Science Reported in Media vs Scholarly Sources - Essay Example

Science Reported in Media vs. Scholarly Sources Identifier Table Media Article Research Article of Article Alice InstrumentsUltraviolet Close-Up Provides a Surprising Discovery about Comets Atmosphere Measurements of the Near-Nucleus Coma of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the Alice Far-Ultraviolet Spectrograph on Rosetta Source of Article Science Daily Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics Date of Publication June 2, 2015 May 1, 2015 Was the research done by the author of the article? No Yes Where are the Authors from (if information is available)? Give the name and location of their place of work. Southwest Research Institute Johns Hopkins University, Department of Physics and Astronomy Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy Laboratory Atmospheres, Environments, Observations Spatiales - LATMOS (CNRS, UVSQ, UPMC, IPSL) Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research SCIENCE REPORTED IN MEDIA VS. SCHOLARLY SOURCES Summary of Media and Scholarly Sources In an article appearing on Science Daily, Southwest Research Institute (2015) reports on findings that the rapid breakup of CO2 and water on the surface of Comet 67P that causes them to spew from its surface are the result of electrons located close to the comet’s surface, rather than photons from the sun. This discovery, they report, was made by the Alice spectrograph carried on the Rosetta spacecraft, which has been used to examine the comet’s light to understand its chemistry using far-ultraviolet wavelength bands. The article also reports that this discovery was unexpected, noting that it supports the European Space Agency’s decision to observe the comet at close quarters. This close observation of atomic emissions is what led to the determination that electrons were responsible for the breaking up of the parent molecules, especially those electrons located within 1km of the comet’s surface where the vaporizing parent molecules are located. The article also reports on the assertion by one of the report’s co-author that the structure and location of water plumes at the surface can be traced by observing the oxygen and hydrogen atoms that break from water molecules (Southwest Research Institute, 2015). The article summarized above was a report of a scholarly article by Feldman et al. (2015), which sought to investigate the near nucleus coma of the 67P comet using the Alice far-ultraviolet spectrograph that was carried on the spacecraft Rosetta. The main aim of this scholarly article was to use the Alice far-ultraviolet spectrograph, which was carried by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, to observe emissions from different molecular and atomic species located within comet 67P’s coma. In addition, the study also set out to determine how these emissions were distributed spatially, as well as how their evolution with time and distance from the sun. The study also reports on its methodology, stating that Alice made observations of the comet’s inner coma located on the edges of its nucleus after it entered the comet’s orbit, making observations from ten to eighty km relative to the comet’s center (Feldman et al., 2015). Alice detected atomic oxygen and hydrogen emissions initially, which was dependent on the orientation and position of its light slit relative to the comet’s nucleus, finding that the emissions were localized around the comet’s nucleus and highly concentrated around the comet’s neck (Feldman et al., 2015). This concentration around the comet’s neck was particularly observed around its northern latitudes. Subsequently, Alice also detected weaker atomic CO2 and carbon emissions. By analyzing the resulting relative line intensities, the study found that emissions of hydrogen and oxygen were due to dissociation of water molecules by photoelectrons. Moreover, they also found that dissociation of CO2 to the observed carbon atoms was the result of dissociation by electrons. Finally, the relative brightness of carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms observed by Alice was attributed to the variations in water and CO2 abundance within the nebulous envelope around the comet’s nucleus (Feldman et al., 2015). Structure or Format of the Articles However, despite the media article and the scholarly article reporting on the same study and its results, they differ in terms of how they are structured or formatted. The media article is not divided into sections like the scholarly article, instead providing a short concise summary of the latter’s aims and results. The media article presents information on the scholarly article in continuous prose, integrating the results findings with its own derived conclusions that are compatible with those identified in the scholarly source. In addition, the study’s findings are reported in the first paragraph of the media source, after which it presents important aspects of the study. On the other hand, the scholarly article is structured in the classic research format. This involves an abstract, an introduction, instrument construction, observations, discussion, and conclusion. In addition, the scholarly also has a reference section, similar to the media source, although the former has more references than the latter. Moreover, some of the sections in the scholarly source’s structure are also divided into different subsections, such as the observations section that is divided into three subsections that cover observations during September, October, and November as the spacecraft orbited around the comet. Presentation of Experimental Results in Media Article As noted, the information in the media source is presented in continuous prose and contains only