Star swallows planet in one big gulp

For the first time, scientists caught a star in the act of swallowing a planet — in one big gulp! A gas giant, around the size of Jupiter, had been puffing up with old age for eons and finally got so big that it engulfed a close-orbiting planet.

It’s a gloomy preview of what will happen to Earth when our sun morphs into a red giant and gobbles the four inner planets. “If it’s any consolation, this will happen in about five billion years,” said Morgan MacLeod of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

This happened between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago near the Aquila constellation when the star was around 10 billion years old. There was a swift hot outburst of light, followed by a long-lasting stream of dust shining brightly in cold infrared energy, the researchers said. While there had been previous signs of other stars nibbling at planets and their digestive aftermath, this was the first time the swallow itself was observed, according to the study appearing in the journal Nature.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Wish

Walt Disney Animation Studios has released the first teaser for its next theatrical animated film Wish, to hit the theatre on November 22.

The trailer introduced the protagonist Asha, the villainous-looking King Magnifico, Asha’s pet goat Valentino, and Star, an anthropomorphic star. We also get our first taste of the new original song “This Wish,” performed by Ariana DeBose. Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force — a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe — the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico — save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Denver The Last Dinosaur getting rebooted as feature film

Family-friendly media company Grom Social Enterprises will join forces with production and IP management company WEP to co-develop and co-produce a Denver the Last Dinosaur feature film.

It looks like the adaptation will stick close to the formula of the original series, which features a group of California kids who discover a prehistoric egg out of which hatches a dinosaur. The kids befriend the creature and name him Denver, teaching him all about the modern world. The group must also protect Denver from an unscrupulous promoter who wants to exploit Denver’s unique presence for personal gain. Denver the Last Dinosaur first aired in 1988 with 50 episodes across two seasons. It was eventually distributed in 120 countries.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 20th, 2023