The design of an artist of a planetary fragment orbiting a distant white dwarf star. The fragment leaves a trail of gas in its wake. (Photo: University of Warwick / Mark Garlick)

Recently, as they scanned a distant star deep into space, astronomers saw a fragment in orbit of a dead and torn planet, a fragment that could constitute a glimpse into the final fate of the Earth.

In one According to a new study released Thursday, scientists have discovered one of the first planet fragments around a dead white dwarf star, a discovery "that illuminates the light at twilight of planetary systems".

According to Space.com, this piece of newly discovered planet is probably part of a world destroyed during the agony of the star. The piece "can even be a piece of the nucleus of the broken planet."

The fact that any part of a planet, as small as it is, could survive so close to the incredibly strong gravity of a white dwarf is remarkable, said the researchers, according to Live Science .

According to the study, the fragment in orbit around the white dwarf every two hours must be exceptionally dense and not exceed 250 miles in diameter so as not to be torn by the gravitational forces of the star.

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The dead star and the planet are both in our own galaxy, about 410 light years from us.

At the same time, the fate of the star and its planet gives us a sobering picture of the future of our solar system, Science magazine said. "It is thought that when the sun will swell into a red giant, it will consume Mercury, Venus and the Earth.

It will then be reduced to a dead white dwarf, similar to the one just discovered.

"It is not a pretty idea, but we have about 6 billion years to contemplate our destiny," reported Science.

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