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Star swallows planet in first glimpse of Earth's likely end
But when the Sun finally does engulf Earth, it will cause only a "tiny perturbation" compared to this cosmic explosion, the US astronomers said.
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A handout artist impression released by NSF's NOIRLab on May 3, 2023, shows a star devouring one of its planets as astronomers, using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have observed the first compelling evidence of a dying Sun-like star engulfing an exoplanet. The “smoking gun” of this event was seen in a long and low-energy outburst from the star — the telltale signature of a planet skimming along a star’s surface. This never-before-seen process may herald the ultimate fate of Earth when our own Sun nears the end of its life in about five billion years.
(AFP/Handout)
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cientists said Wednesday that they have observed a dying star swallowing a planet for the first time, offering a preview of Earth's expected fate in around five billion years.
But when the Sun finally does engulf Earth, it will cause only a "tiny perturbation" compared to this cosmic explosion, the US astronomers said.
Most planets are believed to meet their end when their host star runs out of energy, turning into a red giant that massively expands, devouring anything unlucky enough to be in its path.
Astronomers had previously seen the before-and-after effects of this process, but had never before caught a planet in the act of being consumed.
Kishalay De, a postdoc researcher at MIT in the United States and the lead author of the new study, said the accidental discovery unfolded like a "detective story".
"It all started about three years ago when I was looking at data from the Zwicky Transient Facility survey, which takes images of the sky every night," De told an online press conference.
He stumbled across a star that had suddenly increased in brightness by more than 100 times over a 10-day period.
