Astronomers have spotted the moment a black hole "turned on". While looking for the collision of a neutron star with another object, which should result in a kilonova (an explosion which reddens then fades over time), they stumbled upon an event which remained extremely bright. They soon worked out this light was because of supermassive black hole called J221951-484240 which had been on for around 10 months. But then they had to work out what had caused it, and got stuck between two causes, “J221951 is consistent with being nuclear, so the scenarios we are being left are a tidal disruption event or an active galactic nucleus,” lead author Dr Samantha Oates said as she presented the research at the National Astronomy Meeting 2023. “Looking at the spectrum it's consistent with both categories.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter A tidal disruption event (TDE) takes place when a star or a gas cloud gets too close to a supermassive black hole. The material is ripped apart, and begins to shine as the black hole feeds Alternatively, it could be an active galactic nucleus (AGN), the phase of a supermassive black hole where it is consistently feeding in a frenzy. “We hope in future to distinguish between these two scenarios,” Dr Oates concluded. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The White House is preparing to direct federal agencies to get ready for a shutdown after House Republicans left town for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded

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A former Greek defence minister has urged the Greek government to seek help from Russia to fight the devastating wildfires. Panos Kamennos claims it is impossible to cope with the fires without the support of the Russian Be-200 amphibious aircraft. “Without Beriev, nothing happens. Let’s bow out heads and ask for help now. We will be given...” he said in a social media post. Read our live coverage of the Greece wildfires Russian aircraft manufacturer Beirev specialises in amphibious aircrafts that can take off and land on both solid ground and water. Its giant planes have proved to be a devisive weapon in extinguishing flames during the Greek fire season. In particular, the Beriev Be-200 Altair is said to be designed for such a task as well as search and rescue, cargo, maritime patrol and passenger transportation. The plane can also scoop up 12 tonnes of water in just 14 seconds and its tanks can also be filled on the ground. Its enormous potential will be missed from Greece’s arsenal of fire fighting services. Dangerous wildfires have been ravaging the country for almost two weeks, spread by high winds. Thousands of tourists, including 10,000 UK holidaymakers, have been evacuated from the country and its islands. Rhodes and Corfu are bracing for at least another 48 hours of inferno as forecasters predict temperatures in southern Europe will not peak until Wednesday. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned of tough days ahead, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday. “All of us are standing guard. In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism,” he said. Other areas affected by wildfires include Evia and the Peloponnese region. Russia’s Beriev Be-200 can empty its water tanks over an area engulfed by flames in 0.8 to 1.0 seconds when flying above the minimum drop speed of 140mph. The aircraft was used in Greece to fight the forest fires of 2007 and again during the summer of 2021. This summer, the Greek Fire Brigade has been battling more than 500 fires countrywide without the use of the aircraft. Weather maps show the latest heatwave to hit Europe is set to peak on Wednesday when temperatures will surpass 44C in some parts of Greece. Last weekend, the island of Rhodes saw the biggest evacuation in Greek history, with more than 20,000 people forece to flee homes and hotels. In Corfu, 2,500 people have already been evacuated in the face of dozens of blazes on the island. France, Portugal, Turkey and Croatia are among other European countries that have been battling wildfires in recent days. Extreme weather conditions on the continent are being mirror worldwide, from the US to Asia. Read More Wildfires: Is it safe to travel to Greece right now? Evacuation from Rhodes was ‘hell’, say family from Northern Ireland Are Greece wildfires caused by climate change? The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out strikes on what it called Hamas targets in Gaza on Friday, after militants in the enclave launched incendiary balloons towards Israel for the first time in over a year.

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Whale hunting is set to return in Iceland despite hopes the temporary ban would remain. Iceland‘s Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, announced on Thursday that this summer’s temporary ban on whaling would be lifted in a move international marine conservation organisation OceanCare has described as ‘disappointing’, A suspension on whaling was put in place by the Icelandic government in June, set to expire in August 2023, due to animal welfare concerns after monitoring by Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority on the fin whale hunt found that the killing of the animals took too long based on the main objectives of the Animal Welfare Act. An investigation found that around 40% of hunted whales did not die instantly, with an average time to death of 11.5 minutes. Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority found that two whales had to be shot four times. One of the whales took almost an hour to die, while the other took almost two hours. In anticipation of the ban being lifted, two Icelandic whaling vessels left port yesterday to resume whale hunting, OceanCare said. The organisation said they are “gravely disappointed” that the ban has been lifted, and claimed the decision could mean that there will now “be a race to kill as many whales as possible in the remaining weeks of reasonable hunting weather” before whale hunting season ends in mid-September. “It is deplorable that this cruel practice has been allowed to resume,” said Nicolas Entrup, OceanCare’s director of International Relations. “We are bitterly disappointed by the decision which entirely goes against the clear facts that are available to the government and people of Iceland. We can almost be certain that the Icelandic whalers will not meet the imposed requirements. “This cruel, unnecessary and outdated practice needs to stop,” he said. Iceland’s whaling season runs from mid-June to mid-September. Annual quotas authorise the killing of 209 fin whales, but none were killed between 2019-2021 due to a dwindling market for whale meat. Some 148 fin whales were killed in 2022 during whaling season. Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only countries in the world that have continued whale hunting in the face of fierce criticism from environmentalists and animal rights’ defenders. OceanCare said the lifting of the ban calls into question the announced phase-out of whaling over the next few years. A decision about Iceland’s self-allocated whaling quota for the next several years is expected towards the end of this year. In 2009, several countries including the UK, the US, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain condemned Iceland’s whaling policy. Japan, which is the biggest market for whale meat, resumed commercial whaling in 2019 after a three-decade hiatus. Read More Iceland suspends annual whale hunt due to ‘animal welfare concerns’ – and may never bring it back Humpback whale spotted off Cornwall coast in rare sighting Humpback whale found on beach died after entanglement in creel lines, tests show Zelensky makes long-range weapon claim after strike deep inside Russia Putin’s forces pushed back by Ukraine counteroffensive after ‘largest’ drone strike The ‘Vampire’ rocket system helping Ukraine shoot down Russia’s kamikaze drones

President Joe Biden is asking Congress for more than $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs as he works to sustain support for the war amid signs of softening support among Americans.

Amouranth said, 'I honestly will be the old woman who has a million dogs and horses, and some cats probably at some point in the wilderness'