Planetary remains Reveal violent Demise of Pluto-Like World Orbiting Distant Star
A shattered, Pluto-sized world has been discovered orbiting a white dwarf star, offering a chilling glimpse into the ultimate fate of planetary systems – and potentially our own. The remnants of the icy body, torn apart by the star’s gravity, reveal a surprisingly high water content, bolstering theories about how water arrived on Earth billions of years ago.
The discovery,detailed in recent research,marks the first time a water-rich icy body has been observed disintegrating around a white dwarf. This provides crucial insight into the chaotic aftermath of stellar death, where inner planets are consumed and outer worlds are flung into unstable orbits. “This is the first time we’ve found evidence of a water-rich icy body being destroyed by a white dwarf,” saeid researcher Simone Marchi, a senior program scientist at the Southwest research Institute, in a statement.
The star, now a white dwarf, once resembled our sun. As it aged, it expanded into a red giant, a phase where it “scorches or engulfs” the inner planets. Mercury and Venus, and eventually Earth, are predicted to meet this fate in our own solar system. However, the outer gas and ice giants are expected to survive the initial expansion, though their orbits will become unstable as the star shrinks into a white dwarf with diminished gravity.
Researchers observed the debris field around the white dwarf, designated WDJ0914+1914, and persistent the fragments originated from a Pluto-like world that likely remained frozen for billions of years until it ventured too close. The fragments are composed of roughly 64 percent water ice. This finding supports the hypothesis that comets and asteroids delivered water to Earth approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
“If an alien observer looks into our solar system in the far future,” said researcher Deepak Sahu,”they might see the same kind of remains we see today around this white dwarf.” The research team believes studying these remnants will help scientists understand how water and other essential ingredients for life move between worlds, offering a stark preview of our solar system’s distant future.
