Science reveals fate of Earth after our sun dies

Key Points:

• New research by astronomers at the University of St Andrews used the James Webb Space Telescope to study WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting a white dwarf star, providing insights into the future of planets after their star dies.
• The study found WD 1856 b is significantly warmer than expected, with a temperature around 126°C, suggesting it migrated to its current close orbit well after the host star became a white dwarf.
• The sun is expected to become a red giant in about 5 billion years, destroying Mercury, Venus, and possibly Earth, while the fate of outer planets remains uncertain; studying planets like WD 1856 b helps predict what might happen in our solar system's distant future.
• Researchers concluded that WD 1856 b likely survived the star's red giant phase by initially orbiting far away and later migrating inward due to gravitational influences from companion stars in the system.
• This discovery marks the first observation of an intact planet closely orbiting a white dwarf and opens new avenues for exploring planetary systems around dead stars, indicating some planets may have dynamic futures even after their star's death.