Andrew Vanderburg, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, says that Stars And Planets face a slow decline, but their death is not quick. Scientists want to know how galaxies gradually disappear from the universe. The most recent addition to the dying planets club is KELT-16b. This planet is heavier and bigger than our Jupiter. Most of the planets and stars last for only a few million years, while the others live up to ten billion years. The death of planets and stars is a natural phenomenon. Vanderburg believes that a large number of stars die due to strong tidal forces, and some disappear from the universe because of collision with bigger stars.
Andrew aims to publish his research in the “Astronomical Journal” by the end of this month.
The end of worlds
Astronomers spot thousands of galaxies, and claim only a few galaxies disappeared in the last two decades. Andrew believes that the materials of stars scatter across the universe. Some stars and planets are in the middle of their stories, and remaining will die in a few days. What we are missing is the beginning of the story; Andrew will soon find out how KELT-16b originated. He wants to know why some stars are hotter than the others. Observations reveal that galaxies become stable when they lose most of their stars. Researcher uses the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) to find out how many young stars have died so far.
Hot planets quickly die
Not all dying planets are killed off by close orbits. Some suffer from the aging process of their star. Hot planets orbiting close to their stars have high risks of destruction. If a planet is denser than its star, the materials move to the sun over the course of its lifetime. Astronomers want to figure out how long does it take for a star to die.
When a star dies, it becomes impossible for its planets to survive. So, planets also die within a few weeks after the death of their star. Understanding this theory will help astronomers to know more about the life of stars. Andrew will soon find out how many stars and planets died in our planetary system.
