A star nearing the end of its life swelled up and absorbed a Jupiter-size planet. In about 5 billion years, our Sun will go through a similar end-of-life transition. In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers observed an aging star consuming a planet for the first time, providing insights into ou
This artist’s concept shows a planet gradually spiraling into its host star. The Jupiter-size planet pulls gas away from the star, sending it into space. There, the gas cools and becomes dust, which is visible to astronomers. Credit: R. Hurt & K. Miller -size planet. In about 5 billion years, our Sun will go through a similar end-of-life transition.
Researchers discovered the event – formally called ZTF SLRN-2020 – using multiple ground-based observatories and spacecraft, which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The planet was likely about the size of Jupiter, with an orbit even closer to its star than Mercury’s is to our Sun. The star is at the beginning of the final phase of its life – its red giant phase, which can last more than 100,000 years.
So he turned to the NEOWISE observatory, which scans the entire sky in infrared light every six months. Launched in 2009 and originally called WISE, the observatory produces all-sky maps that enable astronomers to see how objects change over time. “Very few things in the universe brighten in infrared light and then brighten in optical light at different times,” said De. “So the fact that NEOWISE saw the star brighten a year before the optical eruption was critical to figuring out what this event was.
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