The Hubble Space Telescope has found evidence of a white dwarf star devouring rocky and icy material from its system, suggesting that water and other volatiles are common in the outer reaches of planetary systems.
The astronomers used archival data from Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories to examine the spectral properties of white dwarf G238-44. Elements detected on the star’s surface show that the dead star is pulling debris from the inner and outer extensions of its system.
Ted Johnson, principal investigator and recent alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement: pronunciation† “By studying these white dwarfs, we hope to gain a better understanding of the intact planetary systems.”
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Observing this cosmic dance of death provides a unique opportunity to learn which planets formed when they first formed around a star and to confirm ideas about the violent and chaotic end stages of similar systems.
G238-44 is a former Sun-like star that shed its outer layers and stopped burning fuel through nuclear fusion. The discovery that the stellar corpse simultaneously picks up material from the asteroid belt and Kuiper beltZone-like regions, including icy bodies, are important because they suggest that a “water reservoir” may be a common feature in the outer extensions of planetary systems.
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“Life as we know it requires a rocky planet covered with a variety of elements, such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen,” said Benjamin Zuckerman, professor emeritus in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UCLA and co-author of the paper. “The abundance of elements we see on this white dwarf seems to require a rocky, volatile body — the first example we found in studies of hundreds of white dwarfs.”
The research group included astronomers from the University of California. University of California, San Diego; and Kiel University in Germany. The team’s findings were presented June 15 at a press conference of the American Astronomical Society.
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