NASA embodies its slow disappearance

Astrologists from the Massachusetts Technology Institute (MIT) Discover a Exoplanet DisintegrateGetting Dust and mineral tail 9 million kmSimilar to a kite.

The planet, called BD+05 4868 AB, was discovered by Surge (TESS) survey of NASA translation, a task designed to monitor the periodic declines of the signs caused by orbit in orbit.

Planet with extremist orbits and registration temperature

BD+05 4868 AB it is about 140 light years of EarthIn the Bigasus constellation. It has a mass of mercury mercury Its star rotates every 30.5 hours, at a very close distance so that the temperature on its surface can reach 1600 ° C at this temperature, The surface of the planet melts and evaporates into spaceGenerate a long tail of metal dust.

“The tail extension is huge and extends to 9 million kilometers,” said Mark Hoon, a researcher of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Every orbit equals a lost mountain

During every orbit, it loses the planet A quantity of equivalent materials for the mass of the Everest Mountain. Due to its low attractiveness and weak appeal, it cannot keep its surface, and this loss accelerates with each cycle.

According to accounts, BD+05 4868 AB can completely disintegrate between one and a million years.

“It seems as it is in his last breath,” said Avi Shabouri, a researcher at the Tess Alami office.

An extraordinary transit of evaporation process

The sign that was alerted Astronomers do not comply with the regular style of a built -in planet. Instead of the symmetrical crossing, the stellar light took a longer time to recover, as if there was something that crawls behind the planet. In addition, the depth of traffic varies with every orbit, indicating that the object has always had the same shape or density.

Hon said: “The form of traffic is typical for a long tail.” In this case, it is not the ice that forms the tail, but the steam minerals that remain visible when cooling in space.

A unique case among thousands of well -known swarm

Of more than 6 thousand external planets discovered, only three others are known with similar signs of disintegration. All of them have been discovered more than a decade by the Space Kepler telescope. BD+05 4868 AB is the fourth planet in this category, but it contains the longest tail and the most intense evaporation to date.

The star of the planet is a relatively wonderful host, which is what The future facilitates more detailed notes With JMST Telescope (JWST). This will allow the analysis of the composition of the minerals that make up the tail.

Prepare notes with James Web

During the summer of 2025, Mark Hoon and the graduate student Nicholas Tosai, from Pennsylvania State University, They will direct new notes with jwst. Its goal is to define the minerals in the tail and better understand the internal composition of small rocky planets.

“It is a unique opportunity to measure the inner composition of a direct rock.” Hun said.

BGPA