In a remarkable discovery, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured evidence of a rare planetary death plunge — a giant exoplanet falling into its host star. This cosmic event, first detected in May 2020, has now been revisited with new data revealing that the planet spiraled inward over time, ultimately crashing into the star in a fiery end.
A Death Not as Expected
Initially, astronomers thought the planet was swallowed when the star expanded into a red giant. But new observations from the Webb Telescope suggest the opposite. The planet didn’t wait for the star to come to it — instead, its orbit gradually decayed until it plunged into the stellar atmosphere.
Ryan Lau, lead author of the study and astronomer at the US National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, explained, “We’re seeing the aftermath of the planet’s final moments — a ring of hot gas and a cloud of cooler dust left behind after the collision.”
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A Hot Jupiter Meets Its End
The doomed world likely belonged to a class known as hot Jupiters — gas giants with extremely close, high-temperature orbits. According to the team, the planet was several times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
This massive size explains the dramatic impact on the star, which is located about 12,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Aquila. The star is less luminous and slightly redder than our sun, with around 70% of the sun’s mass.
How the Spiral Began
The research team believes the planet’s orbit degraded over time due to gravitational interactions with the star. As it drew closer, it began skimming through the star’s outer layers. The friction — like a headwind — caused the planet to fall faster and deeper.
Morgan MacLeod, co-author and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained, “The planet lost its outer layers while spiraling in. As it moved inward, the resulting heat and stellar gas release created the bright glow and dust that we now observe.”
Unfolding Clues, Unanswered Questions
Although the Webb Telescope provides compelling visuals, astronomers still don’t know exactly what happened to the planet in its final moments. MacLeod noted, “We can’t recreate star-planet collisions in a lab, so we rely on computer models to piece together the story.”
The research gives astronomers rare insight into the ultimate fate of many planetary systems. These observations suggest that planets might more often die by slowly spiraling into their stars rather than being consumed during the red giant phase.
What It Means for Earth
Fortunately, Earth and its neighbors are in stable orbits — for now. But in about five billion years, the sun will expand into a red giant. It could engulf Mercury, Venus, and possibly even Earth. After shedding its outer layers, the sun will leave behind a white dwarf — the quiet end to its stellar journey.
While Earth’s fate is still far off, discoveries like this remind us of the dramatic life cycles of planets and stars. As Lau concluded, “Webb’s data shows us how planets can end, and helps us understand what might one day happen in our own solar system.”
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