Scientists Spot Evidence Of 'Alien Planet' Orbiting White Dwarf

In a major progress in the genre of Space Science, the astronomers for the first time have spotted the evidence of an exoplanet circling white dwarf. A white dwarf is a superdense stellar corpse or the last observable stage of evolution for low- and medium-mass stars while exoplanets are planets beyond our own solar system, reports Space.com.

The researchers are of the view that discovery is a major progress as over the last two decades there have been growing evidences of planetary systems surviving into the white-dwarf stage.

The collision of asteroids, comets and other space objects with white dwarfs is a common phenomenon but evidence for an actual planet in scattered state is unprecedented. As per a study, the majority of stars in the Milky Way galaxy that includes sun also, will end up as white dwarfs.

After the nuclear fuel of these stars get exhausted, they will appear like heavenly red giants and will end up as white dwarfs. Scientists studied a white dwarf called WDJ0914+1914. It is as much as 2,040 light-years away from Earth. The data gathered so far suggests emissions of hydrogen, sulphur and oxygen coming from WDJ0914+1914.

The observations have bolstered the presence of all three elements, and suggested that the emissions are coming from a ring of gas around the white dwarf.