Maunakea, Hawai\u02bbi \u2013 Astronomers using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawai\u02bbi Island have identified a rare, ancient planetary system still being actively consumed by its central white dwarf star, LSPM J0207+3331.<\/p>\n
Located 145 light-years from Earth, this system hosts the oldest and most heavy metal-rich debris disk ever observed around a hydrogen-rich white dwarf, raising new questions about the long-term stability of planetary systems billions of years after stellar death when fusion has ended in the star. The study, led by \u00c9rika Le Bourdais of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, is published in The Astrophysical Journal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis discovery challenges our understanding of planetary system evolution,\u201d said Le Bourdais. \u201cOngoing accretion at this stage suggests white dwarfs may also retain planetary remnants still undergoing dynamical changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spectroscopic data obtained using the High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) instrument on Keck I revealed the white dwarf\u2019s atmosphere is polluted with 13 chemical elements, evidence of a rocky body at least 120 miles wide (200 kilometers) that was torn apart by the star\u2019s gravity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the very few times we can see direct evidence of planets being ripped apart and falling onto a dead star,\u201d said Keck Observatory Chief Scientist John O\u2019Meara. \u201cWe don\u2019t have many of these systems where we see polluted white dwarfs. This particular system has the largest amount of heavy elements seen to date which proves it was an old, rocky planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hydrogen-rich atmospheres around white dwarfs typically mask such elemental signatures, making this detection especially significant. \u201cSomething clearly disturbed this system long after the star\u2019s death,\u201d said co-investigator John Debes of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. \u201cThere\u2019s still a reservoir of material capable of polluting the white dwarf, even after billions of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/STScI-01K6JBQXJ7DGHZTF9PD4HSJNNT-1024x576.png\")
This artist\u2019s illustration shows a 3-billion-year-old white dwarf star accreting material from the remnants of its former planetary system. Gravitational instabilities caused a surviving planet to spiral inward and disintegrate under intense tidal forces, forming a debris disk. Spectroscopic analysis of the white dwarf\u2019s atmosphere revealed the presence of this planetary debris. Credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI).<\/p>\n
Why the Delay?<\/p>\n
Nearly half of all polluted white dwarfs show signs of accreting heavy elements, indicating their planetary systems have been dynamically disturbed. In the case of LSPM J0207+3331, a recent perturbation\u2014 within the last few million years\u2014probably sent a rocky planet spiraling inward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis suggests tidal disruption and accretion mechanisms remain active long after the main-sequence phase of a star\u2019s life,\u201d said Debes. \u201cMass loss during stellar evolution can destabilize orbits, affecting planets, comets, and asteroids.\u201d<\/p>\n
The system may exemplify delayed instability, where multi-planet interactions gradually destabilize orbits over billions of years. \u201cThis could point to long-term dynamical processes we don\u2019t yet fully understand,\u201d Debes added.<\/p>\n
Searching for Outer Planets<\/p>\n
Astronomers are now investigating what may have triggered the disruption. Surviving Jupiter-sized planets could be responsible but are difficult to detect due to their separation from the white dwarf and low temperatures. Data from European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia space telescope may be sensitive enough to detect such planets through their gravitational influence on the white dwarf.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope could also provide insights by taking infrared observations of the system for signs of outer planets. \u201cFuture observations may help distinguish between a planetary shakeup or the gravitational effect of a stellar close encounter with the white dwarf,\u201d said Debes.<\/p>\n
Related Links:<\/p>\n
ABOUT HIRES
The High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) produces spectra of single objects at very high spectral resolution, yet covering a wide wavelength range. It does this by separating the light into many \u201cstripes\u201d of spectra stacked across a mosaic of three large CCD detectors. HIRES is famous for finding exoplanets. Astronomers also use HIRES to study important astrophysical phenomena like distant galaxies and quasars, and find cosmological clues about the structure of the early universe, just after the Big Bang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discovery challenges understanding of planetary system evolution Media Contact:\u00a0Meagan O\u2019Shea Maunakea, Hawai\u02bbi \u2013 Astronomers using data from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-219563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}