title: Fargo (season 1)

text: Robert Bianco of "USA Today" gave it a highly positive review, praising the performances of the cast and "the depth of its characterizations and the individuality of its approach." Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com" acclaimed the series and wrote, "With an amazing ensemble driven by great performances from top to bottom, an incredibly smart writers' room, brilliant callbacks to the original that feel more inspired than forced, and a filmmaking style that feels as cinematic as this grand Minnesotan tragedy deserves, "Fargo" is one of the most addictive new shows of the year." However, Emily Nussbaum of "The New Yorker" criticized the series for its sexualized violence and its lack of ambiguity and pathos.


title: Fargo (season 1)

text: On October 14, 2014, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season of "Fargo" on DVD and Blu-ray. In addition to all ten episodes, both DVD and Blu-ray disc formats include audio commentaries on three episodes by Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman and Noah Hawley, deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes featurettes, and in select sets, an exclusive, collectible beanie.


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935) is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 films and television series, including in small but important supporting roles in dozens of major studio features of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in "Blood Simple" (1984), the Coen Brothers' first film for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He also appeared in Carl Reiner's comedy "The Jerk" (1979), Robert Redford's drama "Ordinary People" (1980), Ridley Scott's science fiction film "Blade Runner" (1982), Barry Sonnenfeld's steampunk western "Wild Wild West" (1999) and Brad Bird's animated film "The Iron Giant" (1999). Roger Ebert said that "No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad."


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: Walsh was born in Ogdensburg, New York, the son of Agnes Katharine ("née" Sullivan) and Harry Maurice Walsh Sr., a customs agent. He is of Irish descent. He was raised in rural Swanton, Vermont, and attended Clarkson University.


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: He graduated in 1958 (B.A., Business Administration). In 1998, the Clarkson Alumni Association presented him with the Golden Knight Award.


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: Walsh came to prominence in the 1978 crime film "Straight Time", in which he played a parole officer. He also had a small but memorable role as a crazed sniper in the Steve Martin comedy "The Jerk". One of his best-known roles was Captain Harry Bryant in Ridley Scott's cult film "Blade Runner". His most acclaimed performance was arguably the double-crossing private detective in "Blood Simple" (1984), for which he won the 1986 Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: Walsh made occasional guest appearances on "Home Improvement" as Tim Taylor's father-in-law. In 1992, he appeared as a powerful U.S. Senator in David Winning's "Killer Image". In "Christmas with the Kranks", he played one of the Kranks' neighbors. He also appeared as Alex Lembeck, a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton's chaperone and protector on "The Sandy Duncan Show" in 1972. He appeared in an episode of the NBC drama series "Gibbsville" in 1976 and "Little House on the Prairie" in 1981. He appeared as Dr. Joseph Kroft, a medical examiner with a grudge against Sipowicz, on an episode of "NYPD Blue".


title: M. Emmet Walsh

text: Some comedy roles include the cynical small town sportswriter Dickie Dunn in the iconic 1977 hockey film "Slap Shot", and a college diving coach in the Rodney Dangerfield film "Back to School".


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Pallavi Joshi (born 4 April 1969) is an Indian actress, writer, and film producer who works primarily in Hindi films and television. In a career spanning across films and television, Joshi is the recipient of such accolades as two National Film Awards, and a nomination for the Filmfare Awards.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Born in Mumbai to Marathi parents who were stage actors, Joshi made her acting debut at age four with a minor role in the Hindi film "Naag Mere Sathi" (1973). Following numerous film appearances as a child artist, Joshi garnered recognition and acclaim when she ventured into the Parallel cinema movement, with roles in critically acclaimed films like; "Bhujangayyana Dashavathara" (1988), "Rihaee" (1988), "Rukmavati Ki Haveli" (1991), and "Woh Chokri" (1992), for which she won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award (feature film). Joshi also appeared in several commercial films, including "Insaaf Ki Awaaz" (1986), "Andha Yudh" (1987), "Mujrim" (1989), "Saudagar" (1991), "Panaah" (1992). For the first of these, she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Joshi's career further expanded with her venture into television, garnering praise and popular acclaim for such revered Doordarshan shows as; "Talaash" (1992), "Aarohan" (1996-1997), "Alpviram" (1998), "Justujoo" (2002-2004). In recent years, Joshi has mainly collaborated with her controversial husband, director Vivek Agnihotri, most notably for the films; "The Tashkent Files" (2019), and the ‘The Kashmir Files" (2022), both of which she co-produced and for the former won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Joshi started performing on stage at an early age. She acted in films like "Badla" and "Aadmi Sadak Ka" as a child artist. She played a blind child who reforms a notorious gangster in "Dada" (1979). In the 1980s and early 1990s she acted in art films like "Rukmavati Ki Haveli", "Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda", "Trishagni" (1988), "Vanchit", "Bhujangayyana Dashavathara" (1991) and "Rihaee". She also played supporting character roles as a sister or the heroine's friend in commercial big budget films including "Saudagar", "Panaah", "Tehelka" and "Mujrim". She was nominated for 'Best Supporting Actress' at the Filmfare Awards for her role as a disabled girl in "Andha Yudh" (1988). She had won a Special Jury Award at the 41st National Film Awards for "Woh Chokri" (1992). She also appeared as Kasturba Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's "The Making of the Mahatma", (1995). She acted with Madhavan in a thriller titled "Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum", which was stopped abruptly.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Joshi has also worked in regional films, She has played the central character ‘Shantha’ in the critically acclaimed Malayalam movie "Ilayum Mullum" (1994), directed by K. P. Sasi and a pivotal role in the Kannada film "Bhujangayyana Dashavathara" (1991) enacted and directed by Lokesh. She has also played a lead role in "Rita", a Marathi film directed by Renuka Shahane.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: She is also the recipient of the Excellence In Cinema Award at the 7th Global Film Festival, Noida. She has won a Best Supporting Actress at the 67th National Film Awards for her performance in "The Tashkent Files" (2019). In 2022, she appeared in Vivek Agnihotri directorial "The Kashmir Files" in which she played the character of Professor Radhika Menon. Joshi was nominated as a member of Film and Television Institute of India society, but she refused to take up the position in view of the students' protest against appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the chief of the institute's governing council.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Joshi's most significant hosting stint was co-anchor for popular music show "Zee Antakshari" for 5 years. Joshi also hosted a televised singing reality show "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Marathi L'il Champs" on Zee Marathi. She also acted in some episodes of "Rishtey", aired on Zee TV during 1999 and 2001. Her TV appearances include "Mr. Yogi", "Bharat Ek Khoj", "Justujoo", "Alpviram", "Mriganayani", "Talash" and "Imtihaan" and her most famous Doordarshan serial has been "Aarohan", a youth serial based on the navy. "Justujoo" was a weekly serial on Zee TV in 2002, which also starred Harsh Chhaya and Arpita Pandey. Joshi is also a producer of Marathi serials and has produced serials including "Asambhav" and "Anubandh" on Zee Marathi.


title: Pallavi Joshi

text: Joshi was born on 4 April 1969. She married Indian film maker Vivek Agnihotri in 1997 and has two children. She is the sister of child actor Master Alankar (Joshi). She has been supportive of Vivek, who has been accused of making sexist remarks, such as Tweets.


title: Rambo III

text: Rambo III is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. A sequel to "" (1985), it is the third installment in the "Rambo" franchise.


title: Rambo III

text: The film depicts fictional events during the Soviet–Afghan War. In the film, Rambo sets out on a dangerous journey to Afghanistan in order to rescue his former commander and his longtime best friend, Col. Sam Trautman, from the hands of an extremely powerful and ruthless Soviet Army colonel who is bent on killing both Trautman and Rambo, while helping a local band of Afghan rebels fight against Soviet forces threatening to destroy their village.


title: Rambo III

text: "Rambo III" was released worldwide on May 25, 1988. At the time of its release, "Rambo III" was the most expensive film ever made with a production budget between $58 and $63 million. The film was not well received by critics and grossed less than its predecessor, "Rambo: First Blood Part II", earning $189 million worldwide.


title: Rambo III

text: A sequel, "Rambo," was released in 2008 with Stallone reprising his role and also directing the film.


title: Rambo III

text: Three years , John Rambo has settled in a Thai monastery and is helping with construction work on the monastery grounds. He supports the monastery by competing in krabi-krabong matches in nearby Bangkok. Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally Rambo, and explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply the Mujahideen and other tribes as they try to repel the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.


title: Rambo III

text: Embassy official Robert Griggs informs Rambo of Col. Trautman's capture but refuses to approve a rescue mission for fear of drawing the United States into the war. Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or death. Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he intends to convince arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive.


title: Rambo III

text: The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman. Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ informs the Soviets, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village. Though Rambo manages to destroy one of them with a DShK heavy machine gun, the rebels refuse to aid him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Hamid, as well as Rambo, are wounded during the battle and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration.


title: Rambo III

text: Skillfully evading base security, Rambo reaches and frees Trautman just as he is about to be tortured with a flamethrower. He and Trautman rescue several other prisoners and hijack a Hind gunship helicopter to escape the base. The helicopter is damaged during takeoff and quickly crashes, forcing the escapees to flee across the sand on foot. An attack helicopter pursues Rambo and Trautman to a nearby cave, where Rambo destroys it with an explosive arrow. A furious Zaysen sends Spetsnaz commandos under Kourov to kill them, but they are quickly routed and killed. An injured Kourov attacks Rambo with his bare hands, but is overcome and killed.


title: Rambo III

text: As Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistani border, Zaysen and his forces surround them. But before the duo are overwhelmed, Masoud's Mujahideen forces attack the Soviets in a surprise cavalry charge. Despite being wounded, Rambo takes control of a tank and uses it to attack Zaysen's Hind gunship in a head-on battle with both vehicles firing high-calibre machine gun rounds, Rambo firing the tank's main gun and Zaysen unleashing volleys of the Hind's high explosive rockets and missiles. The final charge sees the two vehicles collide, but Rambo survives after firing the tank's main gun after colliding with Zaysen's Hind. At the end of the battle, Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.