the most important findings of the study compared to the scholarly source. Experimental results in the media source are presented first in the introductory paragraph, which presents an overview of the overall findings, followed by crucial information on the methods used and observations made during the study. However, there are no graphs or tables presented in support of the experimental results of the study, while there are also no actual numbers reported for this media source. Indeed, the only graphic related to the study is a photograph of the Alice ultraviolet spectrograph being constructed, which is notable because it is seen during its construction stage prior to being loaded onto the Rosetta spacecraft. Primarily, the media source only presents a general written description of the study with no supporting data or graphic representations. Comparison of Conclusions The media source’s conclusion states that the Alice Spectrograph will be used in future studies of the comet’s atmosphere, especially as it comes closer to the sun and solar heating further activates its plumes (Southwest Research Institute, 2015). This conclusion further notes the Rosetta-Alice spectrograph continues to study the comet’s surface and its nebulous cloud to better understand comets. On the other hand, the scholarly source’s conclusion restates the aim of the study and its observations and findings. In addition, this conclusion also notes limitations in the study, such as the spectrograph’s slit not being aligned perfectly with the comet’s visible jets during the observation (Feldman et al., 2015). Finally, the scholarly source also concludes by promising further detailed analysis in the future that combines data from Alice with other data from remote sensing instruments. Generally, the two conclusions do not differ significantly, apart from the scholarly source’s conclusion that focuses on forthcoming data from both the Alice spectrograph and other instruments from the Rosetta spacecraft and the study’s limitations. The media source focuses on other studies that could be conducted with the spectrograph alone. Criticism of Data and Conclusions The media source does not offer any criticism of the study’s data or conclusions; neither does it provide any alternate conclusion or hypotheses in seeking to explain the data. On the other hand, the scholarly source is critical of the atomic emission data, noting that the emissions would be expected to vary more strongly within the nebulous cloud around the comet’s nucleus than the column densities currently measured (Feldman et al., 2015). The scholarly source attributes this to the fact that this data was not collected at optimal conditions, specifically because the slit of the spectrograph was not perfectly aligned with the observed visible jets from the comet’s surface. In addition, the scholarly source also notes the limitations of its data by pointing out that solar resonance fluorescence used to observe atomic emissions made no significant contributions, attributing this to low column densities from the products of dissociation near the nucleus (Feldman et al., 2015). Criticisms or Alternate Viewpoints only Mentioned by Scholarly Article As noted above, the scholarly article notes that its study has an important limitation, which it identifies as the failure to align the slits of the Alice far-ultraviolet spectrograph with the visible jets from dissociation of water and carbon dioxide occurring at the surface of the comet (Feldman et al., 2015). This limitation is not mentioned anywhere within the media source and, in fact, there is not even the slightest allusion to such a limitation. Indeed, the scholarly article specifically points out that their conclusion concerning the spatial variation of emissions are only indicative that the excitation could occur very close to the comet’s surface, and that there is need for further data to ascertain whether this is correct. This information is left out by the media source’s conclusion. Media Article Title’s reflection of Content and Insights into Scientific Research Reporting However, the title of the media source does accurately reflect the content of the source, as well as that of the research article. Although the title has less jargon than that of the research article, it does identify the Alice instrument, which is at the core of the research article’s study, as well as the fact that it has made previously unknown and surprising discoveries about the comet’s atmosphere. This surprising discovery turns out to be that dissociation of water and CO2 is the result of electrons in the comet, rather than solar photons (Southwest Research Institute, 2015). This exercise has provided insights into how media covers scientific research, particularly the fact that media sources only report the most interesting details from scientific research, which are most likely to capture the reader’s attention, and rarely report on the limitations of the research. On the other hand, scientific research is more forthcoming about its limitations and provides raw data in support of its observations and findings. References Feldman, P. D., A’Hearn, M. F., Bertaux, J. L., Feaga, L. M., Parker, J. W., Schindhelm, E., & Vincent, J. B. (2015). Measurements of the near-nucleus coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the Alice far-ultraviolet spectrograph on Rosetta. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 3(1), 1-8. Retrieved from: http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/forth/aa25925-15.pdf Southwest Research Institute. (2015, June 2). Alice instruments ultraviolet close-up provides a surprising discovery about comets atmosphere. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150602153530.htm Read More