Huge supernovas occur when stars run out of fuel and explode. Smaller stars go through a different process in which they throw off some of their mass and leave a small, dense core called a white dwarf. Our sun will eventually become a white dwarf, glowing with residual heat but no longer generating energy through fusion.
White dwarf is still a fearsome beast even though it is no longer active in fusion. The remnant of the star is very dense and can cause havoc on the objects around it. A white dwarf consuming rocky and icy material from its surrounding environment was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The first white dwarf that has been observed accretion both rocky-metallic material and icy material is important as these are the key components of planets. Researchers would be able to learn more about how planetary systems form if they studied this white dwarf.
The impact of stars becoming red giants and white dwarfs on planets is well known. The researchers can observe the mix of elements that would have gone into planets when they first formed because the white dwarf studied by Hubble is pulling in matter.
The idea that comets could be common in planetary systems is supported by the fact that the white dwarf is attracting ice-covered bodies.
One of the researchers, Benjamin Zuckerman, said in a statement that life requires a rocky planet with a variety of elements. The first example of a rocky and volatile parent body being required for the abundance of elements we see on this white dwarf was found in a study of hundreds of white dwarfs.
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