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Planet in the 'forbidden zone' of dead star could reveal Earth's fate

A distant planet should have been consumed when its star expanded to become a red giant, perhaps offering insights into planetary migration

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

26 September 2024

Illustration of a planet orbiting a white dwarf, the dim remnant of a star

NASA/JPL-Caltech

A planet has been found orbiting a dead star in a zone where it should have been incinerated when the star died. The discovery might give us a window into the future of our solar system.

When stars like our sun exhaust their fuel, they first expand to become a red giant, then collapse into a dense, Earth-sized remnant called a white dwarf.

Read more

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