Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Space.com and Live Science. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida.
About one in every 12 stars may have swallowed a planet, a new study finds.. This and other evidence suggested that stars may sometimes ingest planets, but much remained uncertain about how often that might happen.. Such twins should have a virtually identical composition, as they are both born from the same parent cloud of gas and dust. Any major chemical differences between these so-called"co-natal" stars may thus be a sign that one devoured a world.to identify 91 pairs of stars.
The scientists used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, the Magellan Telescope, also found in Chile, and the Keck Telescope in Hawaii to analyze the light from these co-natal stars. They found about 8 percent of these pairs — about one in 12 — had one star that displayed signs it had engulfed a planet. In other words, its chemical makeup differed when compared with its twin.
"What's truly surprising is the frequency at which it seems to happen," study co-author Yuan-Sen Ting, an astronomer at the Australian National University in Canberra, told Space.com."It implies that stable planetary systems like our ownAbout 6 billion years from now, when our sun begins exhausting its primary source of fuel, it will swell to become a red giant star, likely swallowing closely orbiting planets.
It remains uncertain whether the stars are swallowing planets, or engulfing the building blocks of planets left over from the births of star systems. Both may be possible, the researchers said.to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at:
Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica. Visit him at http://www.sciwriter.us
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