Published : 28 Oct 2026, 05:03 PM
Updated : 28 Oct 2026, 05:03 PM
Astronomers have discovered a rare debris disc around a dead star, offering a glimpse into the distant future of the Solar System and the eventual death of Earth, reports The Independent.
An international research team using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile detected the unusual structure around a white dwarf known as J1328−1450.
White dwarfs are the dense, burnt-out remnants of stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel.
Unlike previously observed white dwarfs that feature a single flat ring of debris, J1328−1450 is surrounded by two concentric rings of gaseous material separated by a clear gap.
Scientists believe the structure is held in place by two surviving planetesimals, one similar in size to an asteroid and the other comparable to the Moon.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy in a paper titled "A double debris disc around a white dwarf sculpted by two planetary bodies".
Lead author Nicola Gentile Fusillo, an astronomer at the University of Trieste, noted that the system provides the first evidence of a complex double debris disc with surviving planetary bodies around a dead star.
Spectroscopic analysis revealed that the debris contains calcium, oxygen, and magnesium. This composition indicates that the destroyed planets were made of materials similar to those found in our own Solar System.
Our Sun is expected to expand into a red giant in several billion years before collapsing into a white dwarf, according to The Independent.
While the expansion will destroy Earth, outer planetary bodies may survive, creating a chaotic system similar to J1328−1450.
