The main sequence life of a star like the Sun may not end in a supernova like the most massive stars out there, but it will not be a quiet affair.
white dwarf stars that have planets
The white dwarf is around 90 light-years from Earth, incredibly small and dim, with an unusual hue redder than any other white dwarf star. A second white dwarf star, unusually blue, formed 9 billion years ago. Both stars, the team found, are experiencing ongoing pollution by infalling planetary debris.
We can dissect the chemical composition of a star's atmosphere from the light produced by a star. Not all wavelengths are emitted equally: some are stronger, some are weaker. This is because elements can absorb and re-emit light, altering the spectrum of light emerging from the star. Since white dwarf stars are no longer powered by the fusion of elements in their core, their temperatures are slowly decreasing at a known rate; by taking the two stars' temperatures, researchers were able to gauge how long since they formed from the death of a Sun-like star.
In the case of WD J2147-4035, the team determined that the pollution was probably the remains of a planetary system that had orbited the star before it died, survived the stellar death throes, and is now slowly, over billions of years, falling into the star.
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