title: Rambo III

text: Sylvester Stallone later said his original premise of the film "was more in keeping with the theme of "Tears of the Sun", but set in Afghanistan."


title: Rambo III

text: "Bullitt" and "Red Heat" scribe Harry Kleiner was hired to write a draft, but his script was rejected by Stallone.


title: Rambo III

text: Several weeks into filming, many of the film's crew were fired including the director of photography and director Russell Mulcahy. Stallone:


title: Rambo III

text: The canvas of this movie is so large you have to constantly think 10 scenes ahead. You can't wing it. They didn't go into the Battle of Waterloo not knowing what their strategy would be. Well, this movie is kind of like a cinematic warfare. We have a huge cast and crew (more than 250 people) and tough locations to deal with. Everyone and everything has to coordinate.


title: Rambo III

text: Some critics noted that the timing of the movie, with its unabashedly anti-Soviet tone, ran afoul of the opening of Communism to the West under Mikhail Gorbachev, which had already changed the image of the Soviet Union to a substantial degree by the time the movie was finished.


title: Rambo III

text: In a 2008 online Q&A, Stallone stated that a disagreement over casting led to him firing Russell Mulcahy as the director:


title: Rambo III

text: He went to Israel two weeks before me with the task of casting two dozen vicious looking Russian troops. These men were to make your blood run cold. When I arrived on the set, what I saw was two dozen blond, blue-eyed pretty boys that resembled rejects from a surfing contest. Needless to say Rambo is not afraid of a little competition but being attacked by third rate male models could be an enemy that could overwhelm him. I explained my disappointment to Russell and he totally disagreed, so I asked him and his chiffon army to move on.


title: Rambo III

text: Mulcahy was replaced by Peter MacDonald, a veteran second unit director. It was MacDonald's first film as director but he was very experienced and had directed the second unit action sequences in "". MacDonald later said, "I tried very hard to change the Rambo character a bit and make him a vulnerable and humorous person, I failed totally." "I knew instinctively what was a good and bad shot," he added. "Stallone knew his character because it was his third outing as Rambo. I wasn't shooting Shakespeare and at times it was hard to take it seriously." MacDonald shot the stick fighting sequence in Bangkok himself using a handheld camera.


title: Rambo III

text: The character Masoud, played by Greek actor Spiros Focás, was named after Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud who fought the Soviets and later the Taliban.


title: Rambo III

text: There were so many restrictions in Israel, where you could and couldn't shoot. The producers and Stallone decided they would go back to Arizona where they had looked long before I was on the film. There was a group there called the re-enactors. We had around two hundred and fifty of these guys who re-enact the American Civil War. They were called on to do fight sequences, which they loved.


title: Rambo III

text: The Mi-24 Hind-D helicopters seen in the film are modified Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma transport helicopters with fabricated bolt-on wings similar to the real Hind-Ds which were mainly used in the former Eastern Bloc. The other helicopter depicted is a slightly reshaped Aerospatiale Gazelle.


title: Rambo III

text: The film ends with the on-screen caption, "This film is dedicated to the gallant people of Afghanistan." At some point after the September 11 attacks, an urban legend began that the dedication had actually read "... to the brave Mujahideen fighters" when the film was released in theaters, but then changed to "the gallant people of Afghanistan" after the 2001 attacks, since the Mujahideen were now associated to some extent with the Taliban. This urban legend has been repeated by some scholars. However, this is untrue, and some reviews of the film upon its release even mentioned the "gallant people of Afghanistan" dedication.


title: Rambo III

text: An extensive film score was written by Oscar-winning American composer Jerry Goldsmith, conducting the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra; however, much of it was not used. Instead, much of the music Goldsmith penned for the previous installment was recycled. The original album, released by Scotti Bros., contained only a portion of the new music as well as three songs, only one of which was used in the film (Bill Medley's version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", played over the end credits).


title: Rambo III

text: After "Rambo III", Sylvester Stallone was going to star in an adaptation of Don Pendleton's "The Executioner" novels. Between 1988 and 1990, the project was in development at Carolco Pictures, with Joel Silver attached as a producer and William Friedkin as a director. Cynthia Rothrock was also cast as partner of Stallone's Mack Bolan character, and she would play more of a "calm and cool headed" character, while Stallone would be more of a "unpredictable wildcard". At least several different scripts were written by screenwriters who wrote some of the more popular action films at the time, like Hilary Henkin, who wrote "Road House" (1989), Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, who wrote "RoboCop" (1987), and even Stallone wrote a version of the script. However, due to his dislike of the scripts and problems he had with Stallone and Silver about it, Friedkin left the project which was cancelled soon after.


title: Rambo III

text: Potentially owing to the proximity of its release to the Hungerford massacre, one minute and five seconds of footage was removed from the film before it could be granted an 18 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification; the amount of deletions was then nearly tripled for its initial video release. Almost all of this footage was restored to the film upon video submission in 2000, aside from a compulsory cut for animal cruelty.


title: Rambo III

text: "Rambo III" was released on DVD on November 23, 2004, and a Blu-Ray release followed on May 23, 2008. "Rambo III" was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on November 13, 2018.


title: Rambo III

text: "Rambo III" opened in the United States on May 25, 1988, at 2,562 theaters in its opening weekend (the four-day Memorial Day weekend), ranking #2 behind "Crocodile Dundee II". Overall, the film grossed $53,715,611 domestically and then took $135,300,000 overseas, giving "Rambo III" a box office total of $189,015,611. The film underperformed at the box-office.


title: Rambo III

text: The film scored a 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 37 reviews and with an average rating of 4.70/10. The site's critical consensus states that ""Rambo III" finds its justice-dispensing hero far from the thoughtful drama that marked the franchise's beginning -- and just as far from quality action thriller entertainment." Metacritic gives the film a rating of 36 out of 100 based on 15 critic reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Rambo III

text: Prominent critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were split on "Rambo III", with Siskel awarding the film "thumbs up", and Ebert declaring "thumbs down" for those expecting more out of "Rambo III". Ebert did give "thumbs up" to fans, saying the film was entertaining and that it "delivers the goods".


title: Rambo III

text: In West Germany, the Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung (FBW), a government film rating office whose ratings influence financial support to filmmakers, earned criticism after it awarded a "worthwhile" rating (in German: "wertvoll") to "Rambo III".


title: Rambo III

text: David Morrell, author of "First Blood", the novel the first "Rambo" film is based on, wrote a novelization called "Rambo III".


title: Rambo III

text: A comic book adaptation of the film was published by Blackthorne Publishing. Blackthorne also published a 3D version of its "Rambo III" comic.


title: Rambo III

text: Various companies released video games based on the film, including Ocean Software and Taito. In 1990, Sega released its own game based on the film for the Master System and Genesis/Mega Drive. Sega later adapted some of the battle scenes in the film for the 2008 arcade game "Rambo". In 2014, the film was incorporated into "", based on the first three "Rambo" films.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The competition was first played in 2001–02 under the name "UEFA Women's Cup", and renamed the Champions League for the 2009–10 edition. The most significant changes in 2009 were the inclusion of runners-up from the top eight ranked nations, a one-off final as opposed to the two-legged finals in previous years, and – until 2018 – playing the final in the same city as the men's UEFA Champions League final. From the 2021–22 season, the competition proper will include a group stage for the first time in the Women's Champions League era.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Lyon is the most successful club in the competition's history, winning the title eight times, including five consecutive titles from 2016 to 2020. They are currently the European champions, having beaten holders Barcelona in the 2022 final.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: A preliminary round was played to reduce teams to 32, in the first season only two teams played a two-legged match, the following seasons were played as four team mini-tournaments which had the winner advance to the group stage. Teams were then divided into eight groups of four. The groups were played again as mini-tournaments at a single location over the course of five days. The group winners then advanced to the quarter-finals. The knock-out rounds were played as two-legged. That included the final which was only played as a single leg in 2002.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: For the 2004–05 season the group stage was played in four groups with the top two teams advancing to the quarter-finals. That resulted in more qualifying groups.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: On 11 December 2008, UEFA announced that the competition would be reformatted and renamed to the UEFA Women's Champions League. As in the men's game, the new tournament aims to include runners-up of the top women's football leagues in Europe, and the title holder has the right to enter if they do not qualify through their domestic competition. Also similar to the men, the final is to be played in a single match.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The competition is open to the champions of all 55 UEFA associations. However, not all associations have or had a qualifying women's league, and not all nations opt to participate each year. Due to the varying participation, the number of teams playing the qualifying round and teams entering in the round of 32 change from year to year. The principles are inferred from the access list: Numbers are based on three principles:


