(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Alimat Aliyeva
Astronomers say that the first rocky planet orbiting an extinct
star called a "white dwarf" gives an idea of what the Earth will be
like in billions of years. This celestial body shows that, despite
its coldness, our planet can become a deserted outpost in space
after the Sun fades, Azernews reports.
This planet, whose mass is about 1.9 times the mass of the
Earth, is being studied based on data from a telescope located on
the Hawaiian Islands. According to the study, the newly discovered
planet orbits a "white dwarf" near the bulge of space in the center
of the Milky Way galaxy, about 4,200 light-years from the Solar
System. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one
year, and is approximately 9.5 trillion kilometers.
The "white dwarf" was an ordinary star with a mass one or two
times the mass of the Sun. Its current mass is about half the mass
of the Sun. Stars eight times less massive than the Sun dim and
contract, turning into "white dwarfs", the most common type of
remnant stars.
Before the "death" of the parent star, the new planet rotated at
a certain distance. It is neither very hot nor too cold, and it is
possible that liquid water may exist on its surface and possibly
support life. Initially, it rotated at the same distance as the
Earth from the Sun. After the extinction of the star, the planet
was 2.1 times farther from its place.
Zhang Keming, an astronomer at the University of California and
lead author of the study, said this planet is an icy world because
the smaller "white dwarf" is extremely faint compared to when it
was a normal star.
Astronomers say that the Sun, which is about 4.5 billion years
old, will also turn into a "white dwarf". Jessica Lu, an astronomer
at the University of California and co-author of the study, says:
"At the end of our Sun's life, it will grow to gigantic
proportions. Astronomers call it a red giant, the outer layers of
which will be gently blown away by the wind. As our Sun loses mass,
the orbits of the planets expand to larger sizes. Eventually, the
Sun will lose all its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core. He
is called a "white dwarf".
Scientists are debating whether the Earth will enter the red
giant phase, which is estimated to occur in 7 billion years.
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