Artist's Conception of Crumbling Asteroid Orbiting White Dwarf (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Artist's Conception of Crumbling Asteroid Orbiting White Dwarf

Caption

In this artist's conception, a Ceres-like asteroid is slowly disintegrating as it orbits a white dwarf star. Astronomers have spotted telltales signs of such an object using data from the Kepler K2 mission. It is the first planetary object detected transiting a white dwarf. Within about a million years the object will be destroyed, leaving a thin dusting of metals on the surface of the white dwarf.

Credit

Mark A. Garlick

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