Maryland Democrat leaders issue letter condemning former Congressman Fred Grandy, Montgomery Cty Republican Women for anti-Islamist views

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

We have been following libertarian/Anti-Islamist hero Fred Grandy here at LR since his firing earlier this year from WMAL - Baltimore radio for statements on-air critical of Radical Islam.

Now a new development on another front. Grandy is scheduled to speak to the Montgomery County Republican Women's Club on September 24. But some local elected officials are going on record in opposition to his speech.

Maryland Juice reports "Montgomery Democrats Issue Letter Condemning Local GOP Extremist Speaker":

Today, a number of Democratic officials issued a letter condemning the Montgomery County GOP. Their letter, which appears below, is due to appear in tomorrow's Gazette and is signed by Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola, House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, and a number of state and county officials:

We have learned that the Montgomery County Republican Party is hosting an event in Chevy Chase on September 24 featuring former actor and former Congressman Fred Grandy as the featured speaker. Grandy will ostensibly be speaking about the topic of “Islamic Extremism”.

Fred Grandy is a former actor and former Congressman who has been an active leader in the nationwide movement to incite bigotry against American Muslims. Usually this is done under the guise of "Anti-terrorism", "Counter-Jihad" or "Fighting Islamic Extremism". In reality, these labels are often thinly-veiled excuses to spread lies about American Muslims and incite mistrust against them by claiming they are a threat to America, they are trying to implement "Creeping Sharia" and they are seeking worldwide domination.

On their WMAL radio show, Fred Grandy & his wife Catherine have repeatedly referred to Muslim people as "Sharia Compliant" and found it necessary to "warn" others that Muslims work in Government. This radio show was recently cancelled allegedly because of their anti-Muslim prejudice.

So-called “Anti-Sharia” bills have been introduced in numerous state capitals. Such legislation and accompanying rhetoric have been criticized as attacks on religious liberties or attempts to stigmatize American Muslims by a broad spectrum of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Agudah, the Orthodox Union, American Jewish Committee, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Fighting terrorism of all kinds is an important endeavor. But this cannot be used as an excuse to vilify an entire religion. It is inappropriate for the Montgomery County Republican party to be hosting an anti-Muslim speaker. Montgomery County is home to thousands of people of all races and religions. Divisive rhetoric of the kind Fred Grandy is known for has no place in Montgomery County or in our civic discourse.

Signed,

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett
Maryland State Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola
Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader Kumar Barve

Maryland State Senator Richard Madaleno
Maryland State Senator Roger Manno

Maryland State Delegate Sam Arora
Maryland State Delegate Alfred Carr
Maryland State Delegate Bill Frick
Maryland State Delegate James Gilchrist
Maryland State Delegate Benjamin Kramer
Maryland State Delegate Eric Luedtke
Maryland State Delegate Ana Gutierrez
Maryland State Delegate Tom Hucker
Maryland State Delegate Aruna Miller
Maryland State Delegate Heather Mizeur
Maryland State Delegate Kirill Reznik
Maryland State Delegate Shane Robinson
Maryland State Delegate Craig Zucker

Montgomery County Councilman Craig Rice
Montgomery County Councilman Hans Riemer
Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal
Montgomery County Councilman Marc Elrich

Editor's comment "GOP extremists" we wear that label proudly here at LR, and fully support Rep. Grandy.

Center-Left wins narrow victory in Denmark

Posted on by

Center-Right parties finish ahead in Norway locals

by Clifford F. Thies

With 99 percent of the vote counted, it looks as though the Social Democrats and their coalition partners have won a narrow victory, 189 sets to 186, and will be replacing the center-right government that has ruled in that country for ten years. The center-right bloc had been trailing by 6 points in polls as recently as two weeks ago, made a dramatic come back but still fell 0.6 points short in the popular vote and were hurt in the allocation of seats by the failure of the Christian Democrats to cross the threshold for representation. As prognosticated by this site, the Danish Liberal Party edged out the Social Democrats as the largest party. But, there appears no way for the Liberals to assemble a majority coalition.

