NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Apr 16 2023

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula

Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured here, the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousands of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100 light-years away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause and shape planetary nebulae.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?

Residents warned to 'stay clear' after freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in Maine - in THIRD crash this week

Apr 15, 2023

• Several cars on a freight train derailed and caught fire on Saturday in rural Maine leaving three workers were hurt,

• Maine Forest Service said in a statement that three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring went off the track at about 8:30am

• They derailed into a wooded area and started a small forest fire, which emergency responders contained and were monitoring

A Canadian Pacific freight train derailed and caught fire in Maine on Saturday, causing minor injuries to three rail employees.

'A total of three locomotive engines and six rail cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring derailed into a wooded area, where they caught fire and started a small forest fire,' Maine's Forest Department said in a statement.

Additional rail cars transporting hazardous materials did not derail, it said, adding that these hazardous materials are 'not at risk' of leaking and catching fire.

The derailment happened when the train encountered a 'track washout,' Canadian Pacific said in a statement. The washout may have been caused by a build-up of melting ice and debris.

Earlier in the day, Rockwood Fire and Rescue posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page asking residents to 'stay clear.' It's the third such incident this week, following derailments in Pittsburgh and Alabama.

C. Doniele Carlson, the director of communications for Canadian Pacific Kansas City, also confirmed the derailment about 15 miles east of Jackman and said the hazardous elements of the train's cargo were not involved in the fire.

'Our emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts have responded and continue to conduct a full assessment of the situation,' Carlson said in a statement. 'There are no evacuations and no threat to public safety.'

The fire and rescue department in nearby Rockwood posted a photo of the derailment on its Facebook page and advised residents to stay away from the area. The image showed multiple derailed cars and a small fire, with black smoke wafting across snowy forestland.

A merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern was announced Friday. The rail line bills itself as the first and only single-line railway connecting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

The derailment is the latest one to hit the rail industry. Federal regulators and members of Congress are urging railroads to do more to prevent derailments after recent fiery wrecks involving hazardous chemicals in Ohio and Minnesota prompted evacuations.

Rockwood, about 90 miles northwest of Bangor, is a village in Somerset County with about 300 residents. Located on the western side of Moosehead Lake, one of the state's largest freshwater bodies, it's a destination for salmon and trout fishing on both the lake and the Moose River.

https://truthsocial.com/@dailymail/posts/110207120808977039

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11977925/Freight-train-derails-Maine-injuring-three-workers-setting-trees-ablaze.html