Astrônomos descobrem vestígios de 2 corpos planetários em torno de uma estrela morta (FOTO)

Double Debris Disc Around White Dwarf J1328−1450 Foretells Solar System's Fate Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile have discovered an unprecedented double debris disc orbiting the white dwarf J1328−1450. Unlike all previously observed debris discs around dead stars—which feature a single, continuous flat ring of vaporized rubble—this planetary graveyard contains two concentric gaseous rings separated by a well-defined gap. Spectroscopic observations conducted with the X-shooter instrument on the VLT indicate that this complex architecture is dynamically maintained by two surviving planetary bodies on separate orbits. Numerical modeling suggests that the inner ring is shaped by a body comparable in size to a typical asteroid of several kilometers, while the outer ring is shepherded by a larger planetesimal possibly the size of Pluto or Earth’s Moon. These surviving bodies continue to gravitationally shepherd the gas and replenish the rings through tidal disruptions and collisions. Chemical analysis of emission lines reveals signatures of calcium, oxygen, magnesium, and iron, confirming that the discs originate from rocky, differentiated planetary bodies analogous to those in our own Solar System. Intriguingly, the two rings exhibit distinctly different compositions: the inner ring is rich in magnesium gas, whereas the outer ring is notably depleted of it. This chemical gradient suggests that the rings are either fed by planetesimals originating from distinct progenitor planets or represent material stripped from different internal layers—such as the core and mantle—of a disrupted celestial body. When stars similar to the Sun exhaust their nuclear fuel, they expand into red giants and violently shed their outer envelopes, destroying inner planets before contracting into dense, Earth-sized white dwarfs. Surviving planetary bodies in distant orbits are destabilized by stellar mass loss, occasionally scattering into tidal disruption zones near the remnant core. The J1328−1450 system represents the first observational evidence of multiple surviving planetesimals sustaining a stratified multi-ring debris architecture, providing a direct preview of the ultimate evolutionary fate awaiting the Solar System. Credit: ESO / L. Calçada

— Galacti (@GalactiSpace) November 2, 2026