In a new study, researchers found that a fragment of a planet has survived the death of its star.
The planet fragment is at least a kilometer in size but could be as large as a few hundred kilometers in diameter. It is full of heavy metal.
This is the first time that scientists have used spectroscopy to discover a solid body in orbit around a white dwarf.
The research was conducted by the University of Warwick astronomers.
White dwarfs are the remains of stars like our sun that have burnt all their fuel and shed their outer layers, leaving behind a dense core which slowly cools over time.
For this particular star, it has shrunk dramatically and the planetesimal orbits within its sun’s original radius.
The team suggests that the star was originally been about two solar masses. But now the white dwarf is only 70% of the mass of our Sun.
It has roughly the size of the Earth, which this makes the star, and in general all white dwarfs, extremely dense.
The white dwarf’s gravity is very strong, about 100,000 times that of the Earth’s.
In the study, the team found the planet fragment is rich in iron and nickel.
It survived a system-wide cataclysm that followed the death of its host star, SDSS J122859.93+104032.9.
The researchers believe that the fragment was once part of a larger planet, which orbits closer to its star than previously thought. The planet went around the star once every two hours.
In the study, the team used the Gran Telescopio Canarias in La Palma for their observation.
They studied a debris disc orbiting a white dwarf 410 light years away.
The disc was formed by the disruption of rocky bodies composed of elements such as iron, magnesium, silicon, and oxygen.
These are the four key building blocks of the Earth and most rocky bodies.
Within the disc, the team found a ring of gas streaming from a solid body, like a comet’s tail.
They suggest that this gas may be produced by the body itself or by evaporating dust as it collides with small debris within the disc.
The new finding provides a hint about what planets may reside in other solar systems and a glimpse into the future of our own.
The team suggests that in our Solar System, the Sun will expand up to where the Earth currently orbits.
It will wipe out Earth, Mercury, and Venus. Mars and beyond will survive and will move further out.
According to them, 5-6 billion years from now, our Solar System will be a white dwarf in place of the Sun, orbited by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the outer planets, as well as asteroids and comets.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Christopher Manser, a Research Fellow in the Department of Physics.
The discovery is reported in the journal Science.
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