Like a Mythical Phoenix, This Planet May Have Risen From the Ashes of a Dead Star
Researchers say the planet may have formed from material shed by its dying star, and TESS data show a 4.4-day orbit.
- Astronomers discovered a "phoenix planet" orbiting a white dwarf, a gas giant born after its host star died and more massive than Jupiter.
- Located about 250 light-years from Earth, the planet orbits the white dwarf every 4.4 days at a distance of just 4% of that between Earth and the sun.
- The white dwarf's extreme ultraviolet radiation strips the planet's outer atmosphere, with a portion of the stripped material falling onto the star's surface.
- Jamie Williams, a doctoral student in astrophysics, explained the name: "In myths, a phoenix is born again from its own ashes. In the case of this planet, it is born again from the ashes of its dying host star."
- Researchers hope to validate these findings using the James Webb Space Telescope, building on data from the Hubble, TESS, and FUSE telescopes studying the system in the Milky Way.
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British astronomers have discovered a new type of celestial body: a planet orbiting a burnt-out star. The discoverers call it a phoenix planet, after the mythological bird that rises from its own axis. The discovery could tell us more about the distant future of our own solar system. Scientists from the University of Warwick describe their discovery near the star HS 0209+0832, in the constellation Cetus, in the journal Nature Astronomy. This is…
New research indicates that the remnants of an extinct star may become the site of a completely new world. For the first time, scientists have discovered traces of a so-called "phoenix" planet in the atmosphere of a white dwarf, which opens up the possibility that planetary systems can be "born" a second time.
Astronomers find ‘phoenix planet’ born from ashes of a dying star
A team of astronomers has discovered a second-generation planet orbiting a white dwarf named HS 0209+0832. This planet formed from the material that the white dwarf expelled during its death. The atmosphere of the white dwarf contains heavy elements such as zinc, copper, and niobium. This discovery could change the way astronomers search for similar planets around dead stars.
Astronomers discovered a possible “Phenix” planet formed from the remains of a dead star located about 250 light years from Earth.
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