News Astronomy

For the first time, astrophysicists have caught a star eating a planet

A dusty burp in space remained after the star’s planetary snack

An illustration of a giant orange star eating a much smaller red planet and a giant burst of bright white dust expanding outward from the tiny planet.

Dust blasts into space as a star (illustrated) swallows a planet about 10 times the mass of Jupiter.

K. Miller and R. Hurt/IPAC/Caltech

By James R. Riordon

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

A dusty belch is all that remains of a planet that was gobbled up by a star about 12,000 light-years away.