* Astronomy

 Trans-Tasman rivalry over whether the Australian or New Zealand flags better represent the Southern Cross has been revived by astronomers who have inadvertently discovered a sixth star in the constellation.
The New Zealand flag shows the Southern Cross with four stars, while the Australian flag uses five stars, plus a sixth known as the "Federation" star.
The Southern Cross is also depicted in various forms on the flags of Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.
American academics at Swarthmore College, near Philadelphia, have announced the discovery of a previously unknown companion to the bright star in the Southern Cross, beta Crucis. They told a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle the companion star was discovered accidentally while the research team was using the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory to study x-rays emitted by beta Crucis itself.

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