Scientific dissemination in the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO): Best practices in recent years

There is a growing interest and obligations to bring the results of scientific research closer to society. In this sense, the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO, CSIC) has acquired in recent years an institutional commitment with the scientific dissemination, carrying out some projects on this topic. The objective of these projects is to visualize and value their research and results in different formats increasing the scientific culture of society that demand and financed most of public research. In the present work four successful initiatives or projects are presented. Diversimar project is a citizen science tool for the observation of the marine and fishing biodiversity of Galicia and the Cantabrian Sea. Mar interior project brings activity of IEO to society with face-to-face conferences and workshops. Planet Tuna project combines science with art through an online platform to enhance the scientific knowledge of tuna and other big pelagics for their sustainability. To end, the interactive book “45 days on the Flemish Cap Bank” spreads the technical and human effort of an oceanographic survey that remains behind the fisheries management developed by the IEO. The objective of the present study is to make visible and put in value these projects and serve as inspiration.Versión del edito

Bovine Tuberculosis in Doñana Biosphere Reserve: The Role of Wild Ungulates as Disease Reservoirs in the Last Iberian Lynx Strongholds

Doñana National Park (DNP) in southern Spain is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where commercial hunting and wildlife artificial feeding do not take place and traditional cattle husbandry still exists. Herein, we hypothesized that Mycobacterium bovis infection prevalence in wild ungulates will depend on host ecology and that variation in prevalence will reflect variation in the interaction between hosts and environmental risk factors. Cattle bTB reactor rates increased in DNP despite compulsory testing and culling of infected animals. In this study, 124 European wild boar, 95 red deer, and 97 fallow deer were sampled from April 2006 to April 2007 and analyzed for M. bovis infection. Modelling and GIS were used to identify risk factors and intra and inter-species relationships. Infection with M. bovis was confirmed in 65 (52.4%) wild boar, 26 (27.4%) red deer and 18 (18.5%) fallow deer. In the absence of cattle, wild boar M. bovis prevalence reached 92.3% in the northern third of DNP. Wild boar showed more than twice prevalence than that in deer (p<0.001). Modelling revealed that M. bovis prevalence decreased from North to South in wild boar (p<0.001) and red deer (p<0.01), whereas no spatial pattern was evidenced for fallow deer. Infection risk in wild boar was dependent on wild boar M. bovis prevalence in the buffer area containing interacting individuals (p<0.01). The prevalence recorded in this study is among the highest reported in wildlife. Remarkably, this high prevalence occurs in the absence of wildlife artificial feeding, suggesting that a feeding ban alone would have a limited effect on wildlife M. bovis prevalence. In DNP, M. bovis transmission may occur predominantly at the intra-species level due to ecological, behavioural and epidemiological factors. The results of this study allow inferring conclusions on epidemiological bTB risk factors in Mediterranean habitats that are not managed for hunting purposes. Our results support the need to consider wildlife species for the control of bTB in cattle and strongly suggest that bTB may affect animal welfare and conservation

Absolute parameters for binary systems

New light curves of the late-type binary system ZZ UMa were obtained during a uvby and Hβ monitoring program on low mass eclipsing binaries, that has been carried out in a six year photometric observational program (Clement et al. 1997a, Paper I). The main goal of the program is to obtain accurate absolute parameters for stars in the low and intermediate mass range, in order to improve the Mass-Luminosity Relationship (MLR) at the end of the main sequence. This paper presents a complete analysis of the first $uvby\beta$ light curves of the late-type detached eclipsing binary ZZ UMa. This binary system has been observed during eight campaigns at the Calar Alto Observatory (Almeria, Spain). The activity wave superposed on the eclipse light curve has been estimated, by using a new iterative fitting method (Clement et al. 1997b, Paper II). The interpretation of the wave suggests the existence of two active zones of similar intensity, separated by areas at higher temperature. Once the activity wave was subtracted from the light curves, we adjusted the geometrical solution using the EBOP code. Radiative parameters for both stars have been derived from the light curves. Combining the masses deduced from the radial velocity curves (Popper 1995), with the calculated geometrical and radiative values, we computed the absolute parameters for both components. We can conclude that the system is composed of two main sequence G-type stars with masses, radii and chemical composition similar to the Sun

