Evolution of planetary system around a white dwarf

[Astronuc]

An article came up on Phys.org about a white dwarf drawing in material from the planetary system surrounding it. Is this the ultimate fate of our solar system?

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-dead-star-cannibalism-planetary-far-reaching.html

"We have never seen both of these kinds of objects accreting onto a white dwarf at the same time," said lead researcher Ted Johnson, a physics and astronomy major at UCLA who graduated last week. "By studying these white dwarfs, we hope to gain a better understanding of planetary systems that are still intact."

The findings are based on an analysis of materials captured by the atmosphere of G238-44, a white dwarf some 86 light-years from Earth, using archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope and additional NASA satellites and observatories. A white dwarf is the burned-out core that remains after a star like our sun sheds its outer layers and stops burning fuel through nuclear fusion.

Theories of planetary-system evolution describe the demise of a star as a turbulent, chaotic event, one that begins when it first balloons exponentially into what is known as a red giant and then quickly loses its outer layers, collapsing into a white dwarf—a super-dense star about the size of Earth, with a mass of our sun. The process dramatically disrupts the remaining planets' orbits, and smaller objects—asteroids, comets, moons—that venture too close to them can be scattered like pinballs and sent hurtling toward the white dwarf.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/hubble-dead-star-caught-ripping-up-planetary-system

The findings are based on analyzing material captured by the atmosphere of the nearby white dwarf star G238-44. A white dwarf is what remains of a star like our Sun after it sheds its outer layers and stops burning fuel though nuclear fusion. "We have never seen both of these kinds of objects accreting onto a white dwarf at the same time," said Ted Johnson, the lead researcher and recent University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) bachelor's graduate. "By studying these white dwarfs, we hope to gain a better understanding of planetary systems that are still intact."

 

[lippyka]

At this time, it is not known whether our own Solar System will eventually become a white dwarf, as it depends on how much mass the Sun will lose in its death throes. The Sun is about halfway through its life cycle, so its ultimate fate is still uncertain.