NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is helping scientists track down the origin of a mysterious X-ray signal from deep space. 🧐 Scientists believe this signal, that’s been a puzzle for over 40 years, is likely the final act of a planet destroyed by a star in the Helix Nebula.

Astronomers first spotted the signal in 1980, noticing an unusual reading from the center of the Helix Nebula. But the Helix Nebula is tricky to study. Its center contains a white dwarf—a type of star known for emitting weak and erratic X-rays. 🔭

This makes the unusual signal from the Helix Nebula hard to pin down! 🚀 Chandra and the ESA’s XMM-Newton, both space observatories dedicated to X-ray detection, have shed new light on the possible origin. In a recent paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers from Mexico, Spain and Taiwan report that data from these observatories has helped them trace back the signal. It’s likely that the white dwarf at the heart of the Helix Nebula pulled the debris of a destroyed exoplanet toward its surface, heating up the debris intensely.

Researchers believe the destroyed exoplanet was roughly the size of Jupiter. Though it might’ve initially orbited the white dwarf at a respectful distance, gravitational interactions with other objects in the system may have pulled it inwards, tearing it apart. 🪐 If confirmed, this would be the first known case of a star destroying a planet in a planetary nebula.

“It’s important to find more of these systems because they can teach us about the survival or destruction of planets around stars like our Sun as they enter old age.” said study author Jesús Toala in a NASA statement.

Read the full study here

Source: Yahoo