Astronomers find a dying planet trapped near a zombie white dwarf star, raising new questions about how such systems survive

Astronomers have made a strange and surprising discovery — an Earth that's sluggishly dying while orbiting a “ zombie ” white dwarf star. This star is formerly dead, yet it still has enough strength to actually pull the Earth apart. The finding has left scientists confused because an Earth so near to a dying star should have been destroyed long ago. But even this bone is still there, trying to survive.

What's a white dwarf star

A white dwarf is what’s left of a star, like our Sun, that reaches the end of its life. When stars use up all their energy, they expand into red titans, burning much hotter and brighter for a short time. 

After that, they lose their external layers and collapse into a small, thick core — that’s the white dwarf. Indeed, though it’s small, a white dwarf is still veritably heavy and has a strong force. 

It can pull other objects, including near globes, with great force. Generally, any earth that gets too close is either burned up, crushed, or thrown off course fully. That’s why this new discovery has surprised astronomers so much — because the Earth shouldn’t still be there.

A doomed planet holding on

The newly found planet orbits very close to the white dwarf star. It’s so close that it’s being slowly torn apart. Scientists believe that the star’s gravity is pulling bits and pieces off the planet’s surface, creating a thin ring of dust and debris around the star.

Astronomers are calling it a “doomed planet” because it cannot survive forever. Over time, the white dwarf will completely destroy it. But for now, it’s still hanging on — and no one knows exactly how.

Why scientists are confused

Normally, when a star becomes a white dwarf, it expands first and burns up everything nearby. So, the question is — how did this planet make it through?

Scientists have a few ideas. One theory is that the planet was once much farther away but slowly moved closer after the star turned into a white dwarf. Another idea is that it’s not a full planet anymore — it could be what’s left of a larger world, maybe just its rocky core.

Whatever the reason, the system doesn’t fit what scientists expected. It challenges what we know about how planets form, live, and die around stars.

A look into Earth’s future

This strange Earth might also give us an indication of what could be for our own solar system one day. Billions of times from now, our Sun will also run out of energy and turn into a white dwarf.

When that happens, Mercury and Venus will be destroyed, and indeed, Earth might not survive. By studying this dying earth, astronomers hope to understand what happens to globes after their stars die and whether any could survive the change. 

A riddle that continues. Astronomers are using important telescopes to keep watching this system. They want to see how presto the earth is being pulled piecemeal and how much longer it can last. 

Each observation gives them a better idea of what’s passing and why. For now, it remains one of the strangest and saddest sights in space — a lonely Earth still circling a dead star, holding on for as long as it can.