Above: In 1006, observers watched a star explode in the constellation Lupus that shone about a dozen times more brilliantly than Venus ever does. The explosion was a Type Ia supernova, the most luminous variety, which occurred when a small, dense star known as a white dwarf blew up about 7000 light-years from Earth.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Friday 905P Eastern Time:   Who's Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky, 1 of 2

Friday 920P Eastern Time:   Who's Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky, 2 of 2

Friday 935P Eastern Time:  Peter Berkowitz, Hoover, in re: the national security apparatus and international law: for Bush, for Obama,

Friday 950P Eastern Time:   John Bolton, AEI, in re:  why are Iran and Syria permitted in the UN and IMF? what is a sanction worth?

The cluster, named the Phoenix galaxy cluster, is one of the biggest in the universe. It was discovered in 2010 with the help of the South Pole Telescope. The telescope has helped researchers detect such clusters by exploiting a phenomenon known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, which causes massive galaxy clusters to leave an impression on the cosmic microwave background: a faint, universe-spanning glow of light left over from the big bang. Like all galaxy clusters, the Phoenix cluster is made up of a mix of dark matter, stars, and gas, with a total mass 25,000 trillion times that of the sun.

Friday 1005P (705P Pacific):  Ken Croswell, Science, in re: the mystery of supernovae, the star nurseries.

Friday 1020P (720P Pacific):  Clint Bolick, Hoover, in re: the Supreme Court and the presidential election: what's at issue?

Friday 1035P (735P Pacific):  Brendan Greeley, Bloomberg Businessweek, in re: both Romney and Obama are big-government guys who project lots of debt, all sides aiming to 61 per cent debt  of GDP by 2012, ten years after the election.  Why is the robot the preference - the Fiscal Cliff Robot?

Friday 1050P (750P Pacific):  Gretchen Morgenson, NYT, in re: the SEC and the money funds: what's to be done with the failure of 2008?

Friday 1105P (805P Pacific):   Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks, 1 of 4

Friday 1120P (820P Pacific):  Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks, 2 of 4

Friday 1135P (835 Pacific)  Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks, 3 of 4

Theodore Roosevelt is the second from the right, and even though he was elected president of the board, he had great difficulty collaborating with his colleagues: (from left) TR booster, Avery D. Andrews; TR defier, wily lawyer Andrew D. Parker; and the frequent swing vote, the not-so-brainy ex-president’s son, Frederick D. Grant. Photo courtesy of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University.

Friday 1150P (850P Pacific):  Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks, 4 of 4

Friday/Sat 1205A (905 Pacific):  Henry Nau, Hoover, in re: what do we know of the Romney foreign policy?

Friday/Sat 1220A (920 Pacific):   Ari Berman, The Nation Magazine, in re: what do the Democrats dislike about the Ryan economic plan?

Friday/Sat 1235A (935P Pacific): Peter Berkowitz, Hoover, in re: the national security apparatus and international law: for Bush, for Obama

Friday/Sat 1250A  (950P Pacific): Melena Ryzik, NYT, in re: coal miners come to Utica, Kentucky, Girl Scout camp.

Coal supplies 96 percent of Kentucky’s electricity, most prominently in the eastern part of the state, where big coal producers reign.  Here, two hours west of Louisville, it is still vital, though firms like Western Kentucky Minerals are smaller, locally owned and entrenched. 

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Music: Iron Lady, Elizabeth the Golden Age, Valkyrie, Spartacus.