{"id":194682,"date":"2025-04-03T03:09:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=06b11a95cc16ea9b928e4396b5bf54e2"},"modified":"2025-04-03T03:09:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:09:56","slug":"x-ray-clues-reveal-destroyed-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=194682","title":{"rendered":"X-ray Clues Reveal Destroyed Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In about 5 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and expand, possibly engulfing Earth. These end stages of a star\u2019s life can be utterly beautiful \u2013 as is the case with this planetary nebula called the Helix Nebula. Astronomers study these objects by looking at all kinds of light.<\/div>\n
X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/Univ Mexico\/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA\/JPL; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI (M. Meixner)\/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO\/VISTA\/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/K. Arcand<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula\u2019s center: this star may have destroyed a planet. This has never been seen before \u2013 and could explain a mysterious\u00a0X-ray\u00a0signal<\/a> that astronomers have detected from the nebula for over 40 years.<\/p>\n

This view combines X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory<\/a> (magenta),\u00a0optical light data\u00a0from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (orange, light blue),\u00a0infrared data\u00a0from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope (gold, dark blue), and\u00a0ultraviolet data\u00a0from GALEX<\/a> (purple) of the Helix Nebula. Data from Chandra indicates that this white dwarf has destroyed a very closely orbiting planet.<\/p>\n

Image credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/Univ Mexico\/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA\/JPL; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI (M. Meixner)\/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO\/VISTA\/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/K. Arcand<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula\u2019s center: this star may have destroyed a planet. This has never been seen before \u2013 and could explain a mysterious\u00a0X-ray\u00a0signal that astronomers have detected from the nebula for over 40 years. This view combines X-rays [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15670,15671,15676],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chandra-x-ray-observatory","category-helix-nebula","category-white-dwarfs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t