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: For example, in a 53-team tournament, 25 teams directly enter the R32, with seven qualifying groups providing seven group winners and no runners-up; if the tournament were 60 teams instead, 20 teams would directly enter the R32, with ten qualifying groups providing ten group winners and two runners-up.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: When the new format was initially announced, the eight top countries according to the UEFA league coefficient between 2003 and 2004 and 2007–08 would be awarded two places in the new Women's Champions League. The runners-up from each country participated in the qualifying rounds for the first two years under the Champions League format.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: For the 2011–12 tournament, the runners-up from the top eight nations instead qualified directly to the R32. For the five years under this format, seven nations remained in the top eight: Germany, Sweden, England (both iterations), France, Denmark, Russia, and Italy. A different nation provided the eighth runner-up in each of the five years: Iceland, Norway, Austria, Czech Republic, and Spain in that order.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The tournament was expanded again for the 2016–17 season, with the runners-up from nations 9–12 in the UEFA league coefficient also qualifying. Whether they begin participation in the qualifying round or the R32 depends on how many total teams participate in the tournament. For the first three years under this format, the four nations in these slots were Czech Republic, Austria, Scotland, and Norway, though Czech Republic rose into the top 8 at the expense of Russia; for the 2019–20 season, Switzerland replaced Norway, and for the final season under this format, Norway, Kazakhstan, and The Netherlands replaced Russia, Scotland, and Austria in the top 12.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: On 4 December 2019, the UEFA Executive Committee approved a new format for the 2021–22 season. The top six associations will enter three teams, the associations ranked 7–16 will enter two, and the remaining associations will enter one. The competition is restructured to appear much more similar to the men's CL format than before, with a double-round-robin group stage in the competition proper, the first time in the Women's Champions League era, and two paths (a champions path and a non-champions path) for all teams that do not automatically qualify for the group stage. UEFA will also centralize the media rights from the group stage onward, having previously only done so for the final.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Under this new format, the group stage – four groups of four – qualifies eight teams to the home-and-away quarterfinals, at which point the competition remains the same as before. Four teams qualify directly to the group stage: the defending UWCL champions and the league champions from the nations ranked 1–3 by UEFA coefficient. Seven teams qualify from the champions path – guaranteeing that at least ten nations will be represented in the group stage – and five from the league path. Qualification along both paths takes place in two rounds: a first round consisting of four-team, predetermined-venue miniature tournaments (one-off semifinals, third place, and final matches) and a second round of paired home-and-away ties. In this format, the first round is similar to the previous qualifying round except that teams play a two-game knockout tournament instead of a three-game round-robin, and the second round is similar to the previous round of 32 except that the range of possible opponents is more stratified.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Prize-money was awarded for a first time in 2010 when both finalists received money. In 2011 the payments were extended to losing semi- and quarter-finalists. The current prize-money structure is


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: In the Champions League teams also receive 20,000 Euro for playing each round or the qualifying. There have been several complaints about the sum, which doesn't cover costs for some longer trips which include flights.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The 2021–22 Women's Champions League introduced a 16-team group stage to the competition, for which each participant will receive €400,000 (about five times as much as Round of 16 participants received in previous editions). The winner of the 2021–22 tournament could earn up to €1.4 million depending on its results in the group stage (wins in the group stage are worth more than draws).


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Until the 2015–18 cycle, UEFA Women's Champions League used to have the same sponsors as the UEFA Champions League. However, starting from the 2018–21 cycle, women's football competitions – including the Champions League – have their separate sponsors. From the start of group stage in 2021/22, the tournament will have a rights' centralisation in stages before the final: in group stage, only some assets and the official ball are centralised, while in knock-out rounds – at least until 2022–23 – UEFA will allow only few club sponsors, alongside the ones who are official.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Since the format change in 2009, no team from a nation outside the top two has won the title, except for Barcelona in 2021. The only teams from nations outside the top two to have finished runner-up in that time were Tyresö in 2014, Barcelona in 2019 and Chelsea in 2021.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: Also, no team from a nation outside the top four made the semi-finals until Brøndby in 2015. Barcelona has since made the semi-finals in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021 (and they went on to win the title in 2021).


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: The top-scorer award is given to the player who scores the most goals in the entire competition, thus it includes the qualifying rounds. Iceland's Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir has won the award three times. Ada Hegerberg holds the record for most goals in a season.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: DAZN have the global rights of the competition from 2021–22 until 2024–25, 61 matches in both 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons will be live streamed for free on the DAZN UEFA Women's Champions League YouTube channel.


title: UEFA Women's Champions League

text: ATA Football has agreeing a new partnership with DAZN which see the subscribers get access of 31 live matches from the tournament throughout the 2021/22 season. Those games will also be available to rewatch on the platform, as well as live on DAZN and its YouTube channel.


title: Alex Martin (actress)

text: Alexandrea Martin (born 1973) is an American actress and film producer. She was awarded the title of Miss Golden Globe at the 1994 Golden Globe Awards.


title: Alex Martin (actress)

text: Alexandrea Martin is the daughter of actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg and her first husband, Alvin Martin.


title: Alex Martin (actress)

text: Martin has three children: daughters Amara Skye and Jerzey, and son Mason. Martin and Dean remarried on October 15, 2011.


title: Reeve Carney

text: Reeve Jefferson Carney (born April 18, 1983) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in "" on Broadway and playing Orpheus in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award-winning musical "Hadestown". He also played Dorian Gray in the Showtime series "Penny Dreadful", and Riff Raff in the Fox musical television film "".


title: Reeve Carney

text: Reeve Carney was born and raised in the West Village area of Manhattan with his brother Zane and sister Paris. He grew up in a family of musicians and actors: his father, John, was a songwriter for commercials, his mother, Marti, was a singer, actress and a jewelry designer and his great uncle was Academy Award-winning actor Art Carney. He learned how to play the piano at a young age, and began singing for radio and television commercials. At the age of 8, he was chosen to sing in a live performance and video at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with Peter, Paul and Mary. Two years later, he recorded a song with a children's choir on Michael Jackson's album, .


title: Reeve Carney

text: To get a music education, Carney attended the Academy of Music at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles with his brother, Zane, and future bandmates Aiden Moore and Jon Epcar. He went on to study at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, majoring in studio jazz guitar.


title: Reeve Carney

text: Carney started to play guitar at age 12 and three years later he was playing guitar professionally at B.B King's night club in Los Angeles. When living in California, Carney released his first EP "Looking Glass" in 2004 and promoted it by performing with other musicians, including Jonny Lang. At age 22 he signed with Interscope and formed his jazz-infused rock namesake band, Carney, consisting of Carney (songwriter, vocals and guitar), his brother Zane (guitar), Aiden Moore (bass) and Jon Epcar (drums). The band's vision led the manager David Sonenberg to work with them. "Carney" released their first EP "Nothing Without You" in 2008 and their debut album, "Mr. Green Vol. 1", in May 2010. In 2009 the band went on tour with The Veronicas in their Revenge Is Sweeter world tour and in 2011 they opened for Arcade Fire and U2 in Moncton, Canada on July 30 on the final date of the U2 360° Tour.


title: Reeve Carney

text: When acting on Broadway, Carney was invited to be part of the album "Broadway's Carols for a Cure" in 2011 ("St. Nicholas Sky" ft T.V. Carpio) and 2013 ("A Savior is Born"). Carney also recorded the single "Rise Above 1" with Bono and The Edge in 2011, an adapted song from the musical "". Apart from making his own music, Carney also writes songs for soundtracks for films such as "The Tempest" (2010) and ", Part 2" (2012). In October 2016 Carney released his debut solo album, "Youth Is Wasted", which he wrote and produced himself. Since then Carney was on tour two times (Reeve Carney Fall Tour 2016 and Youth Is Wasted Tour 2017). Three songs from his album as well as the album itself were nominated in six categories on the 16th annual Independent Music Awards (The IMAs). "Think of You" won "Best Song – Acoustic", "Resurrection" won "Best Song – Rock or Hard Rock" and the album won "Best Album – Adult Contemporary".


title: Reeve Carney

text: Carney made his first appearance on the big screen in the film "The Saint of Fort Washington" (1993) with a small role. In 1999, Carney got the role of the young Ishmael Chambers in the film "Snow Falling on Cedars." His performance received favorable reviews and subsequently earned him the "Best Performance in a Feature Film" on 2000 Young Artists Awards. Carney was part of the cast of a few films as a child actor before he decided to focus totally on music. In 2010, he was hand-picked by the director Julie Taymor to play Ferdinand in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". Taymor also cast Carney for the lead role of Spider-Man in " on Broadway." During the auditions, Bono and The Edge, the show's musical composers, were surprised by Carney's vocals and he ended up being chosen for the role. He starred for 3 years as Spider-Man which began previews in November 2010. The rest of his bandmates performed as part of the pit orchestra for "Turn Off the Dark". He played his final performance on Sunday, September 15, 2013. Meanwhile, in 2012, Carney played Taylor Swift's love interest in her "I Knew You Were Trouble" music video. Swift was a fan of Carney's band and came up with the idea.


title: Reeve Carney

text: In 2014, Carney was cast as Dorian Gray in the Showtime series "Penny Dreadful." The show had three seasons (2014–2016). During the filming of the last season of "Penny Dreadful", Carney was on Kenny Ortega's radar to play Riff Raff, the Handyman, on Fox's remake of "". He got the role on the two-hour musical television film and recorded three of the songs on the film's soundtrack. The film premiered on the Fox network on October 20, 2016.


title: Reeve Carney

text: In 2017, Reeve Carney joined the cast of the Citadel Theatre production of "Hadestown" as Orpheus. The production reunited Carney with his "Spider-Man" co-stars Patrick Page and T.V. Carpio. Carney continued with the musical for its run at the Royal National Theatre in 2018 and reprised the role in the Broadway production, which began previews on March 22 and opened on April 17, 2019.


title: Porsche 944

text: The Porsche 944 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1982 until 1991. A front-engine, rear-wheel drive mid-level model based on the 924 platform, the 944 was available in coupé or cabriolet body styles, with either naturally aspirated or turbocharged engines. With over 163,000 cars produced, the 944 was the most successful sports car in Porsche's history until the introductions of the Boxster and 997 Carrera.


title: Porsche 944

text: Extensive design revisions for the 1992 model year prompted Porsche to drop the 944 nameplate and rebrand the vehicle as the 968.


title: Porsche 944

text: The 924 had originally been a project of VW-Porsche, a joint Porsche/Volkswagen company incorporated to develop and produce the 914 which was sold in Europe badged as both a Porsche and a Volkswagen. In 1972, a replacement for the Volkswagen version of the 914, code named EA-425 began development. The model was to be sold as an Audi as part of the VW-Audi-Porsche marketing arrangement. Porsche was to manufacture its own version of the car. At one point, Volkswagen head Rudolf Leidig declared the EX-425 was going to be a Volkswagen exclusively, thus denying Porsche's version of the 914's replacement. Although testing had begun in the Spring of 1974, Volkswagen cancelled the EX-425 program, the reason being significant financial losses due to declining sales and rising development costs for new vehicles as well as the departure of Leidig. The recently introduced Volkswagen Scirocco was expected to fill the sports coupé market segment and the unfinished project was handed over to Audi to serve as the replacement for the Audi 100.


