3 Billion-Year-Old White Dwarf Still Consuming Its Planetary System Challenges Previous Assumptions

3 billion-year-old white dwarf still consuming its planetary system challenges previous assumptions

In approximately 5 billion years, the sun will deplete its hydrogen fuel and collapse under its own gravity, becoming a white dwarf. Though Earth-sized, this dense remnant will retain much of the sun's gravitational influence.

Aging White Dwarf Still Consuming Its Planetary System

It came as a surprise to astronomers to find a 3 billion-year-old white dwarf actively accreting material from its former planetary system - a discovery that challenges assumptions about the late stages of stellar remnant evolution.

Dead Star Still Consuming Its Planetary System – W. M. Keck Observatory

Discovery challenges understanding of planetary system evolution Media Contact: Meagan O’Shea Maunakea, Hawaiʻi – Astronomers using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi Island have identified a rare, ancient planetary system still being actively consumed by its central white dwarf star, LSPM J0207+3331. Located 145 light-years from Earth, this system hosts the oldest and most heavy metal-rich debris disk ever observed arou…