The Space telescope Hubble managed by NASA and ESA scientists (European Space Agency) has competition with arrival James Webb. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for exploring the depths of the universe.
Conversely, perhaps it can detect stellar events in distant regions that its new younger sibling can then see in greater detail. Four eyes see better than two, in this case they would be lenses, mirrors and infrared devices.
NASA announced mid-last month that Hubble had detected what may be the first case of “cosmic cannibalism.” By this term they qualify the process by which a white dwarf star begins to swallow its own planets.
Analyzes of this phenomenon know the progress and finer details of the study. Scientists explain that they were surprised by the elements they noticed in the atmosphere and surroundings of this star identified as G238-44.
The elements captured by Hubble correspond to elements of planets or rocks that orbit regions similar to those of asteroids located in the asteroid belt compared to our solar system.
Planet-eating white dwarf captured by Hubble
The team led by Professor Johnson recorded the presence of nitrogen, oxygen, magnesium, silicon and iron in their measurements. They found iron in abundance, which they believe is evidence for the metallic cores of terrestrial planets such as Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury.
Unexpectedly, they also measured high levels of nitrogen, which concluded the presence of icy bodies.
“The best fit to our data is almost a two-to-two mix between Mercury-like objects made of ice and dust and comet-like objects. Metallic iron and nitrogen ice suggest very different conditions for planet formation. No object in the Solar System is known to have both,” Professor Johnson explained.
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