Comet Plunges Into White Dwarf (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Comet Plunges Into White Dwarf

Caption

This artist's concept shows a massive, comet-like object falling toward a white dwarf. New Hubble Space Telescope findings are evidence for a belt of comet-like bodies orbiting the white dwarf, similar to our solar system's Kuiper Belt. The findings also suggest the presence of one or more unseen surviving planets around the white dwarf, which may have perturbed the belt to hurl icy objects into the burned-out star.

Credit

NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)

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