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Death of a star reveals midsize black hole lurking in a dwarf galaxy

November 10, 2022 adriana

An intermediate-mass black hole lurking undetected in a dwarf galaxy revealed itself to astronomers when it gobbled up an unlucky star that strayed too close. The shredding of the star, known as a “tidal disruption event” or TDE, produced a flare of radiation that briefly outshone the combined stellar light of the host dwarf galaxy and could help scientists better understand the relationships between black holes and galaxies.

The flare was captured by astronomers with the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE), a survey designed to detect cosmic explosions and transient astrophysical events. An international team led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz, the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, and Washington State University reported the discovery in a paper published November 10 in Nature Astronomy.

This discovery has created widespread excitement because astronomers can use tidal disruption events not only to find more intermediate-mass black holes in quiet dwarf galaxies, but also to measure their masses.

“One of the biggest open questions in astronomy is currently how supermassive black holes form,” said coauthor Vivienne Baldassare, professor of physics and astronomy at WSU.

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Phys.org
The Daily
NewsBeezer

Most of Washington’s congressional incumbents prevail but races still too close to call in 3rd and 8th districts as Democrats hold leads

November 10, 2022 adriana

Most of Washington’s congressional incumbents prevailed in Tuesday’s general election, but a few districts may still hold some surprises as more votes are counted in the coming days.

The two that most people are watching: the 3rd Congressional District where Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler lost in the primary and the 8th Congressional District where U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier is seeking another term.

Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, said in an interview last week he was closely watching the 3rd Congressional District race as it could be a signal for the rest of the country as to whether there were any moderate Republicans left who would vote for a Democrat or sit out, instead of voting for a Trump-backed candidate such as Joe Kent.

On Wednesday, Clayton said he was surprised to see the initial results in the 3rd but that if Kent loses it could follow similar trends across the country this midterm where Trump-endorsed Republicans lost.

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Spokesman-Review

In existential midterm races, Christian prophets become GOP surrogates

November 8, 2022 adriana

All over the country this year, figures hailing from the right wing of prophetic and charismatic Christianity have been appearing with candidates as part of a growing U.S. religious phenomenon that emphasizes faith healing, the idea that divine signs and wonders are everywhere, and spiritual warfare.

“For two millennia of church history, people have been claiming to be prophets,” said Matthew Sutton, a Washington State University historian of American religion who has focused on apocalyptic and charismatic Christians. “But it’s a new tactic in the United States for it to be part of waging culture war.”

What it’s meant to be a “prophet” has changed many times, but the term has typically been used as an adjective, not a noun, Sutton said; anyone might say something “prophetic” against sin or injustice. Most Christians in the United States, he said, have emphasized other spiritual roles mentioned in the Bible, such as “teacher” or “elder” — not “prophet” or “apostle,” which they believed ended with the biblical text. But in recent decades, some Americans have been resurrecting the title of prophet and giving it new meaning.

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Washington Post

Ask Dr. Universe: How did life begin?

November 8, 2022 adriana

The universe is a big place. Thinking about how we fit into it is part of what makes humans (and cats like me) special.

I talked about your question with my friend Afshin Khan who studied astrobiology and environmental science at Washington State University. Astrobiologists explore how life began. They also look for signs of life outside Earth.

Khan told me your question is a huge mystery.

“We have very good ideas about what could have happened,” she said. “In different labs around the world, we’ve gotten very close to simulating some of those conditions. But simulations can only get so close to what was happening on early Earth.”

We have a good sense of when life started. We know Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The oldest fossils on Earth are stromatolites, basically layers of rock and microbes. They’re at least 3.5 billion years old. So, there must have been living microbes on Earth at that time.

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Dr. Universe

Tuesday’s election could bring a number of surprises. Here are some races to watch:

November 7, 2022 adriana

The most expensive U.S. Senate race in state history. No official Republican for the first time in decades in the Secretary of State race. A number of key legislative seats still up in the air. And voters for the first time selecting members of a five-member Spokane County Commission.

Results of Tuesday’s midterm election could be full of surprises, with a number of key races getting tighter.

Ballots must be returned to a drop box or postmarked by 8 p.m. that day. For more information on where to vote, visit VoteWA.gov or your local county elections office. County auditors have encouraged voters to get their ballots in earlier rather than later to allow for quicker processing and faster results.

Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, called this midterm election cycle the “strangest” he’s seen.

“Obviously, turnout’s going to be key,” Clayton said.

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Spokesman-Review