Alert in the universe! Astronomers discover a starving star that eats a planet

Hello, outer space readers! Today I bring you news from another world: astronomers have hunted down a star eating an entire planet! Yes, you heard that right, these stars are intergalactic hungry. When a star runs out of fuel, it gets a bit selfish and expands to a million times its original size. Imagine that! It is as if an ant decided to become an elephant in a matter of seconds, in the process, the star craves everything in its path, including defenseless planets.

But here’s the kicker, guys and gals: Scientists have finally caught a star in flagrante delicto devouring a planet! It was quite a galactic event, this event occurred in our own galaxy, some 12,000 light-years away, near the constellation Aquila, which resembles a majestic cosmic eagle. Astronomers watched a star grow more than 100 times brighter in just 10 days, before quickly fading out. It was as if the star said: “Mmm, delicious planet!”

But wait, there is more; it turns out that the planet that became the stellar snack was the size of Jupiter, the giant of our solar system. This poor planet got too close to the star on its final spiral and was pulled inward. What a way to go! Although do not worry, the Earth has a similar fate in about 5 billion years when our beloved Sun goes out, we can say that we are seeing a preview of what awaits us. The future of the Earth in action! Now imagine this: if some alien civilization were watching us from 10,000 light-years away, they would see the Sun suddenly shine bright as it spits out some material, then gets covered in dust and goes back to normal, it would be like the Sun having a seizure. of stellar indigestion.

But back to the discovery, scientists from MIT, Harvard University, Caltech, and elsewhere came together to study this stellar feast, it was a team effort of astronomical proportions. They had to analyze data collected by various observatories, such as the Palomar Observatory and NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope. It was like putting together a cosmic puzzle and so, after a year of research, they finally had all the pieces in place. They discovered that the star was merging with another object. Guess what it was? Exactly! A brave planet that dared to get too close and became the all-star dinner! A clash of planets! Although it sounds like a science fiction movie, it is the reality of the cosmos.

This discovery opens the doors to a new chapter of astrophysics, where we can witness cosmic events in real time. It is exciting to witness how the stars satisfy their appetite, devouring planets and leaving behind cosmic dust. It shows us that the universe is a place full of wonder and surprise, where even the stars have their own dramatic stories. So keep your eyes on the starry sky, because we never know what amazing shows await us. Until the next astronomical adventure, space friends!