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The star, called TOI-5882, is situated at a distance of 1,300 light-years from Earth<\/a> and looks much like our own sun.<\/p>\n At first glance, the star appears ordinary. Yet hidden in its light is evidence that something unusual happened in its past.<\/p>\n Planetary destruction on a cosmic scale<\/p>\n When a planet<\/a> falls into its host star, astronomers call the event an engulfment. The process happens surprisingly quickly on astronomical timescales, often lasting only days or weeks. <\/p>\n Because these events are so brief, scientists almost never witness them directly. Instead, they search for the traces left behind.<\/p>\n A team of researchers studying TOI-5882 found one of those traces in the form of lithium<\/a>, a chemical element that plays a key role in understanding what happened. <\/p>\n While stars naturally contain some lithium, planets typically hold much higher amounts.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are what you eat, right?\u201d said Brooke Kotten, a graduate student researcher in the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy<\/a> and lead author of the new report.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that there\u2019s much more lithium in planetary material than there is in stars. So if a star eats a planet, it\u2019s going to take on a bunch of lithium.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the clues<\/p>\n Finding unusually high lithium in a star is not enough on its own. Scientists must determine whether the amount is truly abnormal compared with similar stars.<\/p>\n To answer that question, the research team used spectroscopy<\/a>, a technique that breaks starlight into its component wavelengths. <\/p>\n This allows astronomers to identify the chemical elements present in a star\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n The researchers assembled a comparison group of 62 stars with similar ages, masses, and temperatures. They then measured how TOI-5882 stacked up against them.<\/p>\n Study senior author Melinda Soares-Furtado is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we can look at a star 1,300 light-years away and say with confidence, \u2018This star has more lithium than you would expect,\u2019 is a testament to both the precision of modern instrumentation and the hard interpretive work that goes into making sense of that signal,\u201d said Soares-Furtado.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not like you have to cherry-pick the data to make it stand out. It\u2019s robust. No matter how you slice it, TOI-5882 is so enriched in lithium it shows up as being at least in the 97th percentile.\u201d<\/p>\n The role of lithium <\/p>\n Lithium is relatively fragile inside stars. Over time, stellar processes tend to destroy much of it. That makes an unusually high concentration stand out.<\/p>\n \u201cLithium atoms delivered by planetary engulfment to a star are like sports fans arriving at a stadium,\u201d said Seth Jacobson, a senior author of the study and assistant professor at Michigan State University. <\/p>\n \u201cThere may already be a few early arriving fans present, representing the initial amount of lithium in the stellar atmosphere, but they are quickly outnumbered.\u201d<\/p>\n Based on the lithium levels observed, the team estimates that the swallowed world may have been somewhere between a few times Earth\u2019s mass and the size of Neptune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why this star is different<\/p>\n The mystery becomes even more interesting because TOI-5882 is not old enough or large enough to explain the engulfment through normal stellar expansion.<\/p>\n Many stars eventually enter a red giant phase near the end of their lives. During this stage, they swell dramatically and can consume nearby planets. <\/p>\n Scientists expect our own sun to do exactly that roughly 5 billion years from now, likely engulfing Mercury and Venus<\/a> and possibly Earth. TOI-5882, however, has not reached that stage.<\/p>\n The star does have a massive companion orbiting it: a brown dwarf more than 20 times the mass of Jupiter<\/a>. <\/p>\n Brown dwarfs are often described as objects that are too large to be planets but not massive enough to become true stars.<\/p>\n Researchers suspect this companion may have disturbed the orbit of a smaller planet, eventually sending it spiraling into TOI-5882. The idea remains under investigation and could become the focus of future research.<\/p>\n New clues about planetary engulfment<\/p>\n Beyond solving the mystery of a single star, the work helps astronomers understand how often planetary engulfment occurs throughout the galaxy.<\/p>\n The findings may also point toward new questions. A handful of other stars in the comparison group showed elevated lithium levels as well, hinting that additional processes could enrich stars with lithium.<\/p>\n That means astronomers may have uncovered only part of the story.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what makes this field so exciting. You really are solving a mystery,\u201d said Kotten.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t just watch the crime happen, so we have to work with all the clues we\u2019re given to figure out whodunit.\u201d<\/p>\n The detective theme is one that resonates with her personally.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was growing up, I dreamed about becoming a private investigator,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that explains a lot about where I ended up. I do feel like a detective.\u201d<\/p>\n The full study was published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stars are some of the most prominent beings in the universe, creating planets and lighting up galaxies. However,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-484232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}