Illustration of an exoplanet and debris disk orbiting a white dwarf. White dwarfs are dim, dense remnants of stars similar to the Sun that have exhaus

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Illustration of an exoplanet and debris disk orbiting a white dwarf. White dwarfs are dim, dense remnants of stars similar to the Sun that have exhausted their nuclear fuel and blown off their outer layers. Exoplanets could push small rocky bodies toward the star, whose powerful gravity would turn them into dust. That dust would then fall on the star, polluting it with heavy elements. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has been instrumental in expanding the field of polluted white dwarfs orbited by hot, dusty disks. Since launch in 2004, Spitzer has confirmed about 40 of these special stars. Because these objects are so faint, infrared light is crucial to identifying them.

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Size: 7680px × 4320px
Photo credit: © NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, alien, artwork, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, collision, debris, dust, dwarf, exoplanet, extrasolar, gas, giant, gravity, illustration, infrared, ir, orbit, particles, planet, planetary, polluted, ring, science, space, star, white, young