Natural History Wanderings

NASA reports

A star nearing the end of its life swelled up and absorbed a Jupiter-size planet.

In about 5 billion years, our Sun will go through a similar end-of-life transition.A new study published online Wednesday, May 3, in the journal Nature documents the first observation of an aging star swallowing a planet. After running out of fuel in its core, the star began to grow in size, shrinking the gap with its neighboring planet, eventually consuming it entirely. In about 5 billion years, our Sun will go through a similar aging process, possibly reaching 100 times its current diameter and becoming what’s known as a red giant. During that growth spurt, it will absorb Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth.

Read more and see an artist’s rendition of a planet being swallowed by a star at  Caught in the Act: Astronomers Detect a Star Devouring a Planet | NASA