Discoveries

May 08, 2023

A Hot Meal

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Astronomers believe that the cosmos is full of examples of stars eating their planets, but evidence of the cataclysmic events has remained elusive – until now.

Recently, a research team observed for the first time a star devouring its planet about 12,000 light-years away from Earth, Science News reported.

In their study, researcher Kishalay De and his team were initially looking for binary star systems, when they came across a strange event in 2020.

They noticed a spot of light getting brighter and first suggested that it was two far-away stars that were merging. But a second look using NASA’s NEOWISE infrared space telescope revealed otherwise: The energy released from the bright flash was just one-thousandth what it would have been if two stars had clashed.

The team noted that this low energy showed that one of the mergers was not a star, adding that there was a dusty belch surrounding the two celestial bodies – instead of hot plasma that would also normally indicate a merger among stars.

Their findings showed that a planet about 10 times the mass of Jupiter was being engulfed by its sun.

This was a significant find for scientists because past studies have mainly shown signs of stars preparing to gulp their planets – or gorging on the leftovers of such a meal.

“Planetary engulfment has been predicted for a very long time but their frequency was not well known,” said De. “So it was certainly exciting to realize we had found one.”

De noted that the dramatic end is the fate of many planets, with Earth’s destiny being no different.

However, our planet’s fiery death will come in five billion years when the Sun evolves into a red giant.

This story originally appeared in the May 08, 2023 newsletter, Eldorado's Slums.