In local elections in Norway, the center-right parties finished 8 points ahead of the center-left parties, an improvement of 3 points from their margin in local elections in 2007. Given that the center-right parties won more popular votes than the center-right in the most recent parliamentary election, and only failed to win a majority of the seats due to a quirk in the country's election law, the center-right is looking to the next parliamentary election with some anticipation.

The economics of the "Libertarian Tea Party" is just "nuts!"

Posted on by

"government spending cuts in a recession is unwise"

Newspaper in Kansas, Staff Editorial from the Winfield Daily Courrier "Tea Party economics?" Sept. 16:

The Tea Party is having an impact beyond its numbers.

Its cry for smaller government and more liberty resonates with many Americans.

But let’s admit something.

The Tea Party’s economics are nuts.

First of all, calling for government spending cuts in a recession is unwise.

That call makes sense for the long term, but it can only cost jobs in the short term.

Secondly, blaming regulations for the recession is nonsense.

Almost all the same regulations we have today were in place during the booming 1990s and the recovery after 9/11.

The financial crisis of 2008, if anything, came about because of inadequate regulation.

Thirdly, the idea that a president or a governor gets credit — or blame — for prosperity or lack of it is politics, not economics.

Ours is an economy of cycles.

The Libertarian Tea Party mantra that less government somehow makes more private sector jobs ignores this basic reality.

The King of Mellow Music comes out for Ron Paul

Posted on by

"He's solid... I like what he says"

From Eric Dondero:

During one of his early campaigns for congress in the mid-1990s, Ron Paul was famously asked by a local news reporter about his favorite type of music. In true medical doctor form, he answered, "elevator music."

Now, an icon of the genre appears to be returning the favor.

Barry Manilow quoted in a recent Daily Caller interview:

“I like him. I like what he says, I do. I like what he says. I think he’s solid,” said Manilow, who confirmed to TheDC in an interview at the Capitol on Thursday that he contributed to Paul’s last campaign for president.

“I agree with just about everything he says. What can I tell you?” Manilow added.

Willie Nelson for Johnson; Gene Simmons for Perry; Ted Nugent cautiously supporting his "dear friend" Rick

Musical artists have been slow so far to back Republican presidential candidates. However, two notables include Willie Nelson who issued a press release two months ago expressing his support for Gary Johnson's policy program, and Gene Simmons of KISS who tweeted his backing of Rick Perry for President.

Interestingly, Ted Nugent a self-described "dear friend" of Rick Perry, is keeping his distance from the campaign, worried that he might be a bit too radical and outspoken which might cause troubles for the governor's image.

From the Houston Chronicle "Ted Nugent says Rick Perry is a dear friend — but might not want his endorsement" Sept. 7:

“If I’m not given an authorized position in the campaign [it’s] because I’m too divisive,” Nugent told Billboard.com “I don’t know if I’ll get a stamp of approval because I am so volatile and because the line in the sand in a political campaign can be so ambiguous — and I’m anything but.”

Nugent told Billboard.com that his involvement with campaign efforts could potentially “scare away” some voters. In 2007, Nugent stirred controversy while performing at the inaugural ball celebrating Perry’s gubernatorial win where he donned a Confederate flag t-shirt and shouted offensive remarks during the ceremony.

Mapping the Political Spectrum: An advancement of the Nolan Chart

Posted on by

SPECIAL LR GUEST ARTICLE

by Jacob Asplund,

Political discourse often breaks down because of incompatible or ambiguous definitions. Words like left, right, conservative, progressive, mainstream, extreme, centrist and moderate have different meanings to different people. A wide variety of political maps have been created to try to reduce these ambiguities and facilitate productive dialogue. The Asplund Chart improves on these previous attempts.

