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symmetrical tidal arm features spanning some 75 kpc at thequasars’ redshift. Previously, the triggering of two quasars duringa merger had only been hypothesized, but our observationsprovide strong evidence of such an event.SDSS J1254+0846, as a face-on, pre-coalescence mergerhosting two luminous quasars separated by a few dozen kpc,provides a unique opportunity to probe quasar activity in anongoing gas-rich merger.Until this recent discovery, binary quasars have not beenseen in galaxies that are unambiguously in the act of merging. Theresearch paper’s co-authors conclude with the optimistic predictionthat “[m]ore such mergers should be identifiable at higher redshiftsusing binary quasars as tracers.”WISE Instruments Hard at Work in Earth OrbitThe Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is now six monthsinto its mission to map the whole sky in infrared light. WISE beganits official survey of the entire sky on 2010 January 14, one monthafter the instrument package rocketed into a polar orbit aroundEarth from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.Two days prior to the official start of its mission, the NASAspacecraft spotted its first, never-before-seen near-Earth asteroid.The near-Earth object, designated 2010 AB78, was located by themission’s sophisticated software, which picked out the moving objectagainst a background of stationary stars. It observed the asteroidseveral times during a period of one-and-a-half days before theobject moved beyond its view. When alerted to the object’s existence,astronomers used the University of Hawaii’s 2.2-metre telescope nearthe summit of Mauna Kea to follow up and confirm the discovery.In January 2010, the asteroid was about 158 million kilometresfrom Earth. It is estimated to be roughly 1 kilometre in diameter.According to astronomers, the object comes as close to the Sun asEarth is, but because of its tilted orbit, it will not pass very close toour planet for many centuries and does not pose any foreseeableimpact threat to Earth.During its mapping mission, WISE is expected to find about100,000 previously unknown asteroids in the Solar System’s mainasteroid belt. It is also expected to spot hundreds of previously unseennear-Earth objects. Professional and amateur astronomers providefollow-up observations, establishing firm orbits for the previouslyunseen objects.WISE has been described as issuing mission scientists “...a firehose of data pouring down from space.”Dr. Helen Kirk Awarded Plaskett MedalThe RASC and CASCA have announced that Dr. Helen Kirk of theHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has been awarded thePlaskett Medal for 2010.Dr. Kirk obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Victoria. Herthesis on star formation within the Perseus Molecular Cloud wassupervised by Dr. Doug Johnstone. Dr. Kirk and her collaboratorscombined observational data from the JCMT and IRAM observatorieswith numerical simulations to explore the physical processes of starformation within molecular clouds. Her thesis publications havealready had a significant impact on star-formation studies.She is presently an NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow at theHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.The Plaskett Medal was established in 1988 in recognition ofthe pivotal role played by John Stanley Plaskett in the establishmentof astrophysical research in Canada. The medal is awarded annually,by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and CASCA, to thePh.D. graduate from a Canadian university who is judged to havesubmitted the most outstanding doctoral thesis in astronomy orastrophysics in the preceding two years.Darwin’s Impact Crosses Science DisciplinesFigure 3 — The dot at the dead-centre of this image (the dot appearsred in colour photographs) is the first near-Earth asteroid discoveredby NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The asteroidappears redder than the rest of the background stars because it iscooler and emits most of its light at longer infrared wavelengths.Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLADarwin’s influence can be felt across a number of science disciplines,as the National Science Foundation’s special electronic tribute toDarwin (Evolution of Evolution: 150 Years of Darwin’s “On the Originof Species”) shows.The multi-disciplinary, one-stop-shop of resources on evolutionand Darwin himself goes “wide and deep,” providing a uniquelysweeping, at-a-glance explanation of how Origin cut an intellectualswath through anthropology, biology, the geosciences, polar sciences,RASC members receiving this Journal in electronic format are hereby granted permission to make a single paper copy for theirpersonal use.88 JRASC June / juin 2010Promoting Astronomy In Canada