title: Porsche 944

text: The cancellation of the EX-425 program led Porsche to market an entry level car to replace the 912E, which was a US-only stop-gap model for 1976, and their version of the 914, which was discontinued in 1975. Porsche purchased the design and the finished development mule with a Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection system from Volkswagen. The vehicle, dubbed the 924, received positive reviews, but was criticised by Porsche enthusiasts for its Audi-sourced 2.0 L engine. In 1979, Porsche introduced a Turbocharged version of the 924 to increase performance, but this model carried a high price. Rather than scrapping the model from its line-up, Porsche decided to develop the 944, as they had done with generations of the 911; although model numbers would change, the 924 would provide the basis for this new mid level model.


title: Porsche 944

text: The prototype of this mid level model debuted at LeMans in 1981, an unusual strategy implemented by Porsche at the time. Called the 924 GTP LeMans, the car was based on the 924 Carrera GT LeMans that competed in the event prior to the GTP's introduction. The most noticeable change in the new race car was the departure from the Audi sourced 2.0 L inline-4 engine in favour of the 2.5 L engine developed by Porsche. The new engine was mounted at an angle of 45 degree to the right and utilised a dual overhead camshaft along with counter rotating balance shafts, an unusual and unique feature for its time that provided better weight distribution and ensured smooth power delivery by eliminating inherent vibrations resulting in the engine lasting longer. A single KKK turbocharger producing enabled the engine to generate a maximum power output of at 6,800 rpm. The engine also utilised Bosch's prototype Motronic engine management system to control ignition timing, fuel injection and boost pressure. The new race car proved to be much more fuel efficient than its predecessor, stopping only 21 times in 24 hours for fuel. The 924 GTP managed seventh position overall behind the race winning 936 and a class win at the GTP+ 3.0 category in 1981 before being retired and stored in the Porsche museum. In 1982, Porsche debuted the production road legal version of the race car, called the 944. The car utilised many technologies its race bred sibling had used, including the balance shafts and the engine management system, but power was toned down for safety purposes.


title: Porsche 944

text: The new all-alloy inline-four engine, with a bore of and stroke of , was in essence, half of the 928's 5.0 L V8 engine, although very few parts were actually interchangeable. Not typical in luxury sports cars, the four-cylinder engine was chosen for fuel efficiency and size, because it had to be fitted from below on the Neckarsulm production line. To overcome roughness caused by the unbalanced secondary forces that are typical of inline four-cylinder engines, Porsche included two counter-rotating balance shafts running at twice the engine speed. Invented in 1904 by British engineer Frederick Lanchester, and further developed and patented in 1975 by Mitsubishi Motors, balance shafts carry eccentric weights which produce inertial forces that balance out the unbalanced secondary forces, making a four-cylinder engine feel as smooth as a six-cylinder engine. Porsche spent some time trying to develop their own system, but when they realised that they could not improve on the system developed by Mitsubishi, they chose to pay the licensing fees rather than come up with a variation just different enough to circumvent the patent. The licensing fees were about US$7–8 per car, which translated to about US$100 () for the consumer to pay. The engine was factory-rated at in its U.S. configuration. Revised bodywork with wider wheel arches, similar to that of the 924 Carrera GT, a fresh interior and upgrades to the braking and suspension systems rounded out the major changes.


title: Porsche 944

text: Porsche introduced the 944 for the 1982 model year. It was slightly faster (despite having a poorer drag coefficient), was better equipped and more refined than the 924; it had better handling and stopping power, and was more comfortable to drive. The factory-claimed a 0–97 km/h (60 mph) acceleration time of less than 9 seconds (8.3 seconds according to "Porsche the Ultimate Guide" By Scott Faragher). The car had a nearly even front to rear weight distribution (50.7% front/49.3% rear) courtesy of the rear transaxle balancing out the engine in the front. North American-market cars had bigger bumpers and the front bumper had a larger rubber portion, replacing the auxiliary lights as required by the North American laws.


title: Porsche 944

text: In mid-1985, the 944 underwent its first significant changes, these included: new dashboard and door panels, embedded radio antenna, upgraded alternator (from 90 amp to 115 amp), increased oil sump capacity, new front and rear cast alloy control arms and semi-trailing arms, larger fuel tank, optional heated and powered seats, Porsche HiFi sound system, and revisions in the mounting of the transaxle to reduce noise and vibration. The front windshield was now a flush-mounted unit. The "cookie cutter" style wheels used in the early 944s were upgraded to new "phone dial" style wheels (Fuchs wheels remained an option).


title: Porsche 944

text: For the 1987 model year, the 944 Motronic DME was updated, and an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and driver and front passenger airbags were introduced. The 944 Turbo was the first car to offer airbags as standard equipment; they were optional on other 944 models. Because of the ABS, the wheel offset was changed to , and Fuchs wheels were no longer available as an option.


title: Porsche 944

text: In early 1989 before the release of the 944S2, Porsche upgraded the 944's engine from the 2.5 L four cylinder engine to a 2.7 L engine having a bore of and stroke of , with a rated power output of (versus for the 1988 2.5 L version) and a significant increase in torque. In addition to the increase in displacement, the new engine featured a siamesed-cylinder block design and a different cylinder head which incorporated larger valves.


title: Porsche 944

text: In 1983, American tuning company Callaway Cars began offering a turbocharged package for the US-Spec 944 in collaboration with Porsche. The standard 2.5 L inline-four engine was not suitable for forced induction because of the higher compression ratio of 9.5:1 which made the engine prone to failure when subject to forced induction along with the complex Bosch Motronic engine management system. Callaway engineers overcame this problem by increasing the volume of the engine's combustion chambers by milling away metal from both piston heads and chamber walls and by tweaking the Motronic system so it would ensure optimum fuel injection to the turbocharged engine along with installing their own Microfueler unit. This step was highly effective, but required disassembly of the entire engine, leading to the high cost of the package. The resulting engine's compression ratio was of 8.0:1 which was less than the standard engine but ensured linear power delivery. In order to ensure that there were no serious engine breakdowns, Callaway installed an ubiquous internal waste gate recommending the use of 91-octane fuel in order for increased engine reliability. In addition to that, an IHI RHB6 turbocharger was installed on the right hand side of the engine along with a new free flow exhaust system incorporating a larger exhaust pipe for optimum performance. The small turbocharger eliminated turbo-lag thus ensuring linear levels of boost. The turbocharger produced 10 psi of boost, however a boost adjuster knob located on the dashboard was optional. With these modifications, the engine generated a power output of at 6,000 rpm and at 4,000 rpm as opposed of the standard car's at 5,500 rpm. Performance increased over the standard car as well, with a acceleration time of 5.9 seconds and a top speed of . Callaway quoted that the acceleration times would even be lower if the rev limiter was removed. Only 20 cars were produced making it one of the rarest Porsche 944s produced.


title: Porsche 944

text: For the 1986 model year, Porsche introduced the 944 Turbo, known internally as the 951. The Turbo had a turbocharged and intercooled version of the standard 944's engine that generated ( in the US) at 6,000 rpm. In 1987, "Car and Driver" tested the 944 Turbo and achieved a time of 5.9 seconds. The Turbo was the first Porsche production car utilising a ceramic port liner to retain exhaust gas temperature along with new forged pistons and was also the first vehicle to produce an identical power output with or without a catalytic converter. The Turbo also featured several other changes, such as improved aerodynamics, notably an integrated front bumper. This featured the widest turn signals (indicators) fitted to any production car, a strengthened gearbox with a different final drive ratio, standard external oil coolers for both the engine and transmission, standard 16 inch wheels (optional forged Fuchs wheels), and a slightly stiffer suspension (progressive springs) to handle the extra weight. The Turbo's front and rear brakes were borrowed from the 911, with Brembo 4-piston fixed calipers and 12-inch discs. Engine component revisions, more than thirty in all, were made to the 951 to compensate for increased internal loads and heat.


title: Porsche 944

text: Changes occurred for the 1987 model year. Interior wise, the North American variant of the 1987 944 Turbo became the first production car in the world to be equipped with driver and passenger side air bags as standard equipment. A low oil level light was added to the dash as well as a speedometer as opposed to the speedometer on the 1986 model year cars. Also included was the deletion of the transmission oil cooler, and a change in suspension control arms to reduce the car's scrub radius. The engine remained the same M44/51 inline-4 as in the 1986 model. Like the standard 944, ABS now became an available option.


title: Porsche 944

text: In 1988, Porsche introduced the 944 Turbo S with a more powerful engine (designation number M44/52) rated at a maximum power output of at 6,000 rpm and of torque at 4,000 rpm (the engine in the standard 944 Turbo generated and ). This higher output was achieved by using a larger KKK K26-8 turbocharger housing and revised engine mapping which allowed maintaining maximum boost until 5,800 rpm, compared to the standard 944 Turbo, the boost would decrease from at 3,000 rpm to at 5,800 rpm. In June 1988, "Car and Driver" tested the 944 Turbo S (with the advantage of shorter final drive gear) and achieved a acceleration time of 5.5 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.9 seconds at . Top speed was factory rated at .


