When a star explodes and dies, it tends to swallow and incinerate everything that’s around it. But it seems that, according to the latest discovery, exoplanets can survive and they’re left to drift the galaxy.
Futurism.com reports that a team of astronomers from Europe and the US as well have revealed which are the planets that are most likely to survive the deaths of the white dwarf stars that they’re orbiting.
Distant exoplanets have the best surviving chances
According to the research that has been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, small, dense, and distant exoplanets have the best odds.
This discovery is able to help astronomers pinpoint even more planets in the remote cosmos.
In order to analyze the situation, scientists have simulated such destructive events, and they have revealed a direct connection between survival and the exoplanet’s density and size.
The big planets are obliterated by their dying stars, but the dense exoplanets can survive. They just have to orbit at least one-third as far from their stars, just like Mercury is from the Sun.
Rocky planets can survive tidal interactions
University of Warwick physicist Dimitri Veras addressed the issue via a press release and said the following:
“Our study prompts astronomers to look for rocky planets close to — but just outside of — the destruction radius of the white dwarf.”
He continued and explained that “rocky planets can survive tidal interactions with the white dwarf in a way which pushes the planets slightly outward.”
The research’s official notes highlight that “We find that (i) massive Super-Earths are destroyed more readily than minor planets, (ii) low-viscosity planets are destroyed more easily than high-viscosity planets, and (iii) the boundary between survival and destruction is likely to be fractal and chaotic.”
We recommend that you read more details in the official research.
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