About every twelfth star has swallowed at least one planet during its normal lifespan. This is evident from observations of 91 twin stars by an international research team.
Despite their common origin in a gas cloud, these star pairs show remarkable differences in their chemical composition. These differences can only be explained by cosmic events, scientists report in the journal Nature.
“Pollution” from planetary debris
Astronomers have discovered signs of ‘pollution’ by debris from planets or asteroids in many stars. In such cases, the stars’ atmospheres are significantly enriched in heavy elements typically found on rocky planets but not in normal stars. However, the frequency with which stars devour their planets was previously unclear.
Pairs of stars examined
To find answers to this question, Fan Liu of Monash University in Melbourne and colleagues looked for pairs of stars emerging from the same gas cloud. Using the European astronomy satellite ‘Gaia’, they identified 91 pairs whose distance and common motion through space indicate that they were created together – that is, they are twin stars that originally had the same chemical composition.
However, further detailed observations with several large telescopes revealed that eight percent of these pairs show significant differences in the abundance of heavy elements in their atmospheres. This leads to the conclusion that one of the stars must have swallowed a planet not so long ago.
Computer simulations of planet formation around young stars show that such events are not rare in the first hundred million years after the formation of a planetary system. “However, such events should no longer be observable after several billion years,” Liu and his colleagues emphasize.
“Traces of Later Events”
“We are therefore likely to see traces of later events,” the researchers explain, “caused, for example, by external disturbances – such as another star passing nearby or a large gas planet entering the inner system.” Such disruptions can affect jobs. of the inner system Throw planets out of balance.
Such cosmic events could occur more often than previously thought and play an important role in the late evolution of planetary systems.
Source: Krone
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