Peter Kernwein posted a photo:
James Webb Space Telescope posted a photo:
What if you could go back in time and see a star just before it goes supernova? Archives of telescope data are essentially letting astronomers do just that.
Forty million years ago, a star in a nearby galaxy went supernova. We didn’t see the light from this explosion until it finally reached Earth on June 29, 2025. Prior to June 29th, it would have just looked like a star. Astronomers looked through Webb (as well as Hubble) data of Galaxy NGC 1637, and were able to pinpoint a single red supergiant star located exactly where the supernova currently is. This is the first time Webb data has been used to find a supernova progenitor, though scientists had been waiting for a chance to look for a supernova to explode in a galaxy Webb had already observed.
This star was surprisingly red, even for a red supergiant. This indicates it was surrounded by dust that blocked shorter, bluer wavelengths of light. It’s the reddest, dustiest red supergiant yet seen that has resulted in a supernova explosion. The dust is part of a puzzle.
We would expect that the most massive stars (those that will end their lives as supernovas) to be among the brightest and most luminous, and thus easy to spot in pre-supernova imagery. But that hasn’t been the case. Perhaps the most massive and old stars are also the dustiest, and the dust could make them appear less luminous and harder to see. This particular dusty red supergiant seems to support that hypothesis.
The composition of the dust also surprised astronomers - the dust appears to be rich in carbon, while astronomers expected it to be silicate-rich. Astronomers think perhaps this carbon was dredged up from the star’s interior shortly before it exploded.
The next step is to try to find and study similar red supergiants that have the potential to go supernova, but haven’t yet.
Read more: science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-telescope-locat...
Image description: A face-on view of barred spiral galaxy NGC 137 shows Hubble and Webb data combined, with a small box around a reddish looking dot located on the right side in an outer spiral arm. This is the supernova explosion. The center of the galaxy is bright and hazy, and the galaxy is speckled with blue and red stars. Top right: The star BEFORE the explosion shown with combined Hubble and Webb data. Crosshairs mark the red supergiant star. Bright blue and red stars and dusty haze are visible in the background. Second from top right: Hubble data from before the supernova. Note the star that is about to explode is not visible. Crosshairs mark its location. In the background are pale blue stars and dust. Second from bottom right: Webb data from before the supernova explosion. The red supergiant (marked with crosshairs) is very visible in the infrared, because Webb can see its infrared glow through the dust blocking it from Hubble’s view. Reddish stars and dust are visible in the background. Bottom right: Hubble’s view of the supernova AFTER the explosion. Blueish background stars and dust are still visible in the background.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Charles Kilpatrick (Northwestern), Aswin Suresh (Northwestern); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
In meer dan twintig van de 32 staten in Mexico brak geweld uit. Kartelleden blokkeerden onder meer wegen en staken bussen en bankfilialen in de brand.
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Aflossingsvrije hypotheken zijn te risicovol voor zowel bankbalans als klanten, waarschuwden DNB, ECB en AFM eerder dit jaar. Rabobank kondigde al maatregelen aan, ASN Bank volgt nu.
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Drie jaar na haar arrestatie keert de Rotterdamse ex-advocate voor het eerst terug in de rechtszaal, in haar eigen strafzaak. “Een beetje grieperig”, zegt ze. Later gebruikt ze het woord ‘wrakkig’. Maar het moet. Inez Weski heeft een missie: aantonen dat haar onrecht wordt aangedaan.
Follow updates from Monday’s 8pm (GMT) kick-off
David Moyes makes three changes to the team that lost at home to Bournemouth: out goes the suspended Jake O’Brien, along with Vitaliy Mykolenko and Tyrique George, who drop to the bench; Michael Keane returns, along with Tim Iroegbunam and Harrison Armstrong. That means James Garner, formerly of United, and Jarrad Branthwaite will be at full-back.
Everton (4-3-3): Pickford; Garner, Tarkowski, Keane, Branthwaite; Gana, Iroegbunam, Dewsbury-Hall; Armstrong, Barry, Ndiaye. Subs: King, Patterson, McNeil, Beto, Mykolenko, George, Dibling, Coleman, Rohl.
Continue reading...Valdo Calocane released in 2020 after mental health staff considered research on over-representation of young black men in detention
Mental health professionals decided not to detain the Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane despite a violent incident in 2020, after they considered research that addressed the over-representation of young black men in custody, a public inquiry has been told.
Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, fatally stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old Ian Coates, and severely injured three others on 13 June 2023.
