TRIS III: the diffuse galactic radio emission at δ=+42∘\delta=+42^{\circ}

We present values of temperature and spectral index of the galactic diffuse radiation measured at 600 and 820 MHz along a 24 hours right ascension circle at declination $\delta = +42^{\circ}$. They have been obtained from a subset of absolute measurements of the sky temperature made with TRIS, an experiment devoted to the measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature at decimetric-wavelengths with an angular resolution of about $20^{\circ}$. Our analysis confirms the preexisting picture of the galactic diffuse emission at decimetric wavelength and improves the accuracy of the measurable quantities. In particular, the signal coming from the halo has a spectral index in the range $2.9-3.1$ above 600 MHz, depending on the sky position. In the disk, at TRIS angular resolution, the free-free emission accounts for the 11% of the overall signal at 600 MHz and 21% at 1420 MHz. The polarized component of the galactic emission, evaluated from the survey by Brouw and Spoelstra, affects the observations at TRIS angular resolution by less than 3% at 820 MHz and less than 2% at 600 MHz. Within the uncertainties, our determination of the galactic spectral index is practically unaffected by the correction for polarization. Since the overall error budget of the sky temperatures measured by TRIS at 600 MHz, that is 66 mK(systematic)$+$18 mK (statistical), is definitely smaller than those reported in previous measurements at the same frequency, our data have been used to discuss the zero levels of the sky maps at 150, 408, 820 and 1420 MHz in literature. Concerning the 408 MHz survey, limiting our attention to the patch of sky corresponding to the region observed by TRIS, we suggest a correction of the base-level of $(+3.9\pm 0.6)$K.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

It Takes a Village. Collaborative Outer Planet Missions

A mission to one or both of our local Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) emerged as a high priority in the most recent Planetary Science Decadal Survey and was also specifically mentioned supportively in the Heliophysics Decadal Survey. In 2016, NASA convened a science definition team to study ice giant mission concepts in more detail. Uranus and Neptune represent the last remaining planetary type in our Solar System to have a dedicated orbiting mission. The case for a Uranus mission has been made eloquently in the Decadal Surveys. Here we summarize some of the major drivers that lead to enthusiastic support for an Ice Giant mission in general, and use the example of a Uranus Mission concept to illustrate opportunities such a mission might provide for cross-division collaboration and cost-sharing

A Vision for Ice Giant Exploration

From Voyager to a Vision for 2050: NASA and ESA have just completed a study of candidate missionsto Uranus and Neptune, the so-called ice giant planets. It is a Pre-Decadal Survey Study, meant to inform the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey about opportunities for missions launching in the 2020's and early 2030's. There have been no space flight missions to the ice giants since the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. This paper presents some conclusions of that study (hereafter referred to as The Study), and how the results feed into a vision for where planetary science can be in 2050. Reaching that vision will require investments in technology andground-based science in the 2020's, flight during the 2030's along with continued technological development of both ground- and space-based capabilities, and data analysis and additional flights in the 2040's. We first discuss why exploring the ice giants is important. We then summarize the science objectives identified by The Study, and our vision of the science goals for 2050. We then review some of the technologies needed to make this vision a reality

Dragonfly: Investigating the Surface Composition of Titan

Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander mission, selected as a finalist in NASA's New Frontiers Program, that is designed to sample materials and determine the surface composition in different geologic settings on Titan. This revolutionary mission concept would explore diverse locations to characterize the habitability of Titan's environment, to investigate how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed, and to search for chemical signatures that could be indicative of water-based and/or hydrocarbon-based life. Here we describe Dragonfly's capabilities to determine the composition of a variety of surface units on Titan, from elemental components to complex organic molecules. The compositional investigation ncludes characterization of local surface environments and finely sampled materials. The Dragonfly flexible sampling approach can robustly accommodate materials from Titan's most intriguing surface environments

A high-resolution radio survey of the Vela supernova remnant

This paper presents a high-resolution radio continuum (843 MHz) survey of the Vela supernova remnant. The contrast between the structures in the central pulsar-powered nebula of the remnant and the synchrotron radiation shell allows the remnant to be identified morphologically as a member of the composite class. The data are the first of a composite remnant at spatial scales comparable with those available for the Cygnus Loop and the Crab Nebula, and make possible a comparison of radio, optical and soft X-ray emission from the resolved shell filaments. The survey, made with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, covers an area of 50 square degrees at a resolution of 43'' x 60'', while imaging structures on scales up to 30'.Comment: 18 pages, 7 jpg figures (version with ps figures at http://astro.berkeley.edu/~dbock/papers/); AJ, in pres

Cassini Observes the Active South Pole of Enceladus

Cassini has identified a geologically active province at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. In images acquired by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), this region is circumscribed by a chain of folded ridges and troughs at ∼55°S latitude. The terrain southward of this boundary is distinguished by its albedo and color contrasts, elevated temperatures, extreme geologic youth, and narrow tectonic rifts that exhibit coarse-grained ice and coincide with the hottest temperatures measured in the region. Jets of fine icy particles that supply Saturn's E ring emanate from this province, carried aloft by water vapor probably venting from subsurface reservoirs of liquid water. The shape of Enceladus suggests a possible intense heating epoch in the past by capture into a 1:4 secondary spin/orbit resonance