Here's a brief summary of the Asplund Chart. By their very nature, the two national parties favor centralized decision-making within their own party. The Republican Party is represented by the area below the red line and the Democratic Party is represented by the area below the blue line. Ideological conservatism is the area above the yellow line. Social conservatism is farther to the right on the chart while institutional conservatism (constitutionalism/free markets) is closer to the top. Similarly for ideological progressives and liberals, located above the green line, farther left indicates a more transformational philosophy while proximity to the top represents an emphasis on civil liberties and personal autonomy. The swing voters, centrists and nonparticipants in the middle are neither strongly ideological nor strongly partisan. These boundaries are dynamically maintained in roughly the same position over time as politicians, parties and ideologies adapt to changing circumstances.

Mapping major political factions on the political landscape helps to clarify observed political dynamics. Common political activities have a clear graphical meaning in the Asplund Chart. The rhetorical positions of Republican and Democratic politicians are close to the red and blue points on the chart. The party platforms are developed to maximize the appeal of politicians to the left or right half of the political spectrum. Republican run on a small government, free market and socially conservative platform while Democrats run on a platform of civil liberties, social safety net and multiculturalism. The infighting between conservatives, establishment (or mainstream) Republicans and RINOs is generally along the three divisions within the Republican area of the chart. Similar rifts within the Democratic Party regularly surface during political debates.

The history of third party futility can be explained by the strong ideological disputes that prevent conservative-leaning independents, libertarians and left-leaning independents from working together. If these groups could coalesce, it would have to be around the smaller government, ideologically neutral position represented by the gray point. Third parties that are strongly ideological cannot draw enough independents from the middle or the other side and end up slitting the vote within their half of the political landscape. Only by completely replacing the major party on their side of the spectrum has a third party ever succeed. The Tea Party movement is attempting to unseat moderates and some establishment Republicans and to vote in conservative Republicans and right-leaning independents without fracturing the Republican Party. A similar, though less successful, attempt was made by progressives within the Democratic Party in the mid-to-late 2000s.

When legislating and governing, the rhetoric and policies of both parties moves toward the black point on the chart. This is the point of moderate, bipartisan compromise between the national parties. These compromises almost always anger both the conservative and progressive base, since the only thing leaders and elites of both parties can agree about is expanding the size and scope of the federal government. Tactical political battles between insiders then determine who gets to manage the resulting bureaucracy. The main tactic in these insider political disputes, triangulation, is simply maintaining political unity within one party while causing the other party to split at either the moderate/establishment or establishment/ideologue boundary. These dynamics lead to the continually expanding federal government we see today and de Tocqueville noticed almost 200 years ago.

The other dynamic that the Asplund Chart captures is political marginalization. Conservatives are derided as reactionaries, Tea Partiers as neo-confederates, libertarians as anarchists, liberals as hippies, progressives as revolutionaries. By highlighting more extreme members and ignoring the reasonable ones, political insiders push each of these factions outside the mainstream. Republican and Democratic leaders are regularly denounced as (from left to right) communists, socialists, statists, fascists, dictators, corporatists, oligarchs and fundamentalists. They insulate themselves from these labels by adopting the language of moderation and centrism, if not the practice.

Having a shared map of politics helps foster rational dialogue, even between people who fundamentally disagree about policy preferences. Hopefully the Asplund Chart can prove useful in that regard.

cobsblog.blogspot.com

Recent AttackWatch Posts

Posted on by

From Cliff Thies:

AttackWatch.com is a website sponsored by the Obama campaign. It's a creepy-looking website obsessed with conspiracy and Truther-mentality. It asks people to submit the latest "attacks" on President Obama, so they can counter with "the Truth."

Some latest posts:

Somebody at the Department of Labor keeps reporting 9 percent unemployment. Aren't they supposed to be working for us?

Fox News is saying the stock market is falling. Not that I ever listen to them.

The company on the other side of town uses non-union scab labor. Why don't you guys search the place for contraband or something?

I got Rick Perry's confidential college transcripts. How can I get them to you?

The Census Bureau just said the number of people without health insurance has gone up. How could this be when we passed Health Care?

You have to tell the people, it doesn't matter that the Democrat lost in that election in New York City. It was just a bunch of ignorant and greedy Jews.

