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Astronomers watch giant black hole gobble up star

Last updated Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - 4:55pm

Back when single-celled organisms ruled Earth, a gigantic black hole lurking quietly at the center of a distant galaxy dismantled and devoured a star.

On Wednesday, astronomers reported that they watched the whole thing unfold over a period of 15 months starting in 2010, the first time such an event had been witnessed in great detail from start to finish.

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Scientist discusses how the world will end

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, April 27, 2012 - 6:40am

LOGAN -- The famous T.S. Eliot quote ponders the way the world will end, "Not with a bang, but with a whimper."

Features, Astronomy, End of the world, USU, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

Training workshop for adults Saturday

Contributed Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 10:18pm

WASHINGTON TERRACE — The “Astonishing Astronomy: Discovering Our Universe” workshop is back by popular demand.

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Ogden Astronomical Society to meet Thursday

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 10:18pm

OGDEN — Weber State’s Ott Planetarium will host the Ogden Astronomical Society meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday. Call 801-309-1233 for more information. The Planetarium is in the Lind Lecture Hall, at the northeast corner of the WSU campus, at 1550 Edvalson St.

Astronomy, meetings, Utah Read more Comments

The 7-ton spacecraft, one of the most ambitious and costly science projects in U.S. history, is under construction for NASA at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s space park complex in Redondo Beach, Calif.

NASA's Webb telescope: Revolutionary design, runaway costs

Ralph Vartabedian, W.J. Hennigan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, February 20, 2012 - 5:59pm

In deep, cold space, nearly a million miles from Earth, a giant telescope later this decade will scan for the first light to streak across the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

The 7-ton spacecraft, one of the most ambitious and costly science projects in U.S. history, is under construction for NASA at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s space park complex in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Business, Astronomy, Costs, Northrup Grumman, Space, NASA Read more Comments

Star collision causes supernova

Amina Khan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Saturday, January 14, 2012 - 8:17am

Type 1a supernovae, exploding stars that can outshine entire galaxies, were instrumental to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery that a mysterious "dark energy" is fueling the expansion of the universe. But astronomers haven't been able to pin down what causes these massive stellar explosions.

Now, after studying a Type 1a supernova in a nearby galaxy, two researchers say that they must be the result of a collision between two white dwarf stars. They made their case this week in the journal Nature.

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Quarter-mile-wide asteroid coming close to Earth

Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, November 5, 2011 - 10:23am

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An asteroid bigger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the Earth and moon on Tuesday -- the closest encounter by such a huge rock in 35 years.

But scientists say not to worry. It won't hit.

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UFOs flying over Utah? Folks in Washington Terrace report 5-minute encounter

Scott Schwebke Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, October 3, 2011 - 6:15am

WASHINGTON TERRACE -- Strange, burning objects floating across the night sky stopped traffic in a Washington Terrace neighborhood and prompted calls to police late Saturday.

Aliens, Astronomy, HAFB, Hill Air Force Base, paranormal, Space, UFOs, Utah, Weber County Sheriff's Office Read more Comments

(NICK SHORT/Standard-Examiner) Dayna Urquhart (left) and Jim Urquhart photograph Balanced Rock with the stars in the background in April in Arches National Park near Moab.

Stargazers, parks officials hope to save the night

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, October 1, 2011 - 9:57pm

CEDAR CITY — Gazing skyward from his backyard, longtime Southern Utah resident Abe Heck used to marvel at the Milky Way. Now he can’t even see it.

Astronomers, Astronomy, Bryce Canyon National Park, Development, Economy, Land development, National Parks, Southern Utah, Tourism, Utah, Zion National Park, Featured Read more Comments

This image provided by NASA shows an artist's depiction showing a discovery by NASA's Kepler mission of a world where two suns set over the horizon instead of just one. The planet, called Kepler-16b, is the most "Tatooine-like" planet yet found in our galaxy and is depicted here with its two stars. Tatooine is the name of Luke Skywalker's home world in the science fiction movie Star Wars. In this case, the planet it not thought to be habitable. It is a cold world, with a gaseous surface, but like Tatooine, it circles two stars. The largest of the two stars, a K dwarf, is about 69 percent the mass of our sun, and the smallest, a red dwarf, is about 20 percent the sun's mass. (AP photo/NASA)

Scientists find planet orbiting two suns like in 'Star Wars'

Scott Gold Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, September 16, 2011 - 2:57pm

The desert planet of Tatooine is home to all manner of wonderful creatures -- womp rats and banthas and jawas. But any proper "Star Wars" fan knows that the planet's most dynamic feature is its two suns, creating a magnificent double sunset that a young Luke Skywalker stares into during his wistful moments.

On Thursday, astronomers announced the discovery of a real planet that orbits two suns, a scenario that breaks so many galactic rules that it was thought by many to exist only in science fiction.

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Astronomers witness star being consumed by black hole

Amina Khan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, August 25, 2011 - 8:32am

For the first time ever, astronomers say they've borne witness to a supermassive black hole consuming a star.

Two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature describe powerful blasts of radiation whose brightness and behavior can only be explained by a Sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a black hole at the center of its galaxy, the authors say.

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(Associated Press file photo) This five-picture combination shows various stages of a total lunar eclipse over Baghdad, Irag, on March 4, 2007.

Rare lunar eclipse set to begin early Tuesday morning

Los Angeles Times

Last updated Saturday, December 18, 2010 - 11:23pm

LOS ANGELES -- A total eclipse of the moon will be visible throughout all of North and Central America on Tuesday from 2:41 a.m. EST until 3:53 a.m. Wednesday, the first such eclipse in almost three years.

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