As a star runs out of fuel, it will billow out to a million times its original size, engulfing any matter — and planets — in its wake. Scientists have observed hints of stars just before, and shortly after, the act of consuming entire planets, but they have never caught one in the act until now.

In a study appearing in Nature, scientists at MIT, Harvard University, Caltech, and elsewhere report that they have observed a star swallowing a planet, for the first time.

The planetary demise appears to have taken place in our own galaxy, some 12,000 light-years away, near the eagle-like constellation Aquila. There, astronomers spotted an outburst from a star that became more than 100 times brighter over just 10 days, before quickly fading away. Curiously, this white-hot flash was followed by a colder, longer-lasting signal. This combination, the scientists deduced, could only have been produced by one event: a star engulfing a nearby planet.

What of the planet that perished? The scientists estimate that it was likely a hot, Jupiter-sized world that spiraled close, then was pulled into the dying star’s atmosphere, and, finally, into its core.

A similar fate will befall the Earth, though not for another 5 billion years, when the sun is expected to burn out, and burn up the solar system’s inner planets. 🪐🌎☄️🔭🌌

Learn more about this here → https://news.mit.edu/2023/astronomers-spot-star-swallowing-planet-0503

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A family that hikes together, stays together! Another successful orientation hike ⛰ #wemadeitoutalive #strongasamother #success #funtimes #bonding #lovenature #mitidm #thisismit #idm19 @ Mount Washington https://t.co/zIu7TjCzx9 by @idmMIT on August 23, 2019 at 06:01PM here

Happy World Industrial Design Day from IDM ❤️#design #designers #industrialdesign #development #impact #humancentereddesign #happiness #community #celebrate #mit #thisismit #mitidm https://t.co/lffZ6rQmPf pic.twitter.com/apSX6p61KC

— MIT IDM (@idmMIT) June 29, 2019

June 30, 2019 at 05:21AM

A tweet

#ThisIsMIT, by @DanielGonzo2016 '20. video contest winner https://t.co/S0wZV855Q3 pic.twitter.com/iAvzwWtbfF

— Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (@MIT) January 18, 2018

Students share their passions outside the classroom

Students share their passions outside the classroom

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It is well-known that MIT students are academically exceptional. What is less known is how well-rounded, creative, and artistic they are.

To showcase what students do outside of the classroom, MIT Communications Initiatives and the Division of Student Life created a campaign to encourage students to produce videos for social sharing. The goal was to give audiences around the world a…

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Did you know that we have a free and open collection of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum? It’s called MIT OpenCourseWare, and anyone can access it. 📚

You can learn more about OpenCourseWare here 💻

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We’re back on Tumblr!

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Construction of the MIT dome, 1916

Battlecode is MIT’s long-running programming competition. Every January, participants from around the world to write code to program entire armies – not just individual bots – before they duke it out on screen. Throughout Independent Activities Period, participants learn to use artificial intelligence, pathfinding, distributed algorithms, and more to make the best possible team strategy. 👾

Learn more here → https://news.mit.edu/2023/robot-armie...

and here → Battlecode

Happy Nobel Smoot Day!

Image: Christine Danlioff/MIT

Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry, got a call from Stockholm early this morning which is about 3,538,606.2 smoots from Cambridge. Happy Nobel Smoot Day!

What is a smoot?

One smoot is equal to Oliver Smoot's height, 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m). 

It's August, which means that it's move in month for first year students!

Say hello to Tim the BeaVR: MIT student creates Tim the Beaver in virtual reality using the MIT.nano Immersion Lab. The app lets you place a virtual copy of MIT's mascot, Tim the Beaver, anywhere in the world! 🦫

Read more here and make sure to follow us on Tumblr!

Watch live at 3pm to see if Mark Rober’s 🎓🚀! commencement.mit.edu/webcasts

Photo: Mark Rober on Twitter 

MIT’s Commencement ceremonies kick off today! Congrats, #mit2023! 🎓🦫

Check out the Commencement schedule here:

Schedule | Commencement

And follow along with us this week on Twitter @‌mitcommencement and Instagram @‌mitpics.

#didyouknow that MIT has appeared or been mentioned in Iron Man, 21, A Beautiful Mind, Blown Away, Edge of Darkness, Independence Day, Rent, and of course, Good Will Hunting, among other memorable flicks!