A Tale of Two Impostors: SN2002kg and SN1954J in NGC 2403

We describe new results on two supernova impostors in NGC 2403, SN 1954J(V12) and SN 2002kg(V37). For the famous object SN 1954J we combine four critical observations: its current SED, its Halpha emission line profile, the Ca II triplet in absorption in its red spectrum, and the brightness compared to its pre-event state. Together these strongly suggest that the survivor is now a hot supergiant with T ~ 20000 K, a dense wind, substantial circumstellar extinction, and a G-type supergiant companion. The hot star progenitor of V12's giant eruption was likely in the post-red supergiant stage and had already shed a lot of mass. V37 is a classical LBV/S Dor variable. Our photometry and spectra observed during and after its eruption show that its outburst was an apparent transit on the HR Diagram due to enhanced mass loss and the formation of a cooler, dense wind. V37 is an evolved hot supergiant at ~10^6 Lsun with a probable initial mass of 60 -80 Msun.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Data retention, journalist freedoms and whistleblowers

As members of the ‘fourth estate’, journalists have enjoyed certain limited protections for themselves and their sources under the laws of various countries. These protections are now uniquely challenged in the context of metadata retention and enhanced surveillance and national security protections. This article examines the recent changes to laws in Australia and the position of journalists as investigative watchdogs. It considers the nature of the new laws, the responses of journalists, the broader context of commercial journalism and the rise of the infotainment business model, and the role of the ‘networked fourth estate’ and non-institutional actors in creating accountable government in Australia.Sal Humphreys, Melissa de Zwar

ALMA view of the circumstellar environment of the post-common-envelope-evolution binary system HD101584

We study the circumstellar evolution of the binary HD101584, consisting of a post-AGB star and a low-mass companion, which is most likely a post-common-envelope-evolution system. We used ALMA observations of the 12CO, 13CO, and C18O J=2-1 lines and the 1.3mm continuum to determine the morphology, kinematics, masses, and energetics of the circumstellar environment. The circumstellar medium has a bipolar hour-glass structure, seen almost pole-on, formed by an energetic jet, about 150 km/s. We conjecture that the circumstellar morphology is related to an event that took place about 500 year ago, possibly a capture event where the companion spiraled in towards the AGB star. However, the kinetic energy of the accelerated gas exceeds the released orbital energy, and, taking into account the expected energy transfer efficiency of the process, the observed phenomenon does not match current common-envelope scenarios. This suggests that another process must augment, or even dominate, the ejection process. A significant amount of material resides in an unresolved region, presumably in the equatorial plane of the binary system.Comment: A&A Letter, accepte

Ultraviolet spectroscopy of the brightest supergiants in M31 and M33

Ultraviolet spectroscopy from the IUE, in combination with groundbased visual and infrared photometry, are to determine the energy distributions of the luminous blue variables, the Hubble-Sandage variables, in M31 and M33. The observed energy distributions, especially in the ultraviolet, show that these stars are suffering interstellar reddening. When corrected for interstellar extinction, the integrated energy distributions yield the total luminosities and black body temperatures of the stars. The resulting bolometric magnitudes and temperatures confirm that these peculiar stars are indeed very luminous, hot stars. They occupy the same regions of the sub B01 vs. log T sub e diagram as do eta Car, P Cyg and S Dor in our galaxy and the LMC. Many of the Hubble-Sandage variables have excess infrared radiation which is attributed to free-free emission from their extended atmospheres. Rough mass loss estimates from the infrared excess yield rates of 0.00001 M sub annual/yr. The ultraviolet spectra of the H-S variables are also compared with similar spectra of eta Car, P Cyg and S For