Planets depend on their sun, and once a star dies out, its planets are supposed to die as well. However, recently, scientists discovered something incredible. It appears that a scorched exoplanet managed to survive the death of its host star and it continues to orbit it. It is the second similar body discovered by researchers.
Nonetheless, the planet is not intact, and it was deeply affected by the death of its star. It is wholly scorched, and its outer layers float around it like debris. The one thing that remained unchanged is its metal core, but even this is incredible.
Researchers believe that this might be the future for our planet as well. As you may know already, our solar system is expected to die as well, in about 5 billion years. While we will be long gone, it is interesting to think about what will happen then.
Recently found exoplanet lived longer than its host star
“We have this glimpse into our possible future,” declared Jessie Christiansen, an astronomer at NASA’s exoplanet science institute. “It’s exciting, and you can imagine that happening here.”
More massive stars, such as our sun, collapse into a black hole or go supernova. Meanwhile, smaller stars will run out of hydrogen fuel and then die. However, during their death, they also consume the orbits of the planets close to them.
The white dwarf of the scorched planet is known as SDSS J122859.93+104032.9. Since it is something familiar to see clouds of debris around white dwarfs, scientists said that “all of that suggests that up to half of all white dwarfs have planetary systems that survived their evolutions and are flinging in material,” as Christopher Manser stated, one of the astrophysicists of the study. If a planet can survive without its star, maybe there is a chance for our solar system as well.
Tommy’s hobby has always been playing video games. He enjoys competing in video games tournaments and writing about his experience. It’s not a big surprise that he mostly covers the latest trends from the gaming industry.