NASA may have seen a star "devouring a planet" for the first time

About 450 light-years from Earth, a young star has just feasted on a meal the size of a planet.

At least, that is what a team of astronomers thinks about RW Aur A, a star of a few million years studied by astronomers since 1937.

In the years of "Stars," a few million years "makes RW Aur A very young, which allows us to potentially learn how stars and planets interact in the early stages of their development. Over the last 80 years, RW Aur A's light has been periodically dimmed "every few decades for about a month," according to NASA.

However, as early as 2011, light decreased more frequently and for longer periods. A team of researchers turned the Chandra X-ray observatory toward the star over a five-year period to better understand what was happening exactly .

Chandra, a space telescope launched for the first time in 1999, is extremely sensitive and can detect the intensity of X-rays emitted by the young star. Typically, young stars like RW Aur A are surrounded by thick discs of debris and gas, which alter the intensity of X-rays emitted by the star. By allowing Chandra to observe RW Aur A, it is possible to obtain data that help scientists determine what type of material is present in the discs.

The results published in The Astronomical Journal on July 18 show that Chandra was able to detect an abundance of iron around RW Aur A. The previous measurements did not show iron at such high levels, the team Therefore research had to come from

Their explanation? Planetary collisions

The team speculates that this excess iron comes from a planet – or planetesimals – colliding in the space surrounding RW Aur A. If any of the planets is rich in iron, the collision would cause the iron to vomit in the space, enriching the crown of the hungry young star and causing the abundance that they see.

"If our interpretation of the data is correct, this would be the first time we will directly observe a young star devouring a planet or planets," says Hans Guenther, who led the study at the Institute Kavli of Astrophysics and Space Research of MIT

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There is also the possibility that RW Aur A's partner star, RW Aur B, passes close enough to tear iron particles from the disk that surrounds RW Aur A, which falls in the star.

The next step will be to examine how RW Aur A's radiographic signatures differ over time, providing clues as to the type of planetary collision that may have occurred or possibly revealing an entirely new reason for iron abnormalities. . 19659004] But, hey, it's not as exciting as a planet-planet veneer, is not it?

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