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Layout of the White Dwarf System G238-44

The illustration is set against a black background. Toward the left is a tiny white dwarf star surrounded by a spiral arm that runs counter clockwise. This speckled material is labeled infalling asteroids. This arm expands into a speckled circle, which is labeled asteroids. Two labeled gas giant planets exist toward the middle of the frame, along with two labeled comets. At right is another speckled area, labeled icy bodies.

This illustrated diagram of the planetary system G238-44 traces its destruction. The tiny white dwarf star is at the center of the action. A very faint accretion disk is made up of the pieces of shattered bodies falling onto the white dwarf. The remaining asteroids and planetary bodies make up a reservoir of material surrounding the star. Larger gas giant planets may still exist in the system. Much farther out is a belt of icy bodies such as comets, which also ultimately feed the dead star.

  • Release Date
    June 15, 2022
  • Science Release
    Dead Star Caught Ripping Up Planetary System
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

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Related Images & Videos

Illustration of a close-up view of the white dwarf system. A tiny star lies at the center, surrounded by a faint disk of material. Rocky-metallic bodies are shown falling into the star.

Material Accreting onto the White Dwarf G238-44

This illustration shows a white dwarf star siphoning off debris from shattered objects in a planetary system. The Hubble Space Telescope detects the spectral signature of the vaporized debris that revealed a combination of rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of...

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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