Examining the immunological effects of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with conditions potentially leading to diminished immune response capacity – the OCTAVE trial

SARS-COV-2 vaccines have been shown to be efficacious primarily in healthy volunteer populations and population level studies. Immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are less well characterised in potentially immune vulnerable patient groups, including those with immune-mediated inflammatory and chronic diseases (inflammatory arthritis [IA] incorporating rheumatoid arthritis [RA] and psoriatic arthritis [PsA]; ANCA-Associated Vasculitis [AAV]; inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]); hepatic disease (HepD), end stage kidney disease requiring haemodialysis (HD) without or with immunosuppression (HDIS); solid cancers (SC) and haematological malignancies (HM), and those that have undergone haemopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). The OCTAVE trial is a multi-centre, multi-disease, prospective cohort that will comprehensively assess SARS-CoV-2 vaccine responses within and between the abovementioned disease cohorts using common analytical platforms in patients recruited across the United Kingdom (UK). The majority of subjects received either COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) or ChAdOx1 Vaccine (AstraZeneca formerly AZD1222) as part of the UK National COVID19 vaccination programme. As of 13 th August 2021; 2,583 patients have been recruited. We report herein the humoral and T cell immune response results from the first 600 participants recruited where serology data are available at baseline, pre-second vaccine dose (boost) and/or 4 weeks post second dose. We also include in the analysis, data obtained from 231 healthy individuals from the PITCH (Protective Immunity from T cells in Healthcare workers) study. Overall, in comparison to PITCH where 100% of tested individuals (n=93) generated anti-Spike antibodies after vaccine doses, 89% of patients within OCTAVE seroconverted 4 weeks after second vaccine dose. By corollary, approximately 11% of patients across all disease cohorts fail to generate antibodies that react to SARS-CoV-2 spike 4 weeks after two vaccines. Failure to generate spike reactive antibodies was found at a higher proportion in some specific patient subgroups, particularly AAV (72.4%), HD-IS (16.7%) and HepD (16.7%). Importantly, all recruited AAV patients had received Rituximab; a targeted B cell depletion therapy. Furthermore, even in those who seroconverted, 40% of patients across disease cohorts generate lower levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibody reactivity compared to healthy subjects after two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines; the functional significance of these findings in providing protection from subsequent SARS-CoV-2 exposure is not currently known. In contrast to the observed serological response, evaluation of the Spike-specific T cell response revealed that across all patient sub-groups (including AAV) a response similar to healthy individuals was generated. Our data argue strongly for further vaccination strategies to optimise humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with chronic diseases and/or patients on immune suppressive therapies. Trial Registration: The trial is registered on ISRCTN 12821688.Funding: This work was supported by the Medical Research Council COVID-19 Immunity – National Core Study (IMM-NCS) [grant number MC-PC-20031]. Staff at the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU) are supported by a core funding grant from Cancer Research UK (C22436/A25354). PK and EB are supported by the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centres at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Birmingham Biomedical Research Centres. EB and PK are supported by an NIHR Senior Investigator award. PK is funded by WT109965MA. SJD is funded by an NIHR Global Research Professorship (NIHR300791). TdS is funded by a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship (110058/Z/15/Z). DS is supported by the NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer programme in Oxford. LT is supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 205228/Z/16/Z), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Medical Countermeasures Initiative contract 75F40120C00085. and the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (NIHR200907) at University of Liverpool in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford. The PITCH (Protective Immunity from T cells to Covid-19 in Health workers) Consortium, is funded by the UK Department of Health and Social Care with contributions from UKRI/NIHR through the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UKCIC), the Huo Family Foundation and The National Institute for Health Research (UKRIDHSC COVID-19 Rapid Response Rolling Call, Grant Reference Number COV19-RECPLAS).Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: This study was approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on the 5th February 2021 and the London and Chelsea Research Ethics Committee (REC Ref:21/HRA/0489) on 12th February 2021, with subsequent amendments approved on 3rd March 2021, 19th April 2021 and 26th April 2021)

Titan's cold case files - Outstanding questions after Cassini-Huygens

The entry of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft into orbit around Saturn in July 2004 marked the start of a golden era in the exploration of Titan, Saturn's giant moon. During the Prime Mission (2004–2008), ground-breaking discoveries were made by the Cassini orbiter including the equatorial dune fields (flyby T3, 2005), northern lakes and seas (T16, 2006), and the large positive and negative ions (T16 & T18, 2006), to name a few. In 2005 the Huygens probe descended through Titan's atmosphere, taking the first close-up pictures of the surface, including large networks of dendritic channels leading to a dried-up seabed, and also obtaining detailed profiles of temperature and gas composition during the atmospheric descent. The discoveries continued through the Equinox Mission (2008–2010) and Solstice Mission (2010–2017) totaling 127 targeted flybys of Titan in all. Now at the end of the mission, we are able to look back on the high-level scientific questions from the start of the mission, and assess the progress that has been made towards answering these. At the same time, new scientific questions regarding Titan have emerged from the discoveries that have been made. In this paper we review a cross-section of important scientific questions that remain partially or completely unanswered, ranging from Titan's deep interior to the exosphere. Our intention is to help formulate the science goals for the next generation of planetary missions to Titan, and to stimulate new experimental, observational and theoretical investigations in the interim