The star began to grow in size after running out of fuel, which decreased the distance between it and the neighboring planet, eventually consuming it entirely, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Scientists say the planet was likely the size of Jupiter and had an orbit around its star even closer than Mercury around the sun.
As the star grew in size, the outer atmosphere surrounded the planet, and it began to slow down the orbit and eventually was pulled below the star’s visible surface, like a meteor burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, the JPL said. According to the JPL, that initial brightness showed up in observations by the Caltech-led Zwicky Transient Facility , which watches for cosmic events that change in brightness quickly, some in a matter of hours.
De and his colleagues said they believed the dust indicated that the planet pulled in gasses from the star while it was being devoured.Earth’s demise won’t be as spectacular
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