassoonists( and oboists) to develop an embouchure that exhibits consistent control across all reeds, dynamics and playing environments. Modern fingering. The fingering technique of the bassoon varies more between players, by a wide margin, than that of any other orchestral woodwind. The complex mechanism and acoustics mean the bassoon lacks simple fingerings of good sound quality or intonation for some notes( especially in the higher range), but, conversely, there is a great variety of superior, but generally more complicated, fingerings for them. Typically, the simpler fingerings for such notes are used as alternate or trill fingerings, and the bassoonist will use as" full fingering" one or several of the more complex executions possible, for optimal sound quality. The fingerings used are at the discretion of the bassoonist, and, for particular passages, he or she may experiment to find new alternate fingerings that are thus idiomatic to the player. These elements have resulted in both" full" and alternate fingerings differing extensively between bassoonists, and are further informed by factors such as cultural difference in what sound is sought, how reeds are made, and regional variation in tuning frequencies( necessitating sharper or flatter fingerings). Regional enclaves of bassoonists tend to have some uniformity in technique, but on a global scale, technique differs such that two given bassoonists may share no fingerings for certain notes. Owing to these factors, ubiquitous bassoon technique can only be partially notated. The left thumb operates nine keys:B1,B1,C2,D2,D5,C5(alsoB4),twokeyswhencombinedcreateA4, and the whisper key.ThewhisperkeyshouldbehelddownfornotesbetweenandincludingF2andG3 and certain other notes; it can be omitted, but the pitch will destabilise. Additional notes can be created with the left thumb keys;theD2 and bottom key above the whisper key on the tenor joint( C key)togethercreatebothC3andC4. The same bottom tenor- joint key is also used, with additional fingering,tocreateE5andF5.D5andC5togethercreateC5.WhenthetwokeysonthetenorjointtocreateA4 are used with slightly altered fingering on the boot joint,B4 is created. The whisper key may also be used at certain points throughout the instrument' s high register, along with other fingerings, to alter sound quality as desired. The right thumb operates four keys.TheuppermostkeyisusedtoproduceB2andB3,andmaybeusedinB4,F4,C5,D5,F5,andE5. The large circular key, otherwise known as the" pancake key", ishelddownforallthelowestnotesfromE2downtoB1. It is also used, like the whisper key, in additional fingerings for muting the sound. For example, in Ravel' s" Boléro", the bassoon isaskedtoplaytheostinatoonG4. This is easy to performwiththenormalfingeringforG4, but Ravel directs that theplayershouldalsodepresstheE2 key( pancake key) to mute the sound( this being written with Buffet system in mind; the G fingering on which involves the Bb key– sometimes called" French" G on Heckel). The next key operated by the right thumb is known as the" spatula key": its primaryuseistoproduceF2andF3. The lowermost key is used less often: it isusedtoproduceA2(G2)andA3(G3), in a manner that avoids sliding the right fourth finger from another note. The four fingers of the left hand can each be used in two different positions. The key normally operated by the index finger is primarily usedforE5, also serving for trills in the lower register. Its main assignment | is the upper tone hole. |
This hole can be closed fully, or partially by rolling down the finger. This half-holingtechniqueisusedtooverblowF3,G3andG3. The middle finger typically stays on the centre hole on the tenor joint.ItcanalsomovetoaleverusedforE5, also a trill key. The ring finger operates, on most models, one key. Some bassoons have an alternate E key above the tone hole, predominantly for trills, but many do not. The smallest finger operates two side keys on the bass joint.ThelowerkeyistypicallyusedforC2, but can be used for muting or flattening notes in the tenor register.TheupperkeyisusedforE2,E4,F4,F4,A4,B4,B4,C5,C5,andD5;itflattensG3andisthestandardfingeringforitinmanyplacesthattunetolowerHertzlevelssuchasA440. The four fingers of the right hand have at least one assignment each. The index finger stays over one hole,exceptthatwhenE5 is played a side key at the top of the boot is used(thiskeyalsoprovidesaC3 trill, albeit sharp on D). The middle finger remains stationary over the hole with a ring around it, and this ring and other pads are lifted when the smallest finger on the right hand pushes a lever. The ring finger typically remains stationary on the lower ring- finger key. However, the upper ring- finger key can be used,typicallyforB2andB3, in place of the top thumb key on the front of the boot joint; this key comes from the oboe, and some bassoons do not have it because the thumb fingering is practically universal. The smallest finger operates three keys. The backmost one, closest to the bassoonist, is held down throughout most of the bass register.F4 may be created with this key,aswellasG4,B4,B4,andC5( the latter three employing solely it to flatten and stabilise the pitch). The lowest key for thesmallestfingerontherighthandisprimarilyusedforA2(G2)andA3(G3)butcanbeusedtoimproveD5,E5,andF5. The frontmost key is used, in addition to the thumb key,tocreateG2andG3; on many bassoons this key operates a different tone hole to the thumb key and produces a slightly flatter F(" duplicated F"); some techniques use one as standard for both octaves and the