Artist's impression of a white dwarf devouring a minor planet

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, a disrupted planet is a

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

or, perhaps on a somewhat smaller scale, a

planetary-mass object A planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo, or planetary body is by geophysical definition of celestial objects any celestial object massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium (to be rounded under its own gravity), but not enough to sustain ...

planetesimal Planetesimals are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and debris disks. Per the Chamberlin–Moulton planetesimal hypothesis, they are believed to form out of cosmic dust grains. Believed to have formed in the Solar System a ...

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

exomoon An exomoon or extrasolar moon is a natural satellite that orbits an exoplanet or other non-stellar extrasolar body. Exomoons are difficult to detect and confirm using current techniques, and to date there have been no confirmed exomoon detecti ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

that has been disrupted or destroyed by a nearby or passing astronomical body or object such as a

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

. Necroplanetology is the related study of such a process. Nonetheless, the result of such a disruption may be the production of excessive amounts of related gas,

dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

and debris, which may eventually surround the parent star in the form of a

circumstellar disk A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the ...

debris disk A debris disk (American English), or debris disc (Commonwealth English), is a circumstellar disk of dust and debris in orbit around a star. Sometimes these disks contain prominent rings, as seen in the image of Fomalhaut on the right. Debris dis ...

. As a consequence, the orbiting debris field may be an " uneven ring of dust", causing erratic light fluctuations in the apparent

luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a st ...

of the parent star, as may have been responsible for the oddly flickering

light curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph of light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude of light received on the y axis and with time on the x axis. The light is usually in a particular frequ ...

s associated with the starlight observed from certain

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as ...

s, such as that from

Tabby's Star Tabby's Star (also known as Boyajian's Star and WTF Star, and designated KIC 8462852 in the Kepler Input Catalog) is an F-type main-sequence star in the constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a ...

(KIC 8462852), RZ Piscium and

WD 1145+017 WD may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Walking Dead'' (TV series) * ''White Dwarf'' (magazine) Businesses and organizations Government agencies * Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division * War Department (United Kingdom) Oth ...

. Excessive amounts of

infrared radiation Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

may be detected from such stars, suggestive evidence in itself that dust and debris may be orbiting the stars.

Examples

Planets

Examples of planets, or their related remnants, considered to have been a disrupted planet, or part of such a planet, include: 'Oumuamua and

WD 1145+017 b WD may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''The Walking Dead'' (TV series) * ''White Dwarf'' (magazine) Businesses and organizations Government agencies * Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division * War Department (United Kingdom) Ot ...

, as well as

hot Jupiter Hot Jupiters (sometimes called hot Saturns) are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital periods (). The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere temp ...

s and those that are

hypothetical planet Various unknown astronomical objects have been hypothesized throughout recorded history. For example, in the 5th century BCE, the philosopher Philolaus defined a hypothetical astronomical object which he called the "Central Fire", around whic ...

s, like Fifth planet, Phaeton,

Planet V Planet V is a hypothetical fifth terrestrial planet posited by NASA scientists John Chambers and Jack J. Lissauer to have once existed between Mars and the asteroid belt. In their hypothesis the Late Heavy Bombardment of the Hadean era began a ...

and

Theia In Greek mythology, Theia (; grc, Θεία, Theía, divine, also rendered Thea or Thia), also called Euryphaessa ( grc, Εὐρυφάεσσα) "wide-shining", is one of the twelve Titans, the children of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god ...

Stars

Examples of parent stars considered to have disrupted a planet include:

EPIC 204278916 EPIC 204278916 is a pre-main-sequence star, about five million years old with a spectral type of M1, implying a red dwarf. It is part of the Upper Scorpius sub-group of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, and is in the constellation Sco ...

, Tabby's Star (KIC 8462852),

PDS 110 PDS 110 is a young 11th magnitude star located approximately away in the constellation Orion. In 2017, it was discovered that the star is orbited by an exoplanet or brown dwarf with a disk of dust around it. Description PDS 110 is a y ...

, RZ Piscium,

and

47 Ursae Majoris 47 Ursae Majoris (abbreviated 47 UMa), formally named Chalawan , is a yellow dwarf star approximately 46 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. , three extrasolar planets (designated 47 Ursae Majoris b, c and d; t ...

PIA22081-KIC8462852-TabbysStar-UnevenDustRing-Illustration-20171004

Tabby's Star light curve

(KIC 8462852) is an

F-type main-sequence star An F-type main-sequence star (F V) is a main-sequence, hydrogen-fusing star of spectral type F and luminosity class V. These stars have from 1.0 to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 6,000 and 7,600 K.Tables VII ...

exhibiting unusual light fluctuations, including up to a 22% dimming in brightness. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these irregular changes, but none to date fully explain all aspects of the curve. One explanation is that an " uneven ring of dust" orbits Tabby's Star. However, in September 2019, astronomers reported that the observed dimmings of Tabby's Star may have been produced by fragments resulting from the disruption of an orphaned

. File:KIC 8462852 - gesamte Helligkeitsmessung von Kepler.png, All light curve data − December 2009 to May 2013, scan days 0066 to 1587 (''Kepler'') File:KIC 8462852 - Helligkeitseinbruch 05. März 2011.png, 5 March 2011 − day 792
15% max dip (''Kepler'') File:KIC 8462852 - Helligkeitseinbruch 28. Februar 2013.png, 28 February 2013 − day 1519
22% max dip (''Kepler'') File:KIC 8462852 - Helligkeitseinbruch 17. April 2013.png, 17 April 2013 − day 1568
8% max dip (''Kepler'') File:KIC 8462852 Daily Normalized Flux by Bruce Gary, 20170502-20180504.png, One year light curve −
up to 4 May 2018
( HAO) File:KIC 8462852 October-December 2019 Gary.jpg, Light curve between 10 October 2019 and 11 January 2020 (HAO)

References

External links

NASA – WD 1145+017 b
at

The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia is an astronomy website, founded in Paris, France at the Meudon Observatory by Jean Schneider in February 1995, which maintains a database of all the currently known and candidate extrasolar planets, with indi ...

. * , a presentation by

Tabetha S. Boyajian Tabetha "Tabby" Suzanne Boyajian is an American astronomer of Armenian descent and astrophysics, astrophysicist on faculty (academic staff), faculty at Louisiana State University. She was a post-doctoral fellow 2012–16 at Yale University, workin ...

. * , a presentation by Issac Arthur. * , star with unusual light fluctuations (21 December 2017). {{portal bar, Astronomy, Solar System, Space, Star

Circumstellar disks A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the re ...

Hypothetical astronomical objects Planetary rings Unsolved problems in astronomy