NASA's Hubble Space Telescope just witnessed a decisive moment in space.
A white dwarf star was caught wreaking havoc on its planetary system and is siphoning debris from the system's inner and outer regions. This is the first time that NASA has encountered a white dwarf star taking part in cosmic cannibalism.
Cosmic Cannibalism
Archival data from NASA's Hubble Telescope as well as other NASA observatories were used to identify this case of cosmic cannibalism. The discoveries can help astronomers better understand the makeup of newly formed planets and the violent character of evolving planetary systems.
The discovery was based on debris caught by the atmosphere of G238-44, a neighboring white dwarf star. When a star sheds its outer layers and ceases to burn fuel through nuclear fusion, it becomes a white dwarf.
The results are also noteworthy since tiny icy objects are believed to have collided with dry, stony planets in our solar system and "irrigated" them, according to NASA.
Ted Johnson, the study's lead researcher, also noted that the composition of the bodies seen raining down on the white dwarf suggests that frozen reservoirs could be widespread in planetary systems.
"The abundances of the elements we see on this white dwarf appear to require both a rocky and a volatile-rich parent body - the first example we've found among studies of hundreds of white dwarfs," co-author Benjamin Zuckerman said in NASA's press release.
Read also: NASA Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Largest-Ever Image of the Universe - Rare Galaxies Spotted!
What Does This Discovery Mean?
Despite the fact that scientists have cataloged over 5,000 exoplanets, Earth is the only one that scientists have direct knowledge of. The cannibalism of white dwarfs presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to disassemble planets and see what they were comprised of when they initially formed around the star.
NASA stated that the overall mass consumed by the white dwarf in this research could be as little as an asteroid or a small moon. The presence of two objects the white dwarf star was devouring cannot be measured.
However, the space agency said that it's likely that one is a metal-rich asteroid and the other is an icy rock like those seen in the Kuiper belt at the edge of our solar system.
When a star, such as our Sun, ages and grows into a huge red giant, it loses mass by blowing off its outer layers. Small objects such as asteroids, comets, and moons may be gravitationally scattered by any remaining massive planets as a result of this.
The researchers are considering the most extreme possibility for the Sun's evolution, which will occur in 5 billion years. Earth and other inner planets might be annihilated.
However, Jupiter's gravitational perturbation of numerous asteroids in the main asteroid belt will cause them to fall into the white dwarf that the remaining Sun will become.
Related Article:NASA's Hubble Telescope Catches A Glittering Starburst Display of NGC 6558
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
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