Tagged: astronomy

Astronomers at the University of Utah are looking for people to help identify distant stars, Utah’s Attorney General leads a delegation to Washington D.C. to discuss immigration reform, and Governor Herbert meets President Obama to discuss the fiscal cliff.

Early in the history of the universe -- about three billion years after the Big Bang -- the expansion of the universe was slowing down.  Today, it's speeding up at a faster and faster pace. University of Utah astronomer Kyle Dawson is part of a group that's been studying the early universe by looking at how light from quasars affected hydrogen atoms in interstellar space.  The project is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which Dawson says gives them the very sophisticated tools to look at lots of objects in the far reaches of space.

‎If you bought a pair of those special glasses to view the solar eclipse last month, you might want to pull them out again. On Tuesday, June 5th, the planet Venus will transit in front of the sun, an event that won’t happen again for 105 years. On Monday, June 4th, University of Utah Professor of Physics and Astronomy Ben Bromley will discuss the historical importance of the Transit of Venus. He’s also going to talk about how astronomers will use this event to learn about planets outside of our solar system.

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Utah was treated to an annular solar eclipse Sunday night.  KUER's Andrea Smardon went to Bryce Canyon National Park, and sent an audio postcard from Inspiration Point.

Science museum shops in Utah are running out of those special glasses that allow you to look directly at an eclipse. Utahns can expect to see a full or partial eclipse on Sunday evening depending on their location.

Utah's NASA ambassador Patrick Wiggins says he'll be heading to the tiny town of Kanarraville, just south of Cedar City to view the eclipse.

"People like me that really like symmetry, we're going to go to what's called the Center Line, which is right smack dab in the middle of what the locals in southern Utah are calling the sweet spot," said Wiggins.