title: Porsche 944

text: The 944 Turbo S' suspension had the "M030" option consisting of Koni adjustable shocks at the front and rear, with ride height adjusting threaded collars on the front struts, progressive rate springs, larger hollow rear anti-roll/torsion bars, harder durometer suspension bushings, larger hollow anti-roll/torsion bars at the front, and chassis stiffening brackets in the front frame rails. The air conditioning dryer lines were routed so as to clear the front frame brace on the driver's side. The 944 Turbo S wheels, known as the Club Sport design, were 16-inch Fuchs forged and flat-dished, similar to the Design 90 wheel. Wheel widths were at the front, and at the rear with a offset; sizes of the Z-rated tyres were 225/50 in the front and 245/45 in the rear. The front and rear fender edges were rolled to accommodate the larger wheels. The manual transmission (case code designation: AOR) featured a higher friction clutch disc setup, an external cooler, and a limited-slip differential with a 40% lockup setting. The Turbo S' front brakes were borrowed from the 928 S4, with larger Brembo GT 4-piston fixed calipers and 12-inch discs; rear Brembo brakes remained the same as a standard Turbo. ABS also came standard.


title: Porsche 944

text: The 944 Turbo S' interior featured power seats for both driver and passenger, where the majority of the factory-built Turbo S models sported a "Burgundy plaid" (Silver Rose edition) interior colour but other interior/exterior colours were available. A 10-speaker sound system and equalizer + amp was a common option with the Turbo S and S/SE prototypes. Only the earlier 1986, prototypes featured a "special wishes custom interior" options package.


title: Porsche 944

text: In 1989 and later production years, the 'S' designation was dropped from the 944 Turbo S, and all of the turbocharged iterations of the 944 featured the Turbo S enhancements as standard, however the "M030" suspension and the Club Sport wheels were not part of that standard. The 944 Turbo S was the fastest production four cylinder car of its time.


title: Porsche 944

text: For the 1987 model year, the 944 S (the S being the abbreviation of Super) was introduced. The 944 S featured a high performance naturally aspirated, dual-overhead-cam 16-valve version of the 2.5 L engine (M44/40) featuring a self-adjusting timing belt tensioner. This marked the first use of four-valves-per-cylinder heads and DOHC in the 944, derived from the 928 S4 featuring a redesigned camshaft drive, a magnesium intake tract/passages, magnesium valve cover, larger capacity oil sump, and revised exhaust system. The alternator capacity was 115 amps. The wheel bearings were also strengthened and the brake servo action was made more powerful. Floating 944 calipers were standard, but the rear wheel brake circuit pressure regulator from the 944 turbo was used. Small '16 Ventiler' script badges were added on the sides in front of the body protection mouldings. Performance figures included 0- being achieved in 6.5 seconds (Best) and a top speed due to a curb weight. It also featured an improved programmed Bosch Digital Motronic 2 Computer/DME with dual knock sensors for improved fuel performance for the higher 10.9:1 compression ratio cylinder head. Like the 944 Turbo, the 944 S received progressive springs for improved handling, larger front and rear anti-roll bars, revised transmission and gearing to better suit the 2.5 L DOHC engine's higher 6,800 rpm rev limit. Dual air bags, limited-slip differential, and an anti-lock braking system were optional on the 944 S.


title: Porsche 944

text: A Club Sport touring package (M637) was available as was the lightweight 16-inch CS/Sport Fuchs 16x7 and 16x9 forged alloy wheels. This version was raced in Canada, Europe and in the IMSA Firehawk Cup Series held in the U.S. Production was only during 1987 and 1988. It was superseded in 1989 by the 'S2' version. The 1987 944 S' power-to-weight ratio was such that it was able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds thus matching the acceleration of its newer larger displacement 3.0 L 944 S2 sibling.


title: Porsche 944

text: In 1989 the 944 S2 was introduced, powered by a naturally aspirated, dual-overhead-cam 16-valve 3.0 L version of the 944 S' engine. With a bore of and a stroke of , it was the largest production 4-cylinder engine of its time. The 944 S2 also received a revised transmission and gearing to better suit the 3.0 L M44/41 powerplant. The 944 S2 had the same rounded nose and a rear valance found on the Turbo model. Quoted performance figures included a 0–97 km/h acceleration time of 6.0 seconds (0–100 km/h being achieved in 6.8 seconds) and a top speed of for the cars with a manual transmission. A Club Sport touring package (M637) was also available. Dual air bags (left hand drive models), limited-slip differential and ABS were optional. Design 90 16-inch cast alloy wheels were standard equipment.


title: Porsche 944

text: The first Porsche 944 Cabriolet prototype was introduced at the Frankfurt Auto show in 1985. This first prototype was styled by Anotele Lapine and built by Bauer. This new Porsche 944 Cabriolet was very well received, but it wasn't until 1987 that the American Sunroof Corporation (ASC) won the contract to build the new model. It would take another two years for ASC to complete their new Weinsberg plant in Heilbronn, Germany; before they could begin production. So it was January 1989, before the new Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet would begin to roll off ASC's assembly line.


title: Porsche 944

text: The S2 Cabriolet was a very complicated build, where 944 coupe bodies were taken off the assembly line at Neckarsulm, Germany and then delivered to ASC in Heilbronn, Germany. At ASC, structural steel reinforcement plates are welded in the front end of the car and floor pan area, to give the body the amount of torsional strength and crash safety required for a Cabriolet. After welding in these reinforcement plates, cuts are made in the body at the windshield frame, B pillars, rear side panels and tail panel, in preparation for coupe top removal. New parts to support the convertible top and the new rear deck lid are also welded in place. After the top is removed, the new Cabriolet body was sent back to Neckarsulm, where it is run through the standard production paint shop and assembly line for drive train install. Consequently, the structure of the paint finish and other corrosion inhibiting measures conform with the quality standards for Porsche and its new Cabriolet. The assembled Cabriolet was then sent back to ASC in Heilbronn for convertible top and trim installation.


title: Porsche 944

text: Production for the North American market would not start until May 1989, with only 16 of the 944 S2 Cabriolets being produced for the US market. The VIN numbers of these 16 cars for 1989 is very unique, starting with WP0B, with the 4th character "B" signifying the body type for a Targa. Porsche would correct this discrepancy and change the VIN numbers for the 1990 model to WP0C, with the 4th character "C" signifying a Cabriolet. The limited number of Cabriolets for 1989 went to only a handful of dealers and some were initially not for sale. Many of these first year Cabriolets were provided to various auto magazine staff for road test and performance articles. Others were used as advertising for reserving a 1990 model, with production growing to 1824 Cabriolets for the US market. US production would fall to 562 Cabriolets for 1991, which would be its final year. Only 2402 Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolets were imported into the US between 1989 and when the model was discontinued in 1991. It would be replaced by the Porsche 968 Cabriolet for 1992.


title: Porsche 944

text: In February 1991, Porsche unveiled the 944 Turbo Cabriolet, which combined the Turbo S' engine with the cabriolet body style also built by ASC. Porsche initially announced that 600 cars would be made; ultimately 625 were built, 100 of which were right-hand drive for the United Kingdom, Japanese, Australian, and South African markets. None were imported to the U.S. and The Americas.


title: Porsche 944

text: In early 1990, Porsche engineers began working on what they had intended to be the third evolution of the 944, the S3. As they progressed with the development process, they realised that so many parts were being changed that they had produced an almost entirely new vehicle. Porsche consequently shifted development from the 944 S/S2 to the car that would replace the 944 entirely, the 968. The 944's final year of production was 1991 with over 4,000 cars built and sold. In 1992, the 968 debuted and was sold alongside the 928 until 1995, when both water-cooled front engine models were discontinued without a direct successor.


title: Porsche 944

text: In February 1992, a verbal agreement was given to Porsche UK from Stuttgart for the production of a prototype “Sports Equipment” 944 S2 Model with following approval to construct 15 vehicles for the UK market from the last 944 S2 coupés produced. A unique 30mm lower fully adjustable Koni Suspension with springs from the Turbo was used in combination with upgraded 31mm front stabiliser bar & adjustable rear bar. Engine output was increased to with re-map to improve torque above 4,250rpm, as well as a unique sports exhaust system. Cosmetically the “SE” was fitted with Porsche colour matched “Porsche Sport” steering wheel, Bi-plane rear spoiler, SE side decals and rear badging. The modifications resulted in improved acceleration in higher rev range, flatter cornering, more precise steering, improved responsiveness, confidence inspiring handling leading to an overall sharper response. The 944 S2 SE prototypes are regarded as the inspiration and in part development for the later 968 Club Sport.


title: Porsche 944

text: A grand total 163,192 cars in the 944 family were produced between 1982 and 1991. This made it the most successful sports car in Porsche's history until the introduction of the Boxster/Cayman and 997 Carrera.


title: Porsche 944

text: The successor to the 944 was the 968, which was introduced in the 1992 model year and was based on an evolution of the same front-engine, transaxle platform of the 944.


title: Porsche 944

text: A total of 113,070 944s were made between 1982 and 1989, with 56,921 being exported to the United States. A project joint venture with Porsche and Callaway resulted in 20 specially built turbo 944's built for the US market in 1983.


title: Porsche 944

text: A total of 12,936 944 S models were produced from 1987 to 1988, with 8,815 being exported to the United States. In 1985 a Prototype 944 S Cabriolet 'Studie' built by Braun was powered by the 2.5 L 16 valve which developed 185 hp, forerunner of the later production 944 S and S2 Cabriolet models.


title: Porsche 944

text: A total of around 14,071 944 S2's were made between 1989 and 1991, with 3,650 being exported to the United States.


title: Porsche 944

text: Production of the 944 S2 Cabriolet began in May 1989, but official total production numbers for that first year and world market production are not well established. The only production number listed for 944 S2 Cabriolets in 1989, are the 16 produced for the US market. Although there are several 1989 944 S2 Cabriolets still registered in the US, there is speculation that the original 16 produced for the US market in 1989 were initially not intended to be sold to the public.


title: Porsche 944

text: There are more than a few 1989 built/manufactured 944 S2 Cabriolets registered in the UK and Germany, both left and right hand drive.


