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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 planets. The findings help describe the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and the composition of its disintegrating bodies.
- Release DateJune 15, 2022
- Science ReleaseDead Star Caught Ripping Up Planetary System
- CreditNASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
Related Images & Videos
Layout of the White Dwarf System G238-44
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...
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov