Robert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.
Astronomers may have finally solved the mystery of how superdense dead stars called white dwarfs keep their heavy metal shells fresh — by cannibalizing what remains of their planetary systems. at its core. The new research therefore may give us a hint about what could happen to the rest of the, creating stellar remnants with masses around that of the sun and widths about that of Earth. They are the most common stars in the Milky Way, accounting for 97% of stellar bodies.
"The vast majority of planets in the universe will end up orbiting a white dwarf," study team member Ann-Marie Madigan, a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder,. "It could be that 50% of these systems get eaten by their star, including our own solar system. Now, we have a mechanism to explain why this would happen."The initial discovery of heavy metals on the surface of white dwarfs was a perplexing one.
This leads to a question: How are these zombie stars snacking on their surroundings in such a way that heavy metals are constantly replenished at their surface? "Simulations help us understand the dynamics of different astrophysical objects,” Akiba said."So, in this simulation, we throw a bunch of asteroids and comets around the white dwarf, which is significantly bigger, and see how the simulation evolves and which of these asteroids and comets the white dwarf eats."
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