🌟 Earth may NOT be swallowed by the sun in 6 billion years

• A rocky planet has been discovered orbiting a white dwarf star 4000 light-years away.
• The planet is believed to have survived the star's red giant phase by moving to a more distant orbit.
• The discovery provides insights into Earth's possible future when the sun expands.

New discovery gives hope for Earth's future

A team of researchers led by astrophysicist Keming Zhang from the University of California has identified a rocky planet orbiting a white dwarf, which is the remnant of a star that has gone through its red giant phase. This discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, provides new perspectives on Earth's potential fate when our own sun expands in about six billion years, reports the NY Times.

The planet, located about 4000 light-years from Earth, was first discovered in 2020 using a Korean telescope network. The researchers observed how the planet's star passed in front of another star, magnifying the light reaching the telescope by 1000 times.

Further observations at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped researchers identify the star as a white dwarf. Their calculations showed that at least two objects orbited the white dwarf: a brown dwarf planet at a great distance and a planet with about 1.9 times Earth's mass in a closer orbit.

Implications for Earth's future

The most interesting aspect of this discovery is that the planet is believed to have survived its star's red giant phase. Researchers estimate that the planet may once have had a habitable orbit similar to Earth's. As the star lost mass, the planet's orbit expanded, allowing it to avoid being consumed during the red giant phase.

This scenario provides a possible glimpse of Earth's future. If Earth can survive the sun's expansion, it may end up in a situation similar to this system.

Not only might we not be swallowed by the sun in five billion years, but we might also not collide with the Andromeda galaxy a billion years earlier.

🌌 The Milky Way may NOT collide with Andromeda in five billion years *phew*

New study indicates that the Milky Way has a 50 percent chance of avoiding collision with the Andromeda galaxy. Previous research suggested that a collision was inevitable within 5 billion years.

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