Until now the idea thata star could devour its inner planetsit was just a theory, but for the first time scientists believe they have firm evidence of this kind of cosmic cannibalism on their hands. Specifically, the evidence comes froma star named BD + 48 740, specifically an old red giant from the constellation Perseus with 1.5 times the mass of our Sun, which has turned out to havemore lithium than normal for a star his age. As explained by astronomers in the magazineThe Astrophysical Journal Letters, most likely, this element was formed when the star absorbed a planet-sized mass that spiraled into the star and heated it, while she was still digesting it. The observations were made with the Hobby Eberly telescope located at the McDonald Observatory in Texas (USA).
Another proof of the stellar cannibalism of BD + 48 740 has been the discovery ofa planet of highly elliptical orbit, the most elliptical identified to date in space, which revolves around the star. Astronomers suspect that the submergence of the planet engulfed by the star before turning into a giant could have provided an energy blast to the celestial body that survived, launching it into its unusual current orbit.
As Eva Villaver, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid and co-author of the work, has explained, it is almost impossible to capture a planet when it is eaten by a star,? But the fact that there was a collision can be deduced from the mode How does it affect stellar chemistry?
“A similar future could await the inner planets of our solar system when the Sun becomes a red giant.and expand to Earth’s orbit ,? added Alex Wolszczan, a Penn State researcher and study co-author. Although that would still be 5,000 million years.