My parents smoke funny cigarettes when they think I'm asleep. How can I report this to the police.

Cato’s Mike Tanner defends Rick Perry’s "Ponzi Scheme" remarks; but can’t bring himself to praise Perry himself

Posted on by

by Eric Dondero

Another example of the hypocrisy of so-called libertarian policy wonks. They brillantly defend free market policies espoused by Republicans, but just cannot bring themselves to praise the very people who are making the proposals. That might be seen as too partisan you see.

From Mike Tanner, syndicated column by Gannett, "At least Ponzi didn't force people to enroll" Sept. 15:

Despite this, Social Security faces more than $20 trillion in future unfunded liabilities. That means payroll taxes would have to be hiked by nearly 50 percent, or the equivalent in other taxes, to keep the program solvent.

Social Security can also cut benefits. Under current law, if nothing changes, a 30-year-old worker today can expect to receive just 76 percent of the benefits that he has been promised. That will be far less than the amount of money he could have had if he had been able to invest his Social Security taxes privately. In fact, many young workers will be lucky if they receive back as much in benefits as they pay into the system.

Unlike Charles Ponzi's original Ponzi scheme, Social Security will never go broke as long as the government can force people to pay more taxes and accept fewer benefits. But does that make Social Security better than a Ponzi scheme - or worse?

In the entire 12-paragraph piece, Tanner did not mention Rick Perry one single time.

Back in 2005, when President Bush famously proclaimed that he was going to use some of his "political capital" fresh off a big victory over John Kerry, to push Social Security reform, libertarians similarly stayed away from defending his proposals. The irony was that Bush got his proposal straight from the Cato Institute. When Bush was attacked severely by the liberal media for including a proposal for partial privatization, libertarians, including those at Cato, were nowhere's to be found. It proved yet again that policy wonker libertarians more often than not are completely clueless when it comes to real world politics.

According to new Poll Obama now has a fight on his hands to win the Big West Coast Prize

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

55 electoral votes. The closest state in electoral vote count is Texas with 34, followed by New York with 31. And now the Democrat bastion of the left coast may be in play.

From the SacBee "Field Poll: Californians sour on Obama":

Even in heavily Democratic California, President Barack Obama's job approval rating has plummeted among voters, largely on his handling of the economy, according to a new Field Poll.

Though Obama is strongly favored to win California in his re-election bid next year, the poll suggests many Democrats may vote for him only begrudgingly, and it is yet another indication of weakening support nationwide.

The Field Poll has him at just 46% job approval. That's a dramatic drop from the June approval numbers of 56%.

Obama's decline has been quick and widespread... Since June, his rating has suffered double-digit percentage drops among Democrats, nonpartisans, Central Valley residents, men, African Americans, Asian Americans and voters over 65.

Also of interest, Field reports that Asians in California are the one group that has shifted on Obama most dramatically, with a 36% decline. Asian-Americans now support him just 48% to 34%.

Editor's comment - Of course, even if Obama squeeks by in California, a close win could have enormous ramifications for downticket GOP races.

Image credit - edjoin.com and flckr.com Asian American Republicans

Perry wins backing of another Republican Governor

Posted on by

Nevada fiscal conservative Brian Sandoval

Release...

Our nation needs a leader in the White House who understands the role of government and our economy. Governor Rick Perry has the strongest record of job creation, fiscal discipline, and executive branch leadership among the presidential candidates. As a governor, Rick Perry created a tremendous blueprint for job creation and as President, I know he will get America working again. I consider Governor Perry a friend and I am proud to endorse his campaign for President.

RickPerry.org

Libertarian Republican appointed Texas Dir. for Gary Johnson for President

Posted on by

From Dave Nalle:

I'm very pleased to announce my appointment as Texas State Director for the Gary Johnson for President campaign. With the help of State Finance Director Charles Lupton I'll be working with the national campaign to raise awareness of Governor Johnson's principles and platforms as we move forward towards the Texas GOP primary in March.

