On September 28, 2024, an international team of researchers announced the discovery of a rocky planet orbiting a dead star, located 4,000 light-years from Earth. This finding provides crucial insights into the fate of our planet when the Sun eventually 'dies'.
The newly discovered exoplanet, similar in size to Earth, is in an orbit that could mirror Earth's position billions of years from now, when the Sun becomes a white dwarf. While this discovery raises hopes about Earth's potential survival, the planet itself is currently deemed uninhabitable.
Led by the University of California-Berkeley, the research involved scientists from various universities and research centers across different countries. The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Detected using the 10-meter Keck telescope in Hawaii, this planetary system shares characteristics with what our Solar System might resemble in the distant future. Astronomers report that the white dwarf star has about half the mass of the Sun, while its companion planet orbits at twice the distance of Earth.
Researchers indicated that as the Sun expands, it will engulf Mercury and Venus, causing remaining planets to migrate to farther orbits. If Earth survives this transition, it may end up in an orbit twice as far from the Sun as it currently is.
Despite the distant planet's apparent survival, it lies well outside its star's habitable zone, making it unlikely to support life now. However, it may have been habitable when its star was similar to the Sun.
Source: biobiochile.cl