other for utility, but others use the thumb key for the lower and the fourth finger for the higher. Extended techniques. Many extended techniques can be performed on the bassoon, such as multiphonics, flutter- tonguing, circular breathing, double tonguing, and harmonics. In the case of the bassoon, flutter- tonguing may be accomplished by" gargling" in the back of the throat as well as by the conventional method of rolling Rs. Multiphonics on the bassoon are plentiful, and can be achieved by using particular alternative fingerings, but are generally heavily influenced by embouchure position. Also, again using certain fingerings, notes may be produced on the instrument that sound lower pitches than the actual range of the instrument. These notes tend to sound very gravelly and out of tune, but technically sound below the low B. The bassoonist may also produce lower notes than the bottom B by extending the length of bell. This can be achieved by inserting a specially made" low A extension" into the bell, but may also be achieved with a small paper or rubber tube or a clarinet/ cor anglais bell sitting inside the bassoon bell( although the note may tend sharp). The effect of this is to convert the lower B into a lower note, almost always A natural; this broadly | lowers the pitch of the |
instrument( most noticeably in the lower register) and will often accordingly convert the lowest B to B( and render the neighbouring C very flat). The idea of using low A was begun by Richard Wagner, who wanted to extend the range of the bassoon. Many passages in his later operas require the low A as well as the B- flat immediately above it- this is possible on a normal bassoon using an extension which also flattens low B to B, but all extensions to the bell have significant effects on intonation and sound quality in the bottom register of the instrument, and passages such as this are more often realised with comparative ease by the contrabassoon. Some bassoons have been specially made to allow bassoonists to realize similar passages. These bassoons are made with a" Wagner bell" which is an extended bell with a key for both the low A and the low B- flat, but they are not widespread; bassoons with Wagner bells suffer similar intonational problems as a bassoon with an ordinary A extension, and a bassoon must be constructed specifically to accommodate one, making the extension option far less complicated. Extending the bassoon' s range even lower than the A, though possible, would have even stronger effects on pitch and make the instrument effectively unusable. Despite the logistic difficulties of the note, Wagner was not the only composer to write the low A. Another composer who has required the bassoon to be chromatic down to low A is Gustav Mahler. Richard Strauss also calls for the low A in his opera" Intermezzo". Some works have optional low As, as in Carl Nielsen' s Wind Quintet, op. 43, which includes an optional low A for the final cadence of the work. Learning the bassoon. The complicated fingering and the problem of reeds make the bassoon more of a challenge to learn than some of the other woodwind instruments. Cost is another big factor in a person' s decision to pursue the bassoon. Prices range from US$ 7, 000 to over$ 45, 000 for a good- quality instrument. In North America, schoolchildren typically take up bassoon only after starting on another reed instrument, such as clarinet or saxophone. Students in America often begin to pursue the study of bassoon performance and technique in the middle years of their music education. Students are often provided with a school instrument and encouraged to pursue lessons with private instructors. Students typically receive instruction in proper posture, hand position, embouchure, and tone production. Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped, meaning' two feet'( from Latin" bis"' double' and" pes"' foot'). Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, and hopping. Few modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two- legged. In the Triassic period some groups of archosaurs( a group that includes crocodiles and dinosaurs) developed bipedalism; among the dinosaurs, all the early | forms and many later groups |
were habitual or exclusive bipeds; the birds are members of a clade of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs, the theropods. Within mammals, habitual bipedalism has evolved multiple times, with the macropods, kangaroo rats and mice, springhare, hopping mice, pangolins and hominin apes( australopithecines and humans) as well as various other extinct groups evolving the trait independently. A larger number of modern species intermittently or briefly use a bipedal gait. Several lizard species move bipedally when running, usually to escape from threats. Many primate and bear species will adopt a bipedal gait in order to reach food or explore their environment, though there are a few cases where they walk on their hind limbs only. Several arboreal primate species, such as gibbons and indriids, exclusively walk on two legs during the brief periods they spend on the ground. Many animals rear up on their hind legs while fighting or copulating. Some animals commonly stand on their hind legs to reach food, keep watch, threaten a competitor or predator, or pose in courtship, but do not move bipedally. Etymology. The word is derived from the Latin words" bi( s)"' two' and" ped-"' foot', as contrasted with quadruped' four feet'. Advantages. Limited and exclusive bipedalism can offer a species several