No state has a greater love for individualism and liberty than Texas does and Gary Johnson's vision of a smaller and less intrusive federal government which respects state and individual rights is just what most Texas Republicans want to hear. We've had enough of a government which is constantly meddling in our wallets and our bedrooms and our businesses.

For our nation to recover from the disastrous policies of the Obama administration we need real leadership with a proven record. In two terms as Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson vetoed over 750 bills, cut state budgets, created impressive job growth and found sensible solutions to serious problems facing his state. We need the same kind of pragmatic and proactive leadership in Washington to get our government under control and back on track. Gary will bring us balanced budgets now, not 20 years down the road, with immediate budget cuts and lower taxes to spur job creation. Gary has a realistic plan to reduce the size and cost of government by 42% if we just stop spending, stop borrowing and stop printing money we don't have.

Gary has the experience, the skills and the ideas we need in a president, but he needs our help. The media is trying to pick the candidates. They're keeping Gary out of the debates and focusing on big government and big spending candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Their Republican Party of crony capitalism and endless bailouts for special interests cannot be the future of our party if we are to preserve our republic and our liberty. We need to be more than just voters. We need to become citizen activists.

Gary is running a true grassroots campaign. It will only succeed with your effort and your support. We need volunteers here in Texas to work on getting Gary on the ballot and to coordinate local efforts all around the state. If you're interested in volunteering, please send me an email at dave@fontcraft.com. All are welcome. Gary's ideas appeal across the political spectrum because we're all waking up to the fact that government has become our master and not our servant. We'll welcome Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians who are ready to take back our nation and restore our liberty.

If you have more money than you have time, the campaign needs all the financial help it can get as we start things up here in Texas and to make a real mark in the early primaries. Anything you can give will help at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com. We want Texas to lead in fundraising just like we lead in our love of liberty.

We're also sponsoring Hangout events in September and October where groups of supporters can get together at a home or in a coffee shop or anywhere else to talk with Gary live by teleconference.

I hope you'll also keep in touch through social media. A great start for that is joining our Facebook page.

Times may be grim, but I see hope glimmering on the horizon. With your help and a candidate like Gary Johnson we will see a new day dawn for liberty and a restoration of true government for the people in 2012.

Please don't hesitate to contact me by email or phone 512-656-8011, and expect to hear more good news as the campaign progresses.

The Big Winner interviewed on Fox

Posted on by

From Eric Dondero:

Humbled, and surprisingly mellow (perhaps a bit tired from a previous night of no sleep?), the big victor Bob Turner appeared on Fox News with Megyn Kelly.

Kelly asserts loudly:

90 years... 90 years...

The seat has not been held by a Republican since 1923.

Kelly then asks, "what was the magic?"

Turner responds:

President Obama, loud and clear. The people of this district are concerned about Israel... Jobs... the inability to return to prosperity.

Note - This website was an early and enthusiastic supporter of Bob Turner for Congress, way back to 2010.

Libertarian Media blackout on Tuesday’s Republican victories

Posted on by

by Eric Dondero

I could have never predicted this. Sure, you'd think they'd downplay Bob Turner and Mark Amodei's wins in New York and Nevada. But to completely ignore the biggest political story of the week?

A look at Reason, arguably the top libertarian site, shows the following headlines this morning:

Bachmann's Vaccine Panic

India's Mangled School Reforms

Use the Tiny Tiles—And Other Tales from the Stimulus

Okay, the Bachmann story. Understandably reportable. But School Reform in India?

Bob Turner, a Republican, won a seat in a district that was 5 to 1 Democrat over Republican registration. The seat had not been held by a Republican since 1923!

And the top libertarian website chooses to report on India education instead?

There are 12 headline stories at LewRockwell.com. Not a one of them is about the elections in New York and Nevada. And nothing at the Rockwell blog either.

Daily Paul? They're pumping up Radical Islamists, as usual: "Bombshell: Saudi Arabia threatens to cut ties with US over Palestine UN Veto."

