Like this.

Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of stars which – prior to supernova – had the mass of between 10 and 29 times our own sun. They’re only about 10km in diameter which. In cosmic terms, is very, very small indeed. To wit:

Previously these city-sized stars were too small and too far away to resolve. Recently, however, the first maps of the locations and sizes of hotspots on a neutron star’s surface have been made by carefully modeling how the rapid spin makes the star’s X-ray brightness rise and fall. Based on a leading model, an illustrative map of pulsar J0030+0451‘s hotspots is pictured, with the rest of the star’s surface filled in with a false patchy blue. J0030 spins once every 0.0049 seconds and is located about 1000 light years away. The map was computed from data taken by NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) X-ray telescope attached to the International Space Station. The computed locations of these hotspots is surprising and not well understood. Because the gravitational lensing effect of neutron stars is so strong, J0300 displays more than half of its surface toward the Earth. Studying the appearance of pulsars like J0030 allows accurate estimates of the neutron star‘s mass, radius, and the internal physics that keeps the star from imploding into a black hole.

Image: NASA, NICER, GSFC‘s CI Lab

apod

This morning.

Storm Elsa-sodden cars dry out in Salthill, Galway.

Meanwhile, last night…

Motorists rescued from cars in Galway as Storm Elsa batters the west coast (Breakingnews)

This morning.

Via The Guardian:

Kevin Fallon at the Daily Beast is not the first to ask some critical questions, though he does seem to become increasingly distressed about the film’s baffling incongruities:

“Is there a rhyme or reason to when the cats crawl on all fours versus when they walk on two feet like humans? How is it that nearly every character makes a reference to their private parts, yet there were no private parts to speak of? Will I make it to this end of this paragraph with my sanity intact?”

The Gizmodo review by Alex Cranz is titled simply: “I have seen sights no human eyes should see.”

Arf.

‘A furry orgy in a dumpster’: what the reviews say about Cats (The Guardian)

“The CGI Fur is The Best Thing About It” (BBC)

Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil yesterday

Yesterday in the Dáil, during TDs’ final day before the Christmas break…

Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin told Taoiseach Leo Varadkar he was a “nasty piece of work”.

It came about while Mr Varadkar was answering questions from Fianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan and Labour TD Brendan Howlin about the policy of the Taoiseach’s department using the Government jet.

While he was speaking about the Government jet, Mr Martin raised Fine Gael’s Dara Murphy, who recently resigned his seat as TD for Cork North Central to take up a new role in the European Commission after he was heavily criticised for his absences from the Dáil since 2017 as he worked for the European People’s Party in Europe…

From the panto exchange…

Leo Varadkar: “Requests for use of the ministerial air transport service are made by Ministers’ private secretaries to my office and are dealt with in the first instance by the staff of my private office.

“Requests are examined by my staff with regard to the need for and purpose of travel, destination, availability and suitability of other travel arrangements, and other logistical details.

“Any necessary clarification or further information is sought at this point. All operational matters are settled directly between the office of the Minister in question and the Department of Defence or the Air Corps.”

Micheál Martin: “It is blindingly obvious that the bilateral meetings that took place in Zagreb, outside of the venue for the meeting of Fine Gael’s European political party were brief, formal and a cover for those, such as the Taoiseach, who used official transport to claim that it was official business.

“Croatia, however, is a partner and ally of Ireland’s in the European Union, and the fact that the Taoiseach met its President and Prime Minister formally is reasonable.

“The more important question is what official resources the Taoiseach used at the meeting of his political party in Zagreb and whether he always fully respected the non-political nature of public servants by not involving them in meetings held at his party political conference.

“Will the Taoiseach assure us that all costs relating to those parts of the trip that involved being at the party conference, including personal transport, were paid for by Fine Gael?

“Equally, will he assure us that no public servants were brought to the party conference?

“In a related matter, it was for this party that the former Deputy, Dara Murphy, was given leave to work for by the Taoiseach, because of which he was absent from his Dáil work.

“Perhaps Dara Murphy’s good fortune was that, unlike Deputy Bailey, no opinion poll was done showing him to be a liability to Fine Gael.

“Will the Taoiseach tell us whether he has asked Fine Gael how much money it received to support Dara Murphy in his Dáil work? Every party gets political funding related to the number of Deputies it has. Does he think he will ask the party to return the money? This would be for the period that the former Deputy was working in Europe.

