New research shows that the destructive merging of a star and a planet expels huge amounts of gas, as shown in this artist’s impression. K. Miller/R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)

Astronomers just saw a star eat a planet – an astrophysicist on the team explains the first‑of‑its‑kind discovery

Stars begin to expand when they run out of fuel and can become thousands of times larger, consuming any planets in the way. For the first time, astronomers have witnessed one such event.

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