The official Libertarian Party site LP.org? The sound of silence on NY and NV.

Nothing but policy issues on the front page of Cato.org. But don't get the idea that they totally avoid politics. Au contraire. Dave Boaz has an article at the blog "Is It Too Late for Another Candidate?" Apparently, it's more important to Boaz to get all-dreamy about another possible GOP prez nominee rather than report on this huge election news.

20 headline articles at NolanChart.com. Not a one of them on the Turner and Amodei victories.

The Humble (so-called) Libertarian, similarly, not a word about the elections.

Radley Balko's much-lauded The Agitator has zero coverage of Turner and Amodei.

There is one single libertarian website covering the story: Rational Review, edited by anarch-libertarian Thomas L. Knapp.

Bob Turner's win in New York was historic. Mark Amodei's victory in Nevada portends nothing but bad signs for 2012 for the Democrat Party in that critical swing state.

You'd think a movement that promotes itself as "pro-liberty" would have at least something to say about these two incredibly historic victories for the freedom side.

One can only conclude, that a pro-defense, pro-Israel Republican winning in New York, and a Tea Party conservative winning in Harry Reid's backyard, doesn't quite fit their template. What else could explain this nearly-complete libertarian media blackout of the biggest political story of the week, and perhaps the entire year?

Episode 47 Cardiac Image Fusion With Dr Kaufmann

Posted on by

Episode 47 Dr Philipp A. Kaufmann Image Fusion audio version

This podcast Features an interview with Dr Philipp A. Kaufmann from Zurich who has been using fusion of both myocardial...

This podcast is for nuclear medicine professionals and PET professionals This is one of the worlds longest running medical podcasts. Direct link to itunes itunes link Please email suggestions for topics, offers of interviews, bouquets and brickbats. nucmedpodcast@gmail.com


Episode 47 Cardiac Fusion with Dr Kaufmann video version

Posted on by

Dr Philipp A. Kaufmann, from University Hospital Zurich video version

This podcast Features an interview with Dr Philipp A. Kaufmann, from University Hospital Zurich and looks at image fusion of...

This podcast is for nuclear medicine professionals and PET professionals This is one of the worlds longest running medical podcasts. Direct link to itunes itunes link Please email suggestions for topics, offers of interviews, bouquets and brickbats. nucmedpodcast@gmail.com


Regular frequency patterns in the classical ? Scuti star HD 144277 observed by the MOST? satellite

Posted on by

Authors: K. Zwintz, P. Lenz, M. Breger, A. A. Pamyatnykh, T. Zdravkov, R. Kuschnig, J. M. Matthews, D. B. Guenther, A. F. J. Moffat, J. F. Rowe, S. M. Rucinski, D. Sasselov and W. W. Weiss.<br />Astronomy & Astrophysics Vol. 533 , page A133<br />Published online: 15/09/2011<br />
Keywords:
stars: oscillations ; techniques: photometric ; asteroseismology ; stars: variables:?Scuti ; stars: individual: HD 144277.

A Planet With Two Suns is Found

Posted on by

Schematic of the planet with two suns. Click for larger. Credit: Avi Shporer and team / University of California Santa Barbara

 

Ah this is very cool to think about even beyond Star wars.

By the way, I was out looking for the supernova this morning (thwarted by clouds) but was treated to the Moon and the star Sheratan, a bright bluish star only about 5 degrees away.  If you happen out tomorrow about 6 a.m. your time have a look.  Tomorrow, it should be clear enough here to also see the star Lorenzin Alpha ARI. Alpha ARI is a bit brighter than Sheratan and a bit yellower. The three should make for a nice pairing.

Back to the two suns, below is a fun snippit from the press release from the University of California Santa Barbara and clicking the “more” link at the bottom will get you the entire press release or you can just click the link.

