The unnamed exoplanet was spotted circling the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, which is located roughly 270 light-years from Earth. White dwarfs are stellar remnants, sometimes dubbed "zombie stars," that form from the leftovers of massive red giants that run out of fuel before eventually collapsing into shriveled husks. HS 0209+0832 is a particularly young white dwarf, still burning at around 63,000 degrees Fahrenheit (35,000 degrees Celsius), which suggests it made this transition within the past few million years.
In the new study, published Oct. 5 in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers took a closer look at HS 0209+0832. Using some of Hubble's updated instruments and data from other observatories, the team captured a more detailed spectrum of the stellar zombie. This revealed a high concentration of additional heavy elements, including zinc and copper, as well as niobium, which has never been seen in a white dwarf before.
HS 0209+0832 was once a main-sequence star like the sun (top left) that ballooned into a red giant after it ran out of fuel (top right). Eventually, it collapsed into a white dwarf (bottom left), before an exoplanet emerged from the ashes of the red giant (bottom right). (Image credit: NASA, ESA, L. Hustak (STScI))
Follow-up observations then revealed a recurring dip in the brightness of HS 0209+0832, suggesting that an exoplanet was repeatedly passing in front of the undead star. Based on the alien world's orbit, which lasts approximately 4.4 Earth days, and the duration of its transits in front of the star, the team predicted that the planet is roughly the size of Jupiter. (Its close proximity to the white dwarf also supports the hypothesis that its atmosphere is being stripped away.)
This is not the first time astronomers have spotted an exoplanet around a white dwarf. For example, in 2019, some of the authors of the new study previously spotted an alien world surrounding the white dwarf WDJ0914+1914. However, in that case, they were confident that it was a first-generation world that somehow survived its star's fiery end.
"This pattern of elements is a telltale sign of the 's-process,' a nuclear reaction that builds heavy elements inside dying stars during their bloated red giant phase," study co-author Nicholas Stone, an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in the statement. "It's a chemical signature no ordinary, 'first-generation' planet should carry, which told us that this new planet was something different."
The elements in HS 0209+0832's visible spectra, strongly suggested that it was accreting material from a second-generation exoplanet. The transit data later confirmed this theory. (Image credit: Illustration: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI))Similar phoenix planets have been spotted alongside other stellar remnants, such as pulsars, which form when stars explode as supernovas. However, until now, such worlds have never been seen around a white dwarf.
Rising from the ashes
HS 0209+0832 may have once harbored other exoplanets when it was a red giant. But if they existed, these alien worlds likely perished in flames as the dying star ballooned — similar to what experts think will happen to Earth when the sun runs out of fuel and transitions into a red giant in around 5 billion years.
HS 0209+0832's exoplanet likely has very little to no atmosphere left due to strong gusts of stellar wind stripping it away. (Image credit: Dr Snehalata Sahu/University of Warwick)RELATED STORIES
Newly confirmed 'baby planet' is the youngest alien world scientists have ever discoveredScientists identify 10,000 'impossible' exoplanet candidates, potentially tripling the number of known alien worldsA giant cosmic 'fart' is making a wobbling zombie star repeatedly flash us, 'groundbreaking' observations reveal
However, more work is required to figure out exactly how the newfound exoplanet formed and, as a result, how likely this scenario is. The researchers suspect that another object, such as a lost stellar sibling, may have been required to create the new world.
"Forming the protoplanetary disc in this situation is not easy and helps explain why these planets are so rare," Williams said. "To form a disc of material necessary to birth a planet, HS 0209+0832 likely required a companion star that pulled the ejected material back into orbit, rather than letting it escape."
Hence then, the article about completely unexpected astronomers spy never before seen phoenix planet rising from the ashes of a dead star was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 'Completely unexpected': Astronomers spy never-before-seen 'phoenix planet' rising from the ashes of a dead star )
Also on site :
- Santa Barbara Foundation and California Lutheran University Center for Nonprofit Leadership Host PR Workshop Led by Marketing Maven CEO Lindsey Carnett
- Busan Jury President Zhang Yimou Weighs In on ‘The Assassin(s)’ History Row as Juror July Jung Says Her ‘Heart Feels So Cold’
- Chuck Lorre Says Working on ‘Roseanne’ ‘Was Malice’ Because Roseanne Barr ‘Fundamentally Hated’ the Show’s Writers