Cosmic cannibalism :
Study of a dead star - a white dwarf G238-44 has revealed that it is siphoning off debris from both the system’s inner and outer reaches - both rocky-metallic and icy matter.
The archival data of Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA observatories was part of the study.
The study of this "cannibalism" is helping scientists find out about the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and how new systems form, contents of planets etc.
Comets and asteroids are thought to have "delivered" the water to Earth, sparking the conditions necessary for life. The content of bodies being consumed by the white dwarf suggests, that icy reservoirs might be common among planetary systems, as per researchers.
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#space#astronomy#nasa#earth#hubblespacetelescope#planets#stars#whitedwarfstar#hubbletelescope#comets#asteroids#planetformation#wateronplanets#cosmiccannibalism#spacelovers#astronomylovers#spaceexploration#hubblearchives
Image/illustration credit :
NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)