Astronomers have discovered a different kind of rocky planet.
Astronomers have discovered rocky planets outside the solar system.
Astronomers have discovered a different type of rocky planet at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, about 4,200 light-years away from our solar system. The planet, which has a mass of about 1.9 times that of Earth, is orbiting a white dwarf star. Astronomers think this planet could give an idea of what the Earth might look like billions of years from now.
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According to astronomers, the sun will completely engulf the earth after reaching its maximum size at the end of time. Even then, if the Earth survives, it will continue to orbit the white dwarf star, becoming a cold and lonely rocky planet in space. And so information is being collected about this new planet to know what the Earth will be like after the death of the Sun.
Astronomers believe the newly discovered rocky planet was orbiting at a certain distance, possibly in the habitable zone, before the death of the central star. That is, the planet was located in an area that is neither too hot nor too cold. In this regard, Keming Zhang, an astronomer at the University of California, USA, said, "The planet is currently like a frozen world. Our Sun will become one such white dwarf in the future.'
Astronomer Jessica Lu says, 'Our Sun will become massive, late in its life. Astronomers call that state a red giant. The outer layer of the Sun will slowly recede. As our sun loses mass, the orbits of all the planets in the solar system will expand. Someday the Sun will lose all outer layers and become a white dwarf.
Many astronomers believe that the habitable zone of our solar system will move outward as the Sun ages. As a result, if the Sun turns into a red giant, Earth, Venus and Mars will be destroyed.