Researchers can now say planetary engulfments are likely relatively common throughout the universe. After ruling out other explosive explanations for the burst of light, De and his colleagues published their findings on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
It lies about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila, and it’s about ten billion years old. This star, called ZTF SLRN-2020, is the first to change that. For decades, scientists have only been able to witness the before and after of such a planetary engulfment. But until now, evidence of these events has been purely circumstantial, as University of California, Los Angeles, astrophysicist Smadar Naoz, who was not involved with the study, tells Science News’ James R. Scientists theorized that during this phase, the star likely engulfs nearby planets, emitting bursts of light in the process. When stars begin to die, they expand and become nearly one million times larger in size. “These observations give us the first glimpse into how that process plays out.” “My first reaction was disbelief,” De tells the New York Times’ Becky Ferreira. Instead, it seemed that the star had gobbled up a gaseous planet, perhaps one similar in size to Jupiter. But after examining data from NASA’s infrared space telescope, NEOWISE, De saw that was not the case either-the energy released was just one-thousandth the magnitude of star mergers recorded in the past, per the statement. Infrared data from Palomar showed that after the initial hot burst, the star was surrounded by cold gas and molecules that could only exist in frigid temperatures-which does not align with a nova, De tells Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica.Īlternatively, the bright light could have been an indication of two stars merging together. De began to hunt for clues from other observations and telescopes. But that explanation didn’t seem right for this mysterious flash. “It was unlike any stellar outburst I had seen in my life.”ĭe had been studying novae, or bright bursts that occur as a star snatches matter from another. “One night, I noticed a star that brightened by a factor of 100 over the course of a week, out of nowhere,” De says in an MIT statement.
The stellar snack appeared as a burst of light that MIT astrophysicist Kishalay De spotted in 2020 as he looked at sky scans taken by the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory. Principal Secretary Crops Development Kello Harsama and Livestock Development counterpart Harry Kimtai were present during the meeting.For the first time ever, astronomers have witnessed a star swallowing up an entire planet. The DP said the President was keen on the success of the ongoing projects adding that they were critical in the realization of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). The Kenya Kwanza administration has placed food security as one of the key pillars in its manifesto and is rolling out crucial programmes to rejuvenate the agriculture sector to ensure quality production in the farms. He said there was concern that implementation of the projects was slow, asking them to hasten for Kenyans to draw benefits from them. We must utilize the funds prudently for the benefit of our people,” Gachagua said. “We must get value for money invested in the projects. The DP challenged the coordinators to ensure there was value for money and that targets for the projects are achieved on time. They are mainly geared towards improving crop and animal production and empowering farmers with the right farming skills. The projects are jointly funded with international donors and financiers and implementation is coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture. “The government has a mandate to deliver and all the projects funded by the government should be aligned with the Kenya Kwanza Plan,” he said. Speaking on Wednesday when he held a consultative meeting with the project coordinators, the DP said the agricultural initiatives needed to be implemented in line with the government’s agenda. The government has called on the coordinators of key projects under the Ministry of Agriculture to align them with the Kenya Kwanza Plan.ĭeputy President Rigathi Gachagua said this will ensure Kenyans get value for money invested in particular projects.
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