“Star Swallows Planet: Scientists Witness Rare Event for the First Time”

In the study published in the journal Nature with the participation of scientists at MIT, Harvard University, Caltech, it was stated that it was the first time a star had been observed to swallow a planet.

According to the study, the planet’s death occurred about 12,000 light-years away, near the constellation of Aquila. Astronomers detected a burst of stars in the region that shined more than 100 times in just 10 days before quickly fading away. Interestingly, however, it was later found to emit only a smaller amount of energy. Scientists concluded that this combination could have been produced by only one event: a star that swallowed a nearby planet.

Kishalay De from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) explained the process by saying, “We were seeing the final stage of the ingestion,” and said, “We see the future of the Earth. If another civilization were observing us from a distance of 10,000 light years while the Sun was swallowing the Earth, the Sun would suddenly shine, then around it. “They would see it forming dust and then it’s back to normal,” he added.

Scientists speculate that the extinct planet was most likely a Jupiter-sized, hot world that was pulled first into the dying star’s atmosphere and finally into its core.

A similar fate will befall Earth, according to astronomers, but not before 5 billion years, when the Sun is expected to extinguish and burn the inner planets of the Solar System.

* The image of the news is K. Miller/R. Hurt – Served from Caltech/IPAC.