title: Porsche 944

text: Total production for years 1990 and 1991 are well documented, as well as the 3 year total production for the US market of 2,402 units.


title: Porsche 944

text: After numerous successes in Europe by both the Porsche factory team and privateers at Le Mans and various supporting races, the 924/944 platform was then introduced with relative success over in North America under the SCCA Production Class. In 1986, the Carlsen Racing 944 won the SCCA Escort Endurance Series Championship (S/S GT). The 1988 and 1989 SCCA GT2 titles were claimed the 944S driven by David Finch for the years 1988 and 1989. Heavily modified versions of the 944, some with a tube framed chassis that were built by Klym Fabcar in North America were run in the SCCA Trans Am championship, Initially these cars were run with the Audi sourced 2.0 litre engine but were dropped in favour of the Porsche 2.5 litre which was then tuned and upgraded to have an output of up to 750bhp by a company called ANDIAL


title: Porsche 944

text: Porsche began a race series for the top-of-the line 944 Turbo in the mid-1980s. There were five championship series: one in France, one in Germany, one in South Africa, one in Canada, and one in the United States. Each had a different number of cars competing. The Turbo Cup cars developed for the series had substantial upgrades over their road going counterparts. These included a larger KKK K26-8 turbocharger, a magnesium intake manifold and oil pan, a reinforced transmission, clutch, differential and axles along with removal of A/C, power seats, leather upholstery, sun visors, power windows, power steering, rear wiper, headlight washers, fender liners, storage pockets, and rear trunk release, upgraded struts, shocks, springs, suspension mounts, as well as an adjustable ABS system, bigger brakes with racing pads, magnesium wheels, a transmission oil cooler, and a lightweight battery. This yielded weight savings of approximately and improvements in performance of the car as the Turbo Cup cars had a 0– acceleration time of 5.3 seconds and a top speed of nearly . 192 Turbo Cup cars were made of which 99 cars for Canada, VIN start WP0AAO and 93 for the rest of the world, VIN start WP0ZZZ. Cup cars are identified having the last 4 VIN digits from 1501 to 1700. As far as known only one left the factory as a cup car for a doctor in Germany with the specially ordered normal black leather interior, targa roof top and white body colour.


title: Porsche 944

text: The 944 was on "Car and Driver's" Ten Best list from 1983 through 1985, and the "Turbo" made the list for 1986.


title: Messier 87

text: Messier 87 (also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, generally abbreviated to M87) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy with several trillion stars in the constellation Virgo. One of the largest and most massive galaxies in the local universe, it has a large population of globular clusters — about 15,000 compared with the 150–200 orbiting the Milky Way — and a jet of energetic plasma that originates at the core and extends at least , traveling at a relativistic speed. It is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky and a popular target for both amateur and professional astronomers.


title: Messier 87

text: The French astronomer Charles Messier discovered M87 in 1781, and cataloged it as a nebula. M87 is about from Earth and is the second-brightest galaxy within the northern Virgo Cluster, having many satellite galaxies. Unlike a disk-shaped spiral galaxy, M87 has no distinctive dust lanes. Instead, it has an almost featureless, ellipsoidal shape typical of most giant elliptical galaxies, diminishing in luminosity with distance from the center. Forming around one-sixth of its mass, M87's stars have a nearly spherically symmetric distribution. Their population density decreases with increasing distance from the core. It has an active supermassive black hole at its core, which forms the primary component of an active galactic nucleus. The black hole was imaged using data collected in 2017 by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), with a final, processed image released on 10 April 2019. In March 2021, the EHT Collaboration presented, for the first time, a polarized-based image of the black hole which may help better reveal the forces giving rise to quasars.


title: Messier 87

text: The galaxy is a strong source of multi-wavelength radiation, particularly radio waves. It has an isophotal diameter of , with a diffuse galactic envelope that extends to a radius of about , where it is truncated – possibly by an encounter with another galaxy. Its interstellar medium consists of diffuse gas enriched by elements emitted from evolved stars.


title: Messier 87

text: In 1781, the French astronomer Charles Messier published a catalogue of 103 objects that had a nebulous appearance as part of a list intended to identify objects that might otherwise be confused with comets. In subsequent use, each catalogue entry was prefixed with an "M". Thus, M87 was the eighty-seventh object listed in Messier's catalogue. During the 1880s, the object was included as NGC 4486 in the "New General Catalogue" of nebulae and star clusters assembled by the Danish-Irish astronomer John Dreyer, which he based primarily on the observations of the English astronomer John Herschel.


title: Messier 87

text: In 1918, the American astronomer Heber Curtis of Lick Observatory noted M87's lack of a spiral structure and observed a "curious straight ray ... apparently connected with the nucleus by a thin line of matter." The ray appeared brightest near the galactic center. The following year, a supernova within M87 reached a peak photographic magnitude of 21.5, although this event was not reported until photographic plates were examined by the Russian astronomer Innokentii A. Balanowski in 1922.


title: Messier 87

text: In 1922, the American astronomer Edwin Hubble categorized M87 as one of the brighter globular nebulae, as it lacked any spiral structure, but like spiral nebulae, appeared to belong to the family of non-galactic nebulae. In 1926 he produced a new categorization, distinguishing extragalactic from galactic nebulae, the former being independent star systems. M87 was classified as a type of elliptical extragalactic nebula with no apparent elongation (class E0).


title: Messier 87

text: In 1931, Hubble described M87 as a member of the Virgo Cluster, and gave a provisional estimate of from Earth. It was then the only known elliptical nebula for which individual stars could be resolved, although it was pointed out that globular clusters would be indistinguishable from individual stars at such distances. In his 1936 "The Realm of the Nebulae", Hubble examines the terminology of the day; some astronomers labeled extragalactic nebulae as "external galaxies" on the basis that they were stellar systems at far distances from our own galaxy, while others preferred the conventional term "extragalactic nebulae", as "galaxy" was at that time a synonym for the Milky Way. M87 continued to be labelled as an extragalactic nebula at least until 1954.


title: Messier 87

text: In 1947, a prominent radio source, Virgo A, was identified overlapping the location of M87. The source was confirmed to be M87 by 1953, and the linear relativistic jet emerging from the core of the galaxy was suggested as the cause. This jet extended from the core at a position angle of 260° to an angular distance of 20″ with an angular width of 2″. In 1969–1970, a strong component of the radio emission was found to closely align with the optical source of the jet.


title: Messier 87

text: In 1966, the United States Naval Research Laboratory's Aerobee 150 rocket identified Virgo X-1, the first X-ray source in Virgo. The Aerobee rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range on 7 July 1967 yielded further evidence that the source of Virgo X-1 was the radio galaxy M87. Subsequent X-ray observations by the HEAO 1 and Einstein Observatory showed a complex source that included the active galactic nucleus of M87. However, there is little central concentration of the X-ray emission.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 has been an important testing ground for techniques that measure the masses of central supermassive black holes in galaxies. In 1978, stellar-dynamical modeling of the mass distribution in M87 gave evidence for a central mass of five billion solar masses. After the installation of the COSTAR corrective-optics module in the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993, the Hubble Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) was used to measure the rotation velocity of the ionized gas disk at the center of M87, as an "early release observation" designed to test the scientific performance of the post-repair Hubble instruments. The FOS data indicated a central black hole mass of 2.4 billion , with 30% uncertainty. Globular clusters within M87 have been used to calibrate metallicity relations as well.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 was observed by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) during much of 2017. The event horizon of the black hole at the center was directly imaged by the EHT, then revealed in a press conference on the issue date stated, filtering out from this the first image of a black hole's shadow.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 is near a high declination limit of the Virgo constellation, abutting Coma Berenices. It lies along the line between the stars Epsilon Virginis and Denebola (Beta Leonis). The galaxy can be observed using a small telescope with a aperture, extending across an angular area of at a surface brightness of 12.9, with a very bright, 45 arcsecond core. Viewing the jet is a challenge without the aid of photography. Before 1991, the Ukrainian-American astronomer Otto Struve was the only person known to have seen the jet visually, using the Hooker telescope. In more recent years it has been observed in larger amateur telescopes under excellent conditions.


title: Messier 87

text: In the modified Hubble sequence galaxy morphological classification scheme of the French astronomer Gérard de Vaucouleurs, M87 is categorized as an E0p galaxy. "E0" designates an elliptical galaxy that displays no flattening — that is, it appears spherical. A "p" suffix indicates a peculiar galaxy that does not fit cleanly into the classification scheme; in this case, the peculiarity is the presence of the jet emerging from the core. In the Yerkes (Morgan) scheme, M87 is classified as a type-cD galaxy. A D galaxy has an elliptical-like nucleus surrounded by an extensive, dustless, diffuse envelope. A D type supergiant is called a cD galaxy.


title: Messier 87

text: The distance to M87 has been estimated using several independent techniques. These include measurement of the luminosity of planetary nebulae, comparison with nearby galaxies whose distance is estimated using standard candles such as cepheid variables, the linear size distribution of globular clusters, and the tip of the red-giant branch method using individually resolved red giant stars. These measurements are consistent with each other, and their weighted average yields a distance estimate of .


title: Messier 87

text: M87 is one of the most massive galaxies in the local Universe. Its diameter is estimated at 132,000 light-years, which is approximately 51% larger than that of the Milky Way. As an elliptical galaxy, the galaxy is a spheroid rather than a flattened disc, accounting for the substantially larger mass of M87. Within a radius of , the mass is times the mass of the Sun, which is double the mass of the Milky Way galaxy. As with other galaxies, only a fraction of this mass is in the form of stars: M87 has an estimated mass to luminosity ratio of ; that is, only about one part in six of the galaxy's mass is in the form of stars that radiate energy. This ratio varies from 5 to 30, approximately in proportion to in the region of from the core. The total mass of M87 may be 200 times that of the Milky Way.


