One day our star will run out of fuel and start expanding, engulfing Mercury, Venus and Earth in the process.
Scientists have identified a planet-like object orbiting a white dwarf star—a discovery that provides key information about what will happen when our own sun runs out of fuel and transitions into this type of celestial object.
Any remaining planets orbiting a white dwarf move closer to the star and start colliding, smashing them up until they become a cloud of rocky debris. To their surprise, the team found a planetesimal—a solid object formed through colliding rocks that clump together. They say the object must be around 370 miles in diameter and extremely dense. If it is not, it would be torn apart by the gravitational forces from the white dwarf. They suggest the planetesimal could be the core of one of the solar system’s planets—the outer layers having been stripped away.
The discovery allows scientists to have a glimpse into the future of our own solar system. While the inner three planets will be destroyed, the remainder will survive. “By studying systems like SDSSJ122859.93+104032.9, we can learn more about the future of the solar system, and the majority of all known exoplanetary systems, which orbit stars that will themselves eventually become white dwarfs,” Manser said, adding that they now plan to hunt down more planetesimals orbiting white dwarfs.
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