They also found the variability of ZTFJ201451.59+120353.4 changes over a period of either six or 12 years. Some features of the object the researchers uncovered include the variability of this possible star, defined by dimming in optical light that's accompanied by brightening red and infrared wavelengths. The eclipse-like event was spotted in 2022 and seemed to last around half a year. The team found that the variability of this object could indicate it's being eclipsed by a companion star. Strange two-faced dying star 'Janus' baffles scientists in cosmic oddity 'Ghost stars' haunt the center of the Milky Way galaxy. An ancient red giant star created a rare 'bipolar' nebula as it died (photo) This could be what remains of the star that created the planetary nebula. This sort of mega sun will thus consume the inner planets of our solar system, including Earth.Īfter this transition happens, the outer layers of the star eventually disperse, leaving behind a cooling shell of gas and dust that's illuminated by a central stellar remnant - what remains of the dead star’s core.Īnalyzing data from the archival data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the astronomers also spotted a bright object associated with PM 1–322, which they designated ZTFJ201451.59+120353.4. In about 5 billion years, our own sun will undergo this transformation, with its outer layers swelling to the size of Mars' orbit.

This also ends the energy that supports the star from collapsing under its own gravity and triggers the rapid contraction of the core.īut, as nuclear fusion still occurs in the star’s outer layers, the shell of the star “puffs out,” and turns it into what's known as a red giant. Once that hydrogen is exhausted, the star's internal nuclear fusion process of turning the element into helium ends. Instead, they are expanding shells of gas and dust shed by stars when the stellar bodies have exhausted the hydrogen at their core. Despite the name, planetary nebulas like PM 1–322 have nothing to do with planets.

What is anatomic dead space