Planet's 'carnivorous' star is 450 light years from Earth

The young star RW Aur A may be absorbing debris from the two celestial collisions moving around it.

Scientists may for the first time observe another "carnivorous" young star by data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, NDTV reported on July 19. The star called RW Aur A , was discovered in 1937 and is about 450 light-years from Earth.

Illustrating how the young star RW Aur A "swallowed" the planet's debris.(Photo: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss).

A few decades ago, RW Aur A will darken in about a month and then light up again. In recent years, light reduction occurs frequently and lasts longer. The new study finds a factor that could lead to the star's latest light reduction.

Accordingly, it is likely that two bodies will form, in which at least one celestial body is large enough to be a planet, collided while moving around RW Aur A. Fragments are pulled towards the star due to force. attractive and create a thick cloud of dust and gas, temporarily obscuring its light. RW Aur A's previous dark appearances may also be due to similar collisions between two celestial bodies or between large debris.

"The computer model has long predicted that planets may be attracted to a young star, but we have never been able to follow it. If we understand the right data, it will be the first time to observe it directly. a young star is swallowing one or more planets, " said scientist Hans Moritz Guenther from Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Currently a lot of research focuses on exoplanets and the process they form. Therefore, it is certainly watching how young planets can be destroyed when interacting with host stars and actions. Other children, as well as understanding the determinants of their existence, are important, ' Guenther added.