Scientists believe that they witnessed the “suicide of planets” for the first time

Two years ago, Astronomers believe that they discovered a star that devoured one of its planets. Now, the new notes of the effects of the same event were suggested by the James Web Telescope for a previous scenario previously in the world of science fiction: that a planet on the size of Jupiter is destroyed by going directly to its mother star. Scientists responsible for observation believe that they witnessed the first “planetary suicide” in history.

The only way to a star to consume its planets is for the star to increase in size. This happens when a The main sequence starLike our sun, running out of hydrogen to merge and enlarge several times in its original size, To become a red giant. Experts study this process with interest because the solar system itself is likely to face it. Within about 5 billion years, after the hydrogen is exhausted in its essence, the sun will expand to 100 times the current radius, devouring nearby planets such as mercury and flower in this process.

When the star absorbs a planet, observatories on Earth discover an increase in its shine, albeit short -term. Such a moment of radiance is known as Nova.

In 2023, the Gemini South Observatory noticed 12,000 light years away. He was initially suspected of being a red giant consuming one of its nearby planets. However, two years later, a more detailed analysis with the infrared in James Web for space was revealed that the star was still in the main sequence phase, where the merged hydrogen – the star was unable to age and expand it to being a red giant. This new guide indicates that Nova, the young star, was caused by being affected by a body the size of Jupiter.

According to a recent study published in Astronomical physical magazineThis Nova is the most persuaded direct discovery of a planet consumed by the host star. The same researchers had already assumed that Nova was evidence that a planet was immersed in another report, published in nature Two years ago. But in the new study, the team added more evidence that these signs are deviation, after the star’s spectroscopy – that is, visible light analysis and other radiation that emitted – 820 days of the brightness of its peak.

This presented new data on the shine of the star and the loyal dust wreckage, and gave the team of astronomers a better idea of ​​what might happen in this solar system. They believe that a planet is the size of Jupiter, is in the same distance that mercury is gradually approaching until it was destroyed by the outer layers of the star.

As evidence allows us to know, the planets move towards their star, towards destruction, not common. Scientists estimate that this process may have arisen from the same phenomenon that generates tidal on the ground – the gravitational clouds of other near heavenly bodies (in the state of the earth is the moon and the sun). Over the millions of years, the forces of gravity practiced by the star had extracted some of the tropical energy of the planet, which brought it out of its stable path towards the host star. In the end, the planet would have turned near its structural safety.

Not all scientific community is convinced of this interpretation. One of the main anti -difficult difficulties says that the star seems only young, because it can be surrounded by a thick cloud of star dust, which weakens its shine. If it turns out that the age or type of stars is different from what is supposed, there may be another explanation for Nova.

New measurements with the most powerful telescopes will measure this star better, and we hope to provide more evidence about what happened. It is also possible to find “suicide” planets in the future elsewhere, revealing that the scenario is more common than thought.

This story was originally appeared on Wireless En español It was translated from Spanish.