                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2023 June 6

                              Star Eats Planet
       Illustrative Video Credit: K. Miller & R. Hurt (Caltech, IPAC)

   Explanation: It’s the end of a world as we know it. Specifically, the
   Sun-like star ZTF SLRN-2020 was seen eating one of its own planets.
   Although many a planet eventually dies by spiraling into their central
   star, the 2020 event, involving a Jupiter-like planet, was the first
   time it was seen directly. The star ZTF SLRN-2020 lies about 12,000
   light years from the Sun toward the constellation of the Eagle
   (Aquila). In the featured animated illustration of the incident, the
   gas planet's atmosphere is first pictured being stripped away as it
   skims along the outskirts of the attracting star. Some of the planet's
   gas is absorbed into the star's atmosphere, while other gas is expelled
   into space. By the video's end, the planet is completely engulfed and
   falls into the star's center, causing the star's outer atmosphere to
   briefly expand, heat up, and brighten. One day, about eight billion
   years from now, planet Earth may spiral into our Sun.

                    Tomorrow's picture: ring galaxy ring
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