Four colour photometry of late-type binary systems

This paper presents first complete uvby light curves of the late-type detached eclipsing binary ZZ UMa ($\rm G0V + G8V$, P=2\hbox{.\!\!^{\rm d}}2993). This binary system has been observed during eight campaigns at the Calar Alto Observatory (Almeria, Spain)and at the Sierra Nevada Observatory (Granada, Spain). 294 points distributed over the binary period and covering both eclipses are given. The comparison stars used to calculate the differential light curves (SAO 15242 and SAO 15251) were confirmed as being good reference stars with constant flux. These observations are part of a 6 year uvby and $\rm H\beta$ monitoring program of low mass eclipsing binaries whose main objective is to provide accurate absolute astrophysical parameters for late-type main sequence stars. Details about the standardisation process and accuracy of the photometry are also given. The internal accuracy of the standard photometry measured as the mean RMS of the differences between standard and observed values for the standard stars observed along the program is only a few millimagnitudes. Detailed analysis of ZZ UMa, based on these light curves, will be published separately

The THESEUS space mission: science goals, requirements and mission concept

International audienceTHESEUS, one of the two space mission concepts being studied by ESA as candidates for next M5 mission within its Comsic Vision programme, aims at fully exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) to solve key questions about the early Universe, as well as becoming a cornerstone of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. By investigating the first billion years of the Universe through high-redshift GRBs, THESEUS will shed light on the main open issues in modern cosmology, such as the population of primordial low mass and luminosity galaxies, sources and evolution of cosmic re-ionization, SFR and metallicity evolution up to the “cosmic dawn” and across Pop-III stars. At the same time, the mission will provide a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics by enabling the identification, accurate localisation and study of electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational waves and neutrinos, which will be routinely detected in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s by the second and third generation Gravitational Wave (GW) interferometers and future neutrino detectors, as well as of all kinds of GRBs and most classes of other X/gamma-ray transient sources. Under all these respects, THESEUS will provide great synergies with future large observing facilities in the multi-messenger domain. A Guest Observer programme, comprising Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations, will expand the science return of the mission, to include, e.g., solar system minor bodies, exoplanets, and AGN

Very-high-frequency oscillations in the main peak of a magnetar giant flare

Magnetars are strongly magnetized, isolated neutron stars1–3 with magnetic fields up to around 1015 gauss, luminosities of approximately 1031–1036 ergs per second and rotation periods of about 0.3–12.0 s. Very energetic giant flares from galactic magnetars (peak luminosities of 1044–1047 ergs per second, lasting approximately 0.1 s) have been detected in hard X-rays and soft γ-rays4, and only one has been detected from outside our galaxy5. During such giant flares, quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with low (less than 150 hertz) and high (greater than 500 hertz) frequencies have been observed6–9, but their statistical significance has been questioned10. High-frequency QPOs have been seen only during the tail phase of the flare9. Here we report the observation of two broad QPOs at approximately 2,132 hertz and 4,250 hertz in the main peak of a giant γ-ray flare11 in the direction of the NGC 253 galaxy12–17, disappearing after 3.5 milliseconds. The flare was detected on 15 April 2020 by the Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor instrument18,19 aboard the International Space Station, which was the only instrument that recorded the main burst phase (0.8–3.2 milliseconds) in the full energy range (50 × 103 to 40 × 106 electronvolts) without suffering from saturation effects such as deadtime and pile-up. Along with sudden spectral variations, these extremely high-frequency oscillations in the burst peak are a crucial component that will aid our understanding of magnetar giant flares