title: Messier 87

text: The galaxy experiences an infall of gas at the rate of two to three solar masses per year, most of which may be accreted onto the core region. The extended stellar envelope of this galaxy reaches a radius of about , compared with about for the Milky Way. Beyond that distance the outer edge of the galaxy has been truncated by some means; possibly by an earlier encounter with another galaxy. There is evidence of linear streams of stars to the northwest of the galaxy, which may have been created by tidal stripping of orbiting galaxies or by small satellite galaxies falling in toward M87. Moreover, a filament of hot, ionized gas in the northeastern outer part of the galaxy may be the remnant of a small, gas-rich galaxy that was disrupted by M87 and could be feeding its active nucleus. M87 is estimated to have at least 50 satellite galaxies, including NGC 4486B and NGC 4478.


title: Messier 87

text: The spectrum of the nuclear region of M87 shows the emission lines of various ions, including hydrogen (HI, HII), helium (HeI), oxygen (OI, OII, OIII), nitrogen (NI), magnesium (MgII), and sulfur (SII). The line intensities for weakly ionized atoms (such as neutral atomic oxygen, OI) are stronger than those of strongly ionized atoms (such as doubly ionized oxygen, OIII). A galactic nucleus with such spectral properties is termed a LINER, for "low-ionization nuclear emission-line region". The mechanism and source of weak-line-dominated ionization in LINERs and M87 are under debate. Possible causes include shock-induced excitation in the outer parts of the disk or photoionization in the inner region powered by the jet.


title: Messier 87

text: Elliptical galaxies such as M87 are believed to form as the result of one or more mergers of smaller galaxies. They generally contain relatively little cold interstellar gas (in comparison with spiral galaxies) and they are populated mostly by old stars, with little or no ongoing star formation. M87's elliptical shape is maintained by the random orbital motions of its constituent stars, in contrast to the more orderly rotational motions found in a spiral galaxy such as the Milky Way. Using the Very Large Telescope to study the motions of about 300 planetary nebulae, astronomers have determined that M87 absorbed a medium-sized star-forming spiral galaxy over the last billion years. This has resulted in the addition of some younger, bluer stars to M87. The distinctive spectral properties of the planetary nebulae allowed astronomers to discover a chevron-like structure in M87's halo which was produced by the incomplete phase-space mixing of a disrupted galaxy.


title: Messier 87

text: The core of the galaxy contains a supermassive black hole (SMBH), designated M87*, whose mass is billions of times that of the Earth's Sun; estimates had ranged from   to  , surpassed by   in 2016. In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released measurements of the black hole's mass as . This is one of the highest known masses for such an object. A rotating disk of ionized gas surrounds the black hole, and is roughly perpendicular to the relativistic jet. The disk rotates at velocities of up to roughly 1,000 km/s, and spans a maximum diameter of . By comparison, Pluto averages from the Sun. Gas accretes onto the black hole at an estimated rate of one solar mass every ten years (about 90 Earth masses per day). The Schwarzschild radius of the black hole is , or 18 billion km, which is around 120 times the Earth–Sun distance (120 AU). The diameter of the accretion disk, as seen from Earth, is 42 μas (microarcsecond) and the diameter of the black hole itself is 15 μas. By comparison, the diameter of the core of M87 is 45" (as, arcsecond) and the size of M87 is 7.2' x 6.8' (am, arcminute).


title: Messier 87

text: A 2010 paper suggested that the black hole may be displaced from the galactic center by about . This was claimed to be in the opposite direction of the known jet, indicating acceleration of the black hole by it. Another suggestion was that the offset occurred during the merger of two supermassive black holes. However, a 2011 study did not find any statistically significant displacement, and a 2018 study of high-resolution images of M87 concluded that the apparent spatial offset was caused by temporal variations in the jet's brightness rather than a physical displacement of the black hole from the galaxy's center.


title: Messier 87

text: This black hole is the first to be imaged. Data to produce the image were taken in April 2017, the image was produced during 2018 and was published on 10 April 2019. The image shows the shadow of the black hole, surrounded by an asymmetric emission ring with a diameter of . The shadow radius is 2.6 times that of the black hole's Schwarzschild radius. The rotation parameter was estimated at corresponding to a rotation speed


title: Messier 87

text: After the black hole had been imaged, it was named Pōwehi, a Hawai'ian word meaning "the adorned fathomless dark creation", taken from the ancient creation chant Kumulipo.


title: Messier 87

text: On 24 March 2021, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration revealed a unprecedented unique view of the M87 black hole shadow: how it looks in polarized light. Polarization is a powerful tool which allows astronomers to probe physics behind the image in more detail. Light polarization informs us about the strength and orientation of magnetic fields in the ring of light around the black hole shadow. Knowing those is essential to understand how M87 supermassive black hole is launching jets of magnetized plasma which expand at relativistic speed beyond the M87 galaxy.


title: Messier 87

text: On 14 April 2021, astronomers further reported that the M87 black hole and its surrounding was studied during Event Horizon Telescope 2017 observing run also by many multi-wavelength observatories from around the world.


title: Messier 87

text: The relativistic jet of matter emerging from the core extends at least from the nucleus and consists of matter ejected from a supermassive black hole. The jet is highly collimated, appearing constrained to an angle of 60° within of the core, to about 16° at , and to 6–7° at . Its base has the diameter of and is probably powered by a prograde accretion disk around the spinning supermassive black hole. The German-American astronomer Walter Baade found that light from the jet was plane polarized, which suggests that the energy is generated by the acceleration of electrons moving at relativistic velocities in a magnetic field. The total energy of these electrons is estimated at ergs ( or ). This is roughly  times the energy produced in the entire Milky Way in one second, which is estimated at The jet is surrounded by a lower-velocity non-relativistic component. There is evidence of a counter jet, but it remains unseen from the Earth due to relativistic beaming. The jet is precessing, causing the outflow to form a helical pattern out to . Lobes of expelled matter extend out to .


title: Messier 87

text: In pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999, the motion of M87's jet was measured at four to six times the speed of light. This phenomenon, called superluminal motion, is an illusion caused by the relativistic velocity of the jet. The time interval between any two light pulses emitted by the jet is, as registered by the observer, less than the actual interval due to the relativistic speed of the jet moving in the direction of the observer. This results in perceived faster-than-light speeds, though the jet itself has a velocity of only 80-85% the speed of light. Detection of such motion is used to support the theory that quasars, BL Lacertae objects and radio galaxies may all be the same phenomenon, known as active galaxies, viewed from different perspectives. It is proposed that the nucleus of M87 is a BL Lacertae object (of lower luminosity than its surrounds) seen from a relatively large angle. Flux variations, characteristic of the BL Lacertae objects, have been observed in M87.


title: Messier 87

text: Observations indicate that the rate at which material is ejected from the supermassive black hole is variable. These variations produce pressure waves in the hot gas surrounding M87. The Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected loops and rings in the gas. Their distribution suggests that minor eruptions occur every few million years. One of the rings, caused by a major eruption, is a shock wave in diameter around the black hole. Other features observed include narrow X-ray-emitting filaments up to long, and a large cavity in the hot gas caused by a major eruption 70 million years ago. The regular eruptions prevent a huge reservoir of gas from cooling and forming stars, implying that M87's evolution may have been seriously affected, preventing it from becoming a large spiral galaxy.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 is a very strong source of gamma rays, the most energetic rays of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays emitted by M87 have been observed since the late 1990s. In 2006, using the High Energy Stereoscopic System Cherenkov telescopes, scientists measured the variations of the gamma ray flux coming from M87, and found that the flux changes over a matter of days. This short period indicates that the most likely source of the gamma rays is a supermassive black hole. In general, the smaller the diameter of the emission source, the faster the variation in flux.


title: Messier 87

text: A knot of matter in the jet (designated HST-1), about from the core, has been tracked by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. By 2006, the X-ray intensity of this knot had increased by a factor of 50 over a four-year period, while the X-ray emission has since been decaying in a variable manner.


title: Messier 87

text: The interaction of relativistic jets of plasma emanating from the core with the surrounding medium gives rise to radio lobes in active galaxies. The lobes occur in pairs and are often symmetrical. The two radio lobes of M87 together span about 80 kiloparsecs; the inner parts, extending up to 2 kiloparsecs, emit strongly at radio wavelengths. Two flows of material emerge from this region, one aligned with the jet itself and the other in the opposite direction. The flows are asymmetrical and deformed, implying that they encounter a dense intra-cluster medium. At greater distances, both flows diffuse into two lobes. The lobes are surrounded by a fainter halo of radio-emitting gas.


title: Messier 87

text: The space between the stars in M87 is filled with a diffuse interstellar medium of gas that has been chemically enriched by the elements ejected from stars as they passed beyond their main sequence lifetime. Carbon and nitrogen are continuously supplied by stars of intermediate mass as they pass through the asymptotic giant branch. The heavier elements from oxygen to iron are produced largely by supernova explosions within the galaxy. Of the heavy elements, about 60% were produced by core-collapse supernovae, while the remainder came from type Ia supernovae.


title: Messier 87

text: The distribution of oxygen is roughly uniform throughout, at about half of the solar value (i.e., oxygen abundance in the Sun), while iron distribution peaks near the center where it approaches the solar iron value. Since oxygen is produced mainly by core-collapse supernovae, which occur during the early stages of galaxies, and mostly in outer star-forming regions, the distribution of these elements suggests an early enrichment of the interstellar medium from core-collapse supernovae and a continuous contribution from type Ia supernovae throughout the history of M87. The contribution of elements from these sources was much lower than in the Milky Way.


title: Messier 87

text: Examination of M87 at far infrared wavelengths shows an excess emission at wavelengths longer than 25 μm. Normally, this may be an indication of thermal emission by warm dust. In the case of M87, the emission can be fully explained by synchrotron radiation from the jet; within the galaxy, silicate grains are expected to survive for no more than 46 million years because of the X-ray emission from the core. This dust may be destroyed by the hostile environment or expelled from the galaxy. The combined mass of dust in M87 is no more than 70,000 times the mass of the Sun. By comparison, the Milky Way's dust equals about a hundred million () solar masses.


