Scientists Realize They Witnessed the Last Gasp of a Planet as It Met a Horrible Fate

The "death knell" of an entire world. Since they were first detected over four decades ago, unusually powerful x-ray emissions originating from the site of a dying star called the Helix Nebula have proved an enigma to astronomers. Now, we may finally have an explanation for what they are — and it's pretty grisly. As detailed in a new study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a team of researchers make the case that the emissions are the last gasp of a planet being devoured by the star, a type of stellar remnant known as a white dwarf. "We think this X-ray signal could be from planetary debris pulled onto the white dwarf, as the death knell from a planet that was destroyed by the white dwarf in the Helix Nebula," study lead author Sandino Estrada-Dorado of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said in a statement. "We might have finally found the cause of a mystery that's lasted over 40 years." White dwarfs like this one, WD 2226-210, f ... Read full article.