Scientists discover a sun-like star which ate some of its planets.
A team of scientists has announced their discovery of a sun-like star which has destroyed some of its own planets. Researchers can use this behavior to determine what could happen to our solar system in the future.
Researchers from the La Silla Observatory in Chile used the 3.6-meter telescope to study a star they found around 300 light-years away from Earth. What makes this sun particularly interesting to observe is that it consumed some of the planets in its system and scientists think it may provide useful data to determine what fate some of the planet’s in our solar system can expect in the future.
Although there isn’t any chance for our sun to start destroying planets, at least not in the near future, scientists hope to use their discovery to learn more about the evolution and life cycles of solar systems. This discovery complement the overall exploration efforts of scientists around the world in their attempt to learn how the universe works.
Scientists discovered the sun-like star named HIP68468 after it was part of a study with the purpose of discovering planets that orbit stars which are very similar to our own sun. Although researchers discover an increasing number of exoplanets, they still haven’t found one that orbits a solar twin which has the same characteristics of our sun in terms of size, luminosity, and color.
The study, which was published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal, revealed that it found evidence regarding the existence of a super-Neptune as well as a super-Earth orbiting the sun-like star. The evidence must still be reviewed, but if it’s confirmed then this discovery would mark the first time that scientists have found an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting a solar twin.
The scientists think that star might have consumed some of its planets because a six billion years old star should not have as much lithium as they found it to have. This finding coupled with a number of other elements associated with rocky planets led scientists to conclude that the only explanation must be that it consumed some of its planets.
The research team has emphasized the lack of any immediate danger of our solar system, as the sun is 1.5 billion years younger than HIP68468. They also will continue to monitor 60 solar twins in hopes of finding more Earth-like exoplanets.
Image credit: Gabi Perez/Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Illustration
Deborah Campbell
