4 observatories together caught the "death siren" of another planet

(NLDO) - A series of observation facilities operated by NASA and ESA have discovered the extremely terrifying origin of an alien signal.

Using a range of observational data from the Einstein, Chandra, XMM-Newton and ROSAT X-ray observatories, an international team of researchers has identified the source of a strange X-ray signal from the Helix Nebula: A terrifying planetary annihilation.

The Helix Nebula - also known as NGC 7293, Helix, The Eye - is a large planetary nebula located nearly 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.

A planet destroyed by a white dwarf - Graphic image: NASA

According to Sci-News, since 1992, observatories have continuously detected high-energy X-ray signals emitted from it.

Efforts to decode this signal over the past 40 years have revealed that in the Helix Nebula there is a white dwarf star called WD 2226-210 and a large planet, possibly the size of Jupiter or Neptune.

But now scientists have discovered something terrifying: X-rays so powerful that they can be picked up by distant observatories like those on Earth are the death knell for those very planets.

Spiral Nebula - Photo: NASA

The ill-fated planet may initially be at a considerable distance from the white dwarf but then moves closer to the dead star due to gravitational interactions within the system.

White dwarfs are tiny remnants of Sun-like stars that have run out of energy, died, and turned into zombies.

Sometimes these cosmic zombies act like vampires, tearing apart and devouring matter from companion objects.

The WD 2226-210 is doing that to its planet.

"The mysterious signal we see could be caused by debris from the broken planet falling onto the surface of the white dwarf and being heated to the point of glowing in X-rays," said Dr. Martin Guerrero from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (Spain), a member of the research team.

The tragic fate of the planet may reveal the future of several worlds in the Solar System.

According to the scenario that scientists consider most suitable, at the end of the Sun's life, it will explode into a red giant star, swallowing about 3 of the nearest planets: Mercury, Venus and Earth.

It will then collapse into a white dwarf. It is possible that one day the nearest surviving planet, Mars, will be pushed closer to the white dwarf and suffer the same fate as the planet inside the Helix Nebula.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/4-dai-thien-van-cung-bat-duoc-coi-bao-tu-cua-hanh-tinh-khac-196250307110503742.htm