HD 240429 (nicknamed Krios) and HD 240430 (Kronos) is a wide

binary star A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in ...

system in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

of Cassiopeia. Both components of the system are yellow

G-type main-sequence star A G-type main-sequence star (Spectral type: G-V), also often, and imprecisely called a yellow dwarf, or G star, is a main-sequence star (luminosity class V) of spectral type G. Such a star has about 0.9 to 1.1 solar masses and an effective tem ...

s. HD 240430 is a Sun-like star in appearance, but it seems to have eaten its own planets, for which it is given the nickname Kronos, after the Greek god and the leader of the first generation of

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gai ...

. Its unusual properties were described by a team of astrophysicists at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 2017, led by Semyeong Oh. Kronos and Krios are about 350 light years away from Earth. Formed around four billion years ago, they originated from the same

interstellar cloud An interstellar cloud is generally an accumulation of gas, plasma, and dust in our and other galaxies. Put differently, an interstellar cloud is a denser-than-average region of the interstellar medium, the matter and radiation that exists in the ...

. They are moving together through space and are assumed to orbit each other slowly, with an estimated period of about 10,000 years. Kronos has a higher abundance of elements such as lithium, magnesium and iron in its atmosphere than in that of Krios. They are the most chemically different binary stars to have been discovered to date. The unusual and rich chemical composition leads scientists to the conclusion that Kronos has destroyed many of its orbiting planets. According to estimates, it might have absorbed at least 15 Earth masses.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:HD 240429 240430 Astronomical objects discovered in 2017 Cassiopeia (constellation) Binary stars G-type main-sequence stars 240429 30 240429 30

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