Continue reading...Deadliest start to a year in more than a decade, according to the International Organization for Migration
A least 606 people trying to reach Europe in search of refugee have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2026, marking the “deadliest start to a year” in more than a decade, the UN’s migration agency said on Monday.
The figure includes at least 30 people who are feared dead or missing after their boat capsized in severe weather off the coast of Greece on Saturday. Authorities rescued 20 people, including four minors, and recovered the bodies of three men and one woman, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said.
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Let the adventure begin! Select the difficulty level, touch and move to reveal the image, guess what it represents... Castlelight
Het rommelt binnen de BBB. Verschillende vertegenwoordigers van de partij zouden een andere koers voorstaan en er is veel gedoe over de aanwijzing van Henk Vermeer als partijleider, terwijl Mona Keijzer tijdens de verkiezingen veel meer voorkeurstemmen kreeg. Na al dat gekonkel in de beweging en het opstappen van Mona Keijzer speelt bij iedereen de vraag: waarom nu pas?
“Het is inderdaad niet gek dat mensen zich afvragen hoe het in godsnaam zo lang goed heeft kunnen gaan”, constateert politiek commentator Joost Vullings. “Een van origine one issue lobbypartij die zo snel opkomt, waar verschillende enorme ego’s de dienst uitmaken, met een verdeelde achterban waar ze helemaal niet voor opkomen. Vermeer, Keijzer, al die mensen die voor hun eigen hachje de politiek in zijn gegaan. En zoekende naar een identiteit je volledig laten meeslepen door een extreemrechtse partij. Het is een wonder dat de partij nu pas uit elkaar dreigt te vallen.”
Partijgenoot Femke Wiersma heeft een mogelijke verklaring: “Toen we in het kabinet zaten was iedereen het er eigenlijk over eens dat we de boel moesten traineren, dus we zaten gek genoeg aardig op één lijn. En al het treiteren, het saboteren en het eindeloos blokkeren was vooral naar buiten gericht. Intern was niemand echt bezig met onze eigen stilstand. Tot nu dan. In die zin heeft kabinetsdeelname belangrijke ruzies gewoon in de weg gestaan.”
Partijprominenten lieten in een brandbrief aan het partijbestuur weten dat zij achter Mona Keijzer stonden als nieuwe partijleider, maar dat dat wel gepaard moet gaan met duidelijk gebekvecht naar de kiezer toe. “Met alle respect voor Henk Vermeer, maar hij weet niet altijd op de juiste manier de onderbuik aan te spreken. Henk is meer een man van cijfertjes en nuances, daar heb je politiek gezien niet veel aan. Terwijl Mona juist wanneer de nood het hoogst is er een machtsstrijd van probeert te maken. Dat is waar iedereen zo lang naar gehunkerd heeft.”
Caroline van der Plas zegt dat ze opgelucht is dat de gierput nu eindelijk open kan. “We hebben met zijn allen lang genoeg moeten wachten. We hoeven nu eindelijk niet meer de schijn op te houden dat we er voor ‘de burger’ zijn. We zitten hier allemaal voor onszelf. Mijn taak zit erop. Ik ga lekker achterover leunen en van het spektakel genieten.”
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A new era of Formula 1 is already underway, so we've assessed how the 2026 regulation changes could impact the betting market.
2023 F2 champion Theo Pourchaire has joined the Silver Arrows' driver portfolio ahead of the 2026 season.
An anonymous reader shares a report: PayPal, the digital payments pioneer, is attracting takeover interest from potential buyers after a stock slide wiped out almost half of its value, according to people familiar with the matter.
The San Jose, California-based company has fielded meetings with banks amid unsolicited interest from suitors, the people said. At least one large rival is looking at the whole company, while some other suitors are only interested in certain PayPal assets, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Buyer interest in PayPal is still at a preliminary stage and may not lead to a transaction, the people cautioned. Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal was an early mover in the world of digital payments. But the company now finds itself in a rut with its customers increasingly turning to alternative ways to pay for things. PayPal's shares have fallen around 46% in New York trading over the last 12 months, giving the company a market value of about $38.4 billion.
The San Jose, California-based company has fielded meetings with banks amid unsolicited interest from suitors, the people said. At least one large rival is looking at the whole company, while some other suitors are only interested in certain PayPal assets, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Buyer interest in PayPal is still at a preliminary stage and may not lead to a transaction, the people cautioned. Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal was an early mover in the world of digital payments. But the company now finds itself in a rut with its customers increasingly turning to alternative ways to pay for things. PayPal's shares have fallen around 46% in New York trading over the last 12 months, giving the company a market value of about $38.4 billion.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.