A star has been caught in the act of swallowing one of its planets for the first time, giving a preview of our own Solar System's fate.
The star, ZTF SLRN-2020, first attracted attention in May 2020 when the Zwicky Transient Facility in California - which scans the sky nightly - detected it had brightened by over 100 times in just 10 days. Initially, astronomers thought the brightening was caused by two stars merging. However, the star remained bright in the infrared for 100 days after the initial outburst, indicating it was surrounded by a cloud of cold material.
Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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