News Astronomy

Distant rocky planets may have exotic chemical makeups that don’t resemble Earth’s

Debris on white dwarf stars offers a possible peek inside the worlds that once orbited them

illustration of debris from a destroyed rocky planet circling a white dwarf star

Debris from a destroyed rocky planet (illustrated) circles and falls onto a white dwarf star. A new study of these stars finds that most of their planets differed greatly from the rocky planets orbiting the sun.

J. da Silva, NOIRLab/AURA and NSF

By Ken Croswell

- More than 2 years ago

If a real Captain Kirk ever blasts off for other stars in search of rocky planets like ours, he may find lots of strange new worlds whose innards actually bear no resemblance to Earth’s.