Wednesday, June 15, 2022

G238-44

As white dwarfs chew up their planets, sometimes we catch a WD1145 + 017 at supper. Now G238-44, 86 lightyears out.

This one is consuming not just rock but also ice.

The rock, they say, looks more like iron. The planet was once like Mercury - alternatively, the mantle has been blasted or consumed already, and the star is now getting to the core. I don't know if there has been a proper analysis of the dwarf's composition.

The ice is nitrogen so seems Kuiperish. I don't think nitrogen is much created in the death of A-class stars.

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