Webb Telescope Witnesses Star Engulfing Jupiter-Sized Planet 12,000 Light-Years Away

The James Webb Space Telescope has observed a star engulfing a Jupiter-sized planet approximately 12,000 light-years from Earth within the Milky Way galaxy. This event was initially spotted as a burst of optical light by the Zwicky Transient Facility. Follow-up observations using Webb's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) provided more detailed insights. These instruments revealed that the planet's orbit had gradually decreased, ultimately leading to its destruction as it spiraled into the host star. The NIRSpec instrument detected a hot, close-in circumstellar disk composed of molecular gas, including carbon monoxide (CO). This finding challenged earlier assumptions that the star was simply evolving into a red giant. The engulfed planet caused the ejection of gas from the star's outer layers, which subsequently condensed into cold dust, further enriching the circumstellar environment. This observation provides valuable data for understanding the final stages of planetary systems and the interactions between stars and their planets as they age.