For the first time, space scientists were able to watch a dead star swallow everything that surrounds it from outside and inside its planetary system, in a phenomenon that occurs far from our planet, about 86 light years.
This phenomenon is not rare, but rather occurs when a star turns off and turns into what is known as a “white dwarf”, but this time what is distinguished is that the gravitational force left by this star enabled scientists to witness the phenomenon for the first time.
The researchers were able to identify traces of elements indicating that the dead star, which was called G238-44, had accumulated mineral and rocky materials, such as asteroids of the inner solar system, in addition to icy materials, such as icy objects that can be found in the outer Kuiper belt of the solar system. .
“Before now, we’ve never seen these two types of objects accumulating on a white dwarf at the same time,” said physicist and astronomer Ted Johnson of the University of California, Los Angeles. “By studying these white dwarfs, we hope to gain a better understanding of planetary systems that are still undiscovered.”
White dwarfs are what happens when a massive star (eight times the mass of the Sun) reaches the end of its life. Once the burning material inside is exhausted, it begins to swell up to the size of a red giant before its internal material is ejected, and the stellar core collapses under gravity to form a dense body, shining brightly with the light of residual heat.
These findings open a rare window into the internal makeup of other planets across the universe. Astronomers believe that icy bodies from the far reaches of the solar system crashed into the rocky inner worlds in the distant past. They believe that comets and asteroids have delivered water to Earth, and created the conditions necessary for the emergence of life.
The white dwarf offers an opportunity for scientists to learn what kind of material the early planets formed from. Among the elements discovered with this star, scientists identified the presence of nitrogen, oxygen, magnesium, silicon and iron.
In addition, the white dwarf provides a glimpse into the possible future of our solar system. 5 billion years from now, our solar system might look a lot like the system around G238-44. Earth is expected to evaporate completely during the red giant phase of our Sun.
Source: Monte Carlo