Illustration of Rocky Debris around a White Dwarf (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Illustration of Rocky Debris around a White Dwarf

Caption

Rocky debris, the pieces of a former rocky planet that has broken up, spiral inward toward a white dwarf in this illustration. Studying the atmospheres of white dwarfs that have been “polluted” by such debris, a NOIRLab astronomer and a geologist have identified exotic rock types that do not exist in our Solar System. The results suggest that nearby rocky exoplanets must be even stranger and more diverse than previously thought.

Credit

NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva Image processing: M. Zamani and M. Kosari (NSF's NOIRLab)

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License

CC BY-NC

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