“The Taoiseach’s attempt to defend himself by going on a personal attack on others impresses nobody. These are legitimate questions that deserve legitimate answers.”

Joan Burton: “On the Croatian meeting of the European People’s Party, EPP, of which Fine Gael is a member, will the Taoiseach indicate the arrangements made by the leaders of the European People’s Party in respect of appointments, given that the European People’s Party, like the other party groups in the European Parliament, is fairly extensively funded by the European institutions and that it would be very strange for national appointments to the international desks of the party groups not to be known about and agreed to at the highest levels in national parties?

“Will the Taoiseach enlighten us as to how the appointment of Mr Murphy, while he was a Deputy, came about?

“Did the EPP advise Fine Gael, perhaps through the party secretariat, that the appointment would be made?

“Why did nobody raise a query as to how somebody could have two full-time jobs, one in this House and the other with the EPP?

“The latter is not an honorary job such as being a vice president or president of a party group. It is a full-time, active job.

“Will the Taoiseach state whether carbon credits are used to offset his travel on the Government jet?”

Martin Kenny: “The rationale put forward by the Taoiseach is clearly not appropriate.

“Using the Government jet to attend an EPP meeting does not stand up to scrutiny and nor does it wash with anyone.

“Even the most independent observer of the Taoiseach’s decision to use the Government jet for this purpose would admit that it reeks of entitlement, which goes to the core of the matter.

“I understand from media reports that when the previous Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, was in office, he did not use the Government jet and always used commercial airlines to attend such meetings.

“Perhaps the Taoiseach will explain his decision to use the Government jet in this instance and in others. While I am sure he, like many of us, is fully aware of the sensitives regarding the use of the Government jet, he seems to have ploughed ahead regardless, which seems to be the attitude of the Government in respect of many issues.

“It goes ahead and says, “Divil may care what the people will think.” That attitude will come back to bite the Government, and hopefully soon. Will the Taoiseach confirm what role the former Deputy, Dara Murphy, had in organising the event? Was he central to it? Did he organise the attendance list for it?”

Varadkar: “I reiterate that the Government jet is used in accordance with a protocol set out in the Cabinet handbook, which has been extant for a long time.

“It is used within those rules and I assure Deputies that civil servants would not allow it to be used outside of them.

“I visited Zagreb on 20 and 21 November. The programme for my visit included an official meeting with the Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovi. The meeting took place for more than a hour, included a press conference and was held in the Prime Minister’s office.

“I also attended a reception hosted by our ambassador, attended by members of the business community and of the Irish community in Croatia, which took place at the ambassador’s residence.

“Unfortunately, due to a technical issue that delayed my arrival in Zagreb, it was not possible for me to meet President Grabar-Kitarovi, which had been planned, although I look forward to meeting her on another occasion if she is re-elected.

“My meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Plenkovi, was especially timely as Croatia will assume the Presidency of the European Union for the first time in January.

“During its term of office, it will manage a number of files of importance to Ireland, including Brexit, the Union’s budget for 2021 to 2027, inclusive, and the multi-annual financial framework. We also discussed enlargement, on which Croatia, as a Balkan country, has important insights.

“While in Zagreb on 20 and 21 November, I also had the opportunity for an extensive range of valuable meetings and discussions with other European leaders, principally concerning the next steps on Brexit and the future relationship with the UK.

“My visit to Zagreb included meetings with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk; the incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; President Anastasiades of Cyprus; President Iohannis of Romania; Prime Minister Ludovic Orban of Romania – not Hungary; Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of Bulgaria; Prime Minister Arturs Krišjnis Kariš of Latvia; Chancellor Merkel of Germany; the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of Greece; Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway; and the former Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz.

“As a small member state with a similarly small administration, Ireland understands well the scale of the task involved in undertaking the Presidency.

“I offer the Prime Minister, Mr. Plenkovi, my full support and co-operation in that regard. For my meeting with him, I was accompanied by the ambassador and a small team of officials and advisers from my Department. No civil servants attended the EPP congress but security, of course, did.

“On the former Deputy, Dara Murphy, I said yesterday what I was going to say about an inquiry, and I hope that inquiry can happen, as it should.

“The impression has been created that he was totally absent from the Dáil for two years, but that is not true. In fact, he was present for more votes in this calendar year than Deputy Micheál Martin was—–”

Martin: “That is outrageous carry-on.”

Varadkar: “—–and for the same number as the Deputy since the middle of July.