advantages. Bipedalism raises the head; this allows a greater field of vision with improved detection of distant dangers or resources, access to deeper water for wading animals and allows the animals to reach higher food sources with their mouths. While upright, non- locomotory limbs become free for other uses, including manipulation( in primates and rodents), flight( in birds), digging( in giant pangolin), combat( in bears, great apes and the large monitor lizard) or camouflage. The maximum bipedal speed appears slower than the maximum speed of quadrupedal movement with a flexible backbone– both the ostrich and the red kangaroo can reach speeds of, while the cheetah can exceed. Even though bipedalism is slower at first, over long distances, it has allowed humans to outrun most other animals according to the endurance running hypothesis. Bipedality in kangaroo rats has been hypothesized to improve locomotor performance, which could aid in escaping from predators. Facultative and obligate bipedalism. Zoologists often label behaviors, including bipedalism, as" facultative"( i. e. optional) or" obligate"( the animal has no reasonable alternative). Even this distinction is not completely clear- cut— for example, humans other than infants normally walk and run in biped fashion, but almost all can crawl on hands and knees when necessary. There are even reports of humans who normally walk on all fours with their feet but not their knees on the ground, but these cases are a result of conditions such as Uner Tan syndrome— very rare genetic neurological disorders rather than normal behavior. Even if one ignores exceptions caused by some kind of injury or illness, there are many unclear cases, including the fact that" normal" humans can crawl on hands and knees. This article therefore avoids the terms" facultative" and" obligate", and focuses on the range of styles of locomotion" normally" used by various groups of animals. Normal humans may | be considered" obligate" bipeds because |
the alternatives are very uncomfortable and usually only resorted to when walking is impossible. Movement. There are a number of states of movement commonly associated with bipedalism. Bipedal animals. The great majority of living terrestrial vertebrates are quadrupeds, with bipedalism exhibited by only a handful of living groups. Humans, gibbons and large birds walk by raising one foot at a time. On the other hand, most macropods, smaller birds, lemurs and bipedal rodents move by hopping on both legs simultaneously. Tree kangaroos are able to walk or hop, most commonly alternating feet when moving arboreally and hopping on both feet simultaneously when on the ground. Amphibians. There are no known living or fossil amphibians which exhibited obligate bipedalism. Extant reptiles. Many species of lizards become bipedal during high- speed, sprint locomotion, including the world' s fastest lizard, the spiny- tailed iguana( genus" Ctenosaura"). Early reptiles and lizards. The first known biped is the bolosaurid" Eudibamus" whose fossils date from 290 million years ago. Its long hind- legs, short forelegs, and distinctive joints all suggest bipedalism. The species became extinct in the early Permian. Archosaurs( includes crocodiles, dinosaurs and birds). Birds. All birds are bipeds when on the ground, a feature inherited from their dinosaur ancestors. However, hoatzin chicks have claws on their wings which they use for climbing. Other archosaurs. Bipedalism evolved more than once in archosaurs, the group that includes both dinosaurs and crocodilians. All dinosaurs are thought to be descended from a fully bipedal ancestor, perhaps similar to" Eoraptor". Bipedal movement also re- evolved in a number of other dinosaur lineages such as the iguanodons. Some extinct members of the crocodilian line, a sister group to the dinosaurs, also evolved bipedal forms- a crocodile relative from the triassic," Effigia okeeffeae", is thought to have been bipedal. Pterosaurs were previously thought to have been bipedal, but recent trackways have all shown quadrupedal locomotion. Bipedalism also evolved independently among the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs diverged from their archosaur ancestors approximately 230 million years ago during the Middle to Late Triassic period, roughly 20 million years after the Permian- Triassic extinction event wiped out an estimated 95 percent of all life on Earth. Radiometric dating of fossils from the early dinosaur genus" Eoraptor" establishes its presence in the fossil record at this time. Paleontologists suspect" Eoraptor" resembles the common ancestor of all dinosaurs; if this is true, its traits suggest that the first dinosaurs were small, bipedal predators. The discovery of primitive, dinosaur- like ornithodirans such as" Marasuchus" and" Lagerpeton" in Argentinian Middle Triassic strata supports this view; analysis of recovered fossils suggests that these animals were indeed small, bipedal predators. Mammals. A number of groups of extant mammals have independently evolved bipedalism as their main form of locomotion- for example humans, giant pangolins, the extinct giant ground sloths, numerous species of jumping rodents and macropods. Humans, as their bipedalism has been extensively studied, are documented in the next section. Macropods are believed to have evolved bipedal hopping only once in their evolution, at some time no later than 45 million years ago. Bipedal movement | is less common among mammals, |
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