The "Death Star" may be popularly known as Darth Sidious and Darth Vader's creation to destroy planets in different systems, but there is a literal one that is not artificially made, as observed by astronomers for the first time. This star is already dead, and back in its final attempt to create a phenomenon for itself, it swallowed a planet and took it with it in its final moments before fading away into nothingness.
Astronomers dubbed it the "Death Star" as it took inspiration from the famous franchise epic from George Lucas, amidst the upcoming May the 4th, Star Wars Day.
'Death Star' Caught Swallowing a Planet, Spotted in the Milky Way
(Photo : International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick/M. Zamani)
In a stunning discovery that has sent shockwaves throughout the astronomical community, a star has been observed swallowing a planet in the Milky Way galaxy. Dubbed the "Death Star," ZTF SLRN-2020, by astronomers, the event took place 12,000 light-years away, near the eagle-like constellation Aquila, as revealed by the researchers via a press release in EurekAlert!
The outburst from the star was sudden and intense, with the star becoming more than 100 times brighter over just ten days. This unusual behavior was immediately noticed by a team of scientists from MIT, Harvard University, and Caltech, first discovered by co-author Kishalay De, an MIT postdoc using the Palomar Observatory to study the region since 2020.
As per the team's statement, it further studied the phenomenon using the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) on Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF's NOIRLab, one which it claims now.
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Researchers saw a Star Taking a Planet with it for the First Time
This may be the first time researchers saw a star engulfing a planet, but it would not be the last, as researchers predict this may happen to home.
"We are seeing the future of the Earth," De says. "If some other civilization was observing us from 10,000 light-years away while the sun was engulfing the Earth, they would see the sun suddenly brighten as it ejects some material, then form dust around it, before settling back to what it was."
Stars and The Many Phenomena It Brings to the World
Stars shine bright in the universe, but they also produce unique sounds, one that was recorded and dubbed as the "Star Sonification."
While it is known how a star is born, there are still phenomena surrounding deep space with clouds of unknown making producing baby stars, as seen by Hubble.
ZTF SLRN-2020's discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the universe. It suggests that stars are capable of consuming planets in a matter of days, which is much faster than previously believed.
The "Death Star" gave humans an understanding of the other ways stars go out and die, and it is not always peaceful or simply fading into the dark in space. It provided astronomers with knowledge of how other entities in outer space work, particularly with one possible future the Earth would face, as the Sun may also be capable to become our Death Star.
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