In the vast theater of space, astronomers have uncovered a tale of cosmic destruction unlike any other. The James Webb Space Telescope has flipped the script on what was thought to be the first star caught devouring a planet. New findings reveal the planet wasn’t suddenly engulfed by a swelling star, as first believed. Instead, its orbit slowly shrank over eons, drawing it closer and closer to a fiery fate.
“This is such a unique event,” said Ryan Lau, an astronomer at NSF NOIRLab and lead author of the study. “We had no idea what we’d see when we pointed Webb at this target. What we’ve learned is giving us incredible insight into the end stages of planetary systems—including, potentially, our own.”
The Webb Telescope’s instruments, MIRI and NIRSpec, acted like high-tech cosmic detectives, piecing together the story of a star roughly 12,000 light-years away in the Milky Way. Named ZTF SLRN-2020, this event first drew attention when it flashed brightly in visible light, spotted by the Zwicky Transient Facility. But it was Webb’s infrared gaze that cracked the case.
Initially, astronomers thought the brightening came from a Sun-like star expanding into a red giant, slowly swallowing a nearby planet. But Webb’s sharp observations changed that narrative. The star wasn’t bright enough to support the swelling hypothesis. Instead, it seems the doomed planet—a gas giant akin to Jupiter—slowly drifted closer to the star over millions of years, before skimming the star’s atmosphere and spiraling to its fiery end.
NASA, ESA, CSA, R. Crawford (STScI)
As the planet fell into the star, it tore away gas from the star’s outer layers. Over time, this gas cooled and condensed into a dust cloud visible in Webb’s infrared view. Unexpectedly, Webb also spotted a hot disk of molecular gas—rich in elements like carbon monoxide—still circling the star in the aftermath.
“It’s almost like seeing the traces of a planet-forming disk,” said Colette Salyk of Vassar College, a co-author on the study. “But instead of creation, this is the fallout from destruction.”
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Events like these are rare but offer astronomers a sneak peek at processes that could one day reshape our solar system when the Sun runs out of fuel and grows into a red giant. With powerful instruments like Webb, along with upcoming observatories like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scientists are poised to uncover more cosmic dramas like this.
As Lau put it, “This is just the beginning. We’re standing at the edge of a whole new field of study, and Webb is leading the charge.”
Journal Reference:
- Ryan M. Lau, Jacob E. Jencson, Colette Salyk, Kishalay De, Ori D. Fox, Matthew J. Hankins, Mansi M. Kasliwal, Charles D. Keyes, Morgan Macleod, Michael E. Ressler et al. Revealing a Main-sequence Star that Consumed a Planet with JWST. The Astrophysical Journal. DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/adb429
Source: Tech Explorist
