Stunning image captures star SWALLOWING planet

The month of May began with a new image, published in the magazine Nature. For the first time, scientists have managed to record a star swallowing an entire planet.

This feat happened on the 3rd. Thus, scholars published the exact moment in which a star, similar to the Sun, completely absorbed a planet present in its orbit. The planet in question had characteristics similar to those of Jupiter, considered gaseous.

Similarities between the Earth and the Sun?

In addition to the stars being physically similar to the Sun and Earth, scientists say that the situation could be similar in the future in our galaxy.

The catastrophic event is predicted for the moment when the Sun becomes a “red giant”, absorbing and destroying the first four planets that are in its orbit.

But as dire as the predictions are, study co-author Morgan MacLeod of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is reassuring:

“If it’s any consolation, that will happen in about 5 billion years.”

How did the observation happen?

The impressive record took place in 2020, when scientist Kishalay De, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was reviewing captures made by the Palomar Observatory at the California Institute of Technology.

According to scientists, the situation occurred when the planet and the star approached each other. At a certain point, there was an explosion of hot light, which turned into glowing dust.

Studies indicate that the absorption occurred near the constellation Aquila, between 10 and 15 thousand years ago. Given the age of the star – around 10 billion years –, it is considered that the phenomenon occurred quickly.

It is not yet known whether there are other planets orbiting the star at a safer distance. However, if so, it could be thousands of years before another planet becomes the next victim.

In an interview with Fox Newsastrophysicist Carole Haswell, from Britain’s Open University, said the feat differs from others observed recently.

“This is a different kind of feeding. This star has swallowed an entire planet in one go, in contrast, WASP-12 b and the other hot Jupiters we have previously studied are being delicately ‘licked and nibbled’.“