title: Messier 87

text: Although M87 is an elliptical galaxy and therefore lacks the dust lanes of a spiral galaxy, optical filaments have been observed in it, which arise from gas falling towards the core. Emission probably comes from shock-induced excitation as the falling gas streams encounter X-rays from the core region. These filaments have an estimated mass of about 10,000 . Surrounding the galaxy is an extended corona with hot, low-density gas.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 has an abnormally large population of globular clusters. A 2006 survey out to an angular distance of 25′ from the core estimates that there are clusters in orbit around M87, compared with 150–200 in and around the Milky Way. The clusters are similar in size distribution to those of the Milky Way, most having an effective radius of 1 to 6 parsecs. The size of the M87 clusters gradually increases with distance from the galactic center. Within a radius of the core, the cluster metallicity — the abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium — is about half the abundance in the Sun. Outside this radius, metallicity steadily declines as the cluster distance from the core increases. Clusters with low metallicity are somewhat larger than metal-rich clusters. In 2014, HVGC-1, the first hypervelocity globular cluster, was discovered escaping from M87 at 2,300 km/s. The escape of the cluster with such a high velocity was speculated to have been the result of a close encounter with, and subsequent gravitational kick from, a supermassive black hole binary.


title: Messier 87

text: Almost a hundred ultra-compact dwarfs have been identified in M87. They resemble globular clusters but have a diameter of or more, much larger than the maximum of globular clusters. It is unclear whether they are dwarf galaxies captured by M87 or a new class of massive globular cluster.


title: Messier 87

text: M87 is near (or at) the center of the Virgo Cluster, a closely compacted structure of about 2,000 galaxies. This forms the core of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (including the Milky Way) is an outlying member. It is organized into at least three distinct subsystems associated with the three large galaxies — M87, M49 and M86 — with the core subgroup including M87 ("Virgo A") and M49 ("Virgo B"). There is a preponderance of elliptical and S0 galaxies around M87. A chain of elliptical galaxies roughly aligns with the jet. In terms of mass, M87 is likely to be the largest, and coupled with centrality appears to be moving very little relative to the cluster as a whole. It is defined in one study as the cluster center. The cluster has a sparse gaseous medium that emits X-rays, lower in temperature toward the middle. The combined mass of the cluster is estimated to be 0.15 to


title: Messier 87

text: Measurements of the motion of those intracluster starburst ("planetary") nebulae between M87 and M86 suggest that the two galaxies are moving toward each other and that this may be their first encounter. M87 may have interacted with M84, as evidenced by the truncation of M87's outer halo by tidal interactions. The truncated halo may also have been caused by contraction due to an unseen mass falling into M87 from the rest of the cluster, which may be the hypothesized dark matter. A third possibility is that the halo's formation was truncated by early feedback from the active galactic nucleus.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Battlefield Earth (also referred to as Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000) is a 2000 American science fiction film based on the 1982 novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. It was directed by Roger Christian and stars John Travolta, Barry Pepper, and Forest Whitaker. The film follows a rebellion against the alien Psychlos, who have ruled Earth for 1,000 years.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Travolta, a Scientologist, began attempting to adapt "Battlefield Earth" in the mid-1990s. He was unable to obtain major studio funding because of concerns regarding the script and its connections to Scientology. In 1998, it was picked up by independent production company Franchise Pictures, which specialized in rescuing stars' pet projects. Production began in 1999, largely funded by the German distribution company Intertainment AG. Travolta, as co-producer, also contributed millions of dollars; he envisioned "Battlefield Earth" as the first in a two-part adaptation of the book, as it only covers the first half of the novel's story.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Released to critical and commercial failure, "Battlefield Earth" is frequently described as one of the worst films of all time. Reviewers criticized the acting, direction, lack of originality, cinematography, screenplay, special effects, musical score, lack of character development, art direction, and plot holes. Audiences were reported to have ridiculed early screenings and stayed away from the film after its opening weekend. It received eight Golden Raspberry Awards, which until 2012 was the most Razzie Awards given to a single film, and in 2010, it won Worst Picture of the Decade.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: In 2007, Franchise Pictures was sued by its investors and went bankrupt after it emerged that it had fraudulently overstated the film's budget by $31 million; this, coupled with the film's poor reception, ended Travolta's plans for a sequel.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: In 3000, Earth is a desolate wasteland. The Psychlos, a brutal race of giant humanoid aliens, have ruled the planet for 1,000 years, and use human slave labor to strip its minerals and other resources, with a special desire for gold. A few primitive hunter-gatherer tribes of humans live in freedom in remote, hidden areas, but after ten centuries of Psychlo oppression, they have abandoned any hope of regaining control of their planet. Jonnie Goodboy Tyler rejects this universal hopelessness and leaves his tribe in the Rocky Mountains on a journey of exploration with a nomad hunter named Carlo. Both are captured by a Psychlo raiding party and transported to a slave camp in the ruins of Denver, Colorado, the Psychlos' principal base of operations. A massive dome over the base protects the Psychlos from Earth's atmosphere, which is toxic to them.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: At the camp, they meet Terl, the Psychlo security chief, and his deputy, Ker. Terl's superiors have had him reassigned to his remote Earth outpost indefinitely following unexplained incidents involving "the Senator's daughter". He plans to bribe his way back to the Psychlo home planet by illegally mining gold in areas of high radioactivity. Psychlos avoid such areas because radiation reacts explosively with the gas mixture that they breathe. Terl observes that Jonnie is a resourceful human and selects him to lead the mining operation. Jonnie acquires a comprehensive knowledge of human history and literature in a Psychlo rapid-learning machine. He defiantly declares that one day, humans will overthrow the Psychlos and retake their planet. An amused Terl shows Jonnie the ruins of Denver and its public library and boasts that the Psychlos conquered all of Earth in only nine minutes early in the 21st century. Jonnie spends time in the library and is particularly inspired by the Declaration of Independence.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Terl gives Jonnie a party of slaves and a Psychlo flying shuttle and orders him to find gold. Jonnie locates a plentiful supply at the long-abandoned Fort Knox. He also discovers an abandoned underground military base with working Harrier jump-jets, weapons, and fuel. While they are supposed to be laboring in the mines, Jonnie and his followers plot a revolution, training themselves in aerial combat using the military base's flight simulators.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: After a week of training, the rebels launch their attack. In a suicide mission, Carlo flies his Psychlo flying shuttle into the Denver dome, destroying it and suffocating the Psychlos inside. Jonnie captures a teleportation device and uses it to teleport a dirty bomb to the Psychlo home world. When it detonates, the radiation it releases reacts catastrophically with the Psychlo atmosphere, destroying all life on the planet. The humans have retaken Earth but face an uncertain future. The last Psychlo survivors are Terl—who is imprisoned inside Fort Knox, in a makeshift cell surrounded by gold bars, as a bargaining chip in the event of a counterattack by Psychlos living off their home world—and Ker, who joins the victorious humans in their challenging project to rebuild their civilization.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: After "Battlefield Earth" was published in 1982, L. Ron Hubbard suggested that a film version of the book was in the works. He gave an interview in February 1983 to the "Rocky Mountain News" in which he told the reporter, "I've recently written three screenplays, and some interest has been expressed in "Battlefield Earth", so I suppose I'll be right back in Hollywood one of these days and probably on location in the Denver area for "Battlefield Earth" when they film it."


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Hubbard's comments suggest that he saw himself being directly involved in the film's production; author Stewart Lamont suggests that Hubbard may even have envisioned directing it, having previously helmed Scientology training films. In October 1983, the film rights were sold by the Church of Scientology's in-house literary agency, Author Services Inc., to Salem Productions of Los Angeles. Two films were envisaged, each covering half of the book and tentatively budgeted at $15 million each. William Immerman was set as the producer for the film. Veteran screenwriter Abraham Polonsky and British director Ken Annakin were hired to produce a film breakdown, with production scheduled to begin in 1985. In November 1984, Santa Monica public relations firm Dateline Communications announced a nationwide contest to promote the film. First- and second-place prizes were an all-expense-paid trip to the film's production location and a paid walk-on part in the film, and other announced prizes included a trip to Los Angeles for the world premiere, records, cassettes, and hardcover and paperback copies of the novel. A 30-foot (10 m) high inflatable figure of the film's villain, Terl, was erected by Scientology officials on Hollywood Boulevard in 1984 in an effort to promote the production, and auditions were held in Denver. The low-budget project soon collapsed, and Hubbard died soon afterward, in 1986.


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: Travolta had converted to Scientology in 1975 and subsequently became one of the Church of Scientology's most prominent supporters. Hubbard sent him an autographed copy of "Battlefield Earth" when the book was first published in 1982; he reportedly hoped that Travolta would turn the book into a film "in the vein of "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"". While Travolta was interested, his influence in Hollywood at the time was at a low after participating in a series of flops. He gained renewed influence with the success of the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction", which garnered Travolta an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He had not forgotten Hubbard's wishes to see the book on the big screen and took on the task of making "Battlefield Earth" into a movie. Travolta described the book in interviews as "like "Pulp Fiction" for the year 3000" and "like "Star Wars", only better".


title: Battlefield Earth (film)

text: He lobbied influential figures in Hollywood to fund the project and was reported to have recruited the aid of fellow Scientologists in promoting it. According to Bill Mechanic, the former head of 20th Century Fox, "John wanted me to make "Battlefield Earth". He had Scientologists all over me. They come up to you and they know who you are. And they go, 'We're really excited about "Battlefield Earth". This did not impress Mechanic: "Do you think in any way, shape, or form that weirding me out is going to make me want to make this movie?"