Martin: “The Taoiseach is a nasty piece of work.”

Varadkar: “Those are the facts.”

Martin: “I am here every Tuesday and Wednesday, as the Taoiseach knows.”

Varadkar: “Rather than all the name-calling, the Deputy should not be so sensitive.”

Martin: “Be fair.”

Varadkar: “If the Deputy is willing to be critical of former members of my parliamentary party, he should at least be willing to account for existing members of his parliamentary party who are under investigation.

“It is reasonable to ask him whether they will be ratified as candidates for Fianna Fáil in the forthcoming election, and whether he will rule out considering appointing them as Ministers should Fianna Fáil participate in the next Government.

“The people would like to know, if they vote for Fianna Fáil, whether some of the Deputies under investigation will be rewarded for their conduct by being made Ministers under Fianna Fáil. It is reasonable for the public to ask that question and to want to know the answer.”

Meanwhile…

Miriam Lord, in The Irish Times, who reported on the spat last night, writes:

By the way, he [Leo Varadkar] was right. Dara turned up (then skidaddled) to vote on 51 occasions as opposed to party leader Micheál Martin’s 51 occasions.

Oh, and Taoiseach Varadkar trailed them all. He voted 36 times.

Miriam Lord: ‘You’re a nasty piece of work’ – Micheál and Leo clash again as Dáil winds down for Christmas (The Irish Times)

Read the debate back in full here


From top: The River Lee at Cork city centre. Air quality in Cork city is currently one of the worst in Europe.; Dan Boyle

It was twenty five years ago. I was a candidate for a by-election and had been campaigning to extend the bituminous coal ban, which had been in existence for a number of years in Dublin, to Cork City.

John Gormley had been very involved in the earlier Dublin campaign, which eventually saw Mary Harney legislate for a smoke free zone in Dublin.

Smog Free Cork was established to extend the legislation. As a local councillor I supported this goal.

The by-election was held in November. Temperatures dropped with chimneys chiming their bilious smoke. Inversion in the valley of the city magnified the effect.

During the campaign the then Minister for the Environment, Michael Smith, announced that Cork City would also be covered by the bituminous coal ban. Hoping I suspect for the type of kudos won by Mary Harney.

It wasn’t good enough for me. I had always thought that the initial, and subsequent bans, being based on the sale but not on the use of bituminous coal, could not be effective.

In Cork this meant coal could be bought two miles outside the ban zone, and then be burned with impunity. This was true of all subsequent extensions of the ban to other urban areas.

Our current government had been committed to introducing a nationwide wide ban, the only way to make sense of a sales ban.

However under pressure from coal distributors that they would legally contest such an order on restraint of trade grounds, the government has relented.

This weekend our Minister of the moment has announced a further extension of the ban to all urban areas with populations over ten thousand people. Another absolute cop out.

That this government is reluctant to regulate any market has never been a surprise. That it is failing to do so now sees it veering into the territory of negligence.

In recent months Cork has been experiencing some of the worst recorded air pollution in Europe.

There is an irony in this. This has coincided with a trial that Cork City Council has been undertaking in conjunction with University College Cork.

This has seen an increase in monitoring stations throughout the city, along with more pollutants being measured. The irony being that the more we monitor our air quality the more polluted we are discovering it is.

The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the official air monitoring in the city. What this trial is revealing is that we have too few monitoring stations and that they are badly located. The same is probably true throughout the country.

To be fair the science and technology of all this is difficult to keep up with. We are learning more about which pollutants that are most damaging and at what concentrations. Technology is helping us measure these risks more accurately.

Domestic fires represent only part of the risk to our air quality. The expediential growth of vehicular traffic represents another significant area of risk. All we have succeeded in doing with much our new road infrastructure has been to move air pollution pinch points to new locations.

The biggest failure has been any real, sincere attempt to address fuel poverty. Our poorest households continue to rely on the least expensive, least heat efficient fuels.

Without massive retrofitting we will to condemn those with least to suffer the highest concentration of air pollution. Reducing the need of many to get up early in the morning….

Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD and Senator and serves as a Green Party councillor on Cork City Council. His column appears here every Thursday. Follow Dan on Twitter: @sendboyle

Covers of this morning’s The Oklahoman, USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Times

Sometimes in history we reach
A moment that really should teach
If you set out to try
To break laws and lie
Then Congress may vote to impeach

John Moynes

Anyone?

Meanwhile…

Broadsheet.ie