Free Republic

The boss of Midland Expressway, which runs the 27-mile M6 Toll motorway, has left the company. Andy Pearson took over as chief executive in the summer of 2015, replacing Tom Fanning who had led Midland Expressway for more than 14 years. Mr Pearson's departure comes six months after the UK's only pay-as-you-go motorway was bought by Australian investment group IFM. Although it has never been revealed what IFM paid, the loss-making motorway had been up for sale with a price tag of almost £2 billion. In a statement Midland Expressway said: "Andy Pearson was recruited to perform the role of...

Explanation: To some, the outline of the open cluster of stars M6 resembles a butterfly. M6, also known as NGC 6405, spans about 20 light-years and lies about 2,000 light years distant. M6, pictured above, can best be seen in a dark sky with binoculars towards the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius), coving about as much of the sky as the full moon. Like other open clusters, M6 is composed predominantly of young blue stars, although the brightest star is nearly orange. M6 is estimated to be about 100 million years old. Determining the distance to clusters like M6 helps...

Explanation: To some, the outline of the open cluster of stars M6 resembles a butterfly. M6, also known as NGC 6405, spans about 20 light-years and lies about 2,000 light years distant. M6 can best be seen in a dark sky with binoculars towards the constellation of Scorpius, coving about as much of the sky as the full moon. Like other open clusters, M6 is composed predominantly of young blue stars, although the brightest star is nearly orange. M6 is estimated to be about 100 million years old. Determining the distance to clusters like M6 helps astronomers calibrate the distance...