The planet’s orbital period is 229 days, while the stellar binary has a 41-day orbit. Although the planet’s orbital period is close to that of Venus in our solar system, it is not an Earth-like, terrestrial planet. Its radius and mass are similar to those of Saturn, making it a gas giant planet. The two stars are both smaller than the Sun. The bigger of the two, the primary, measures 69 percent of the Sun’s mass and 65 percent of its radius. The smaller star, the secondary, is considerably smaller, with 20 percent of the Sun’s mass and 23 percent of its radius. In fact, the secondary star is the smallest low-mass star to have its mass and radius measured at such high precision.

UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist Avi Shporer is part of the NASA team that has found the first known planet with two “suns,” an idea popularized by the 1977 movie “Star Wars.” The discovery is published this week in the journal Science.

In the iconic scene from “Star Wars,” Luke Skywalker gazes into the distance as two suns set on the horizon. This type of planet is called a circumbinary planet, meaning it orbits a binary star system, as opposed to a single star like our Sun. Circumbinary planets have been pursued by astronomers for decades. Although some scientists have claimed to detect such a planet in the past, none of those claims have been widely accepted by the scientific community.

The Science article reports the first clear detection of a circumbinary planet. The system is called Kepler-16, and it is the 16th planetary system discovered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. It is located approximately 220 light-years from our Sun, near the constellation Cygnus, in the Milky Way galaxy.

“It is the combination of the unprecedented precision and the continuous observations from space that allowed the detection of Kepler-16,” said Shporer, who is also a researcher with the UCSB-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) based in Goleta.

At first, the system was identified as an eclipsing binary star, a system of two stars orbiting each other and showing eclipses once every orbital period. Excitement within the Kepler team grew when the scientists were able to identify transits — small, shallow eclipses induced by a small body such as a planet as it eclipses its parent stars. Further analysis confirmed that these transits are indeed induced by a planet in an orbit around both stars.

“This system is so fascinating since it is viewed edge-on, and all three bodies — the two stars and the planet — are all eclipsing each other,” said Laurance Doyle of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, lead author of the Science paper.

Kepler is a NASA discovery-class mission designed to look for Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars in their habitable zone. Kepler is looking for these planets by continuously monitoring the light intensity of over 150,000 stars simultaneously. Kepler’s high sensitivity makes it capable of detecting the minute decrease in a star’s light caused by a small planet crossing the line of sight to the star, thereby momentarily blocking a small fraction of the light coming from the star.

“The transits and mutual eclipses enable a detailed characterization of the system, including the mass and radius of all objects and their orbits,” said Shporer.

The depth of an eclipse gives a sense of the size of the eclipsing body. In the case of Kepler-16, the exact timing of the eclipses is affected by the gravitational pull of the planet. Although the planet’s mass is small relative to the two stars, it is able to slightly affect their orbit, making the stellar eclipses occur earlier or later, by up to a minute, compared to a constant period model. As for the planetary transits, analysis of Kepler’s measurements is challenging because the timing of the transits deviates significantly from a constant period model, since each transit occurs at a different orbital phase of the inner star.

The planet’s orbital period is 229 days, while the stellar binary has a 41-day orbit. Although the planet’s orbital period is close to that of Venus in our solar system, it is not an Earth-like, terrestrial planet. Its radius and mass are similar to those of Saturn, making it a gas giant planet. The two stars are both smaller than the Sun. The bigger of the two, the primary, measures 69 percent of the Sun’s mass and 65 percent of its radius. The smaller star, the secondary, is considerably smaller, with 20 percent of the Sun’s mass and 23 percent of its radius. In fact, the secondary star is the smallest low-mass star to have its mass and radius measured at such high precision.

Ground-based observations are an important part of the Kepler project. “At LCOGT, we are using our telescopes as part of the large effort carried out by U.S. astronomers and others, to follow-up and accurately characterize the detections made by Kepler,” said Tim Brown, scientific director of LCOGT and an adjunct professor of physics at UCSB. Brown is an important member of the Kepler team.

The Kepler-16 discovery is one of a series of discoveries made by Kepler since its launch in March 2009. Shporer said the most interesting ones are probably yet to come as Kepler continues to monitor the stars.