For the first time, American astronomers from the Space Research Institute (STScI) in Baltimore have been able to study two exoplanets orbiting extinct stars. The study was published on: portal scientific publications arXiv.
Scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). During the observations, two systems were detected, with white dwarfs at their centers, that is, stars that have reached the final stage of their life cycle.
“Very few planets have been found around white dwarfs so far. We found that the discovered celestial bodies are very similar to the outer planets of our solar system. “This gives us our first chance to see what a planetary system looks like after its star fades away,” explained Susan Mullaly, lead author of the study.
As shown in the James Webb images, the identified planets orbit the extinct stars WD 1202-232 and WD 2105-82. One of the outer planets is located 11.5 times farther from the white dwarf than Earth is from the Sun, and the second is 34.5 times farther from our planet to the star.
Although the masses of the planets have not yet been determined precisely, they are estimated to be between 1-7 times the mass of Jupiter.
According to astronomers, when the Sun turns into a white dwarf after 5 million years, having previously absorbed Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, our system will probably become similar to WD 1202-232 or WD 2105-82.
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Source: Gazeta
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