MEXICO: For the first time ever, scientists have managed to capture an image of a glowing debris ring that was formed due to an asteroid being completely ripped apart by a dead star. The ring has an eerie dark red glow because the gases released during collisions between debris particles are lit up by ultraviolet radiation emitted by the star.
According to Christopher Manser from the Astrophysics Group of the University of Warwick, scientists have been already aware of these debris disks that are enshrouding white dwarfs however, this is the first time that they chanced upon one of these disks, providing pivotal information about these star systems. It’s about half the size of our Sun, and the same space that this ring occupies could fit Saturn and its rings.
University Herald reports that the study was “part of a research analyzing white dwarf stars left behind by dead planetary systems” and was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. For instance, the white dwarf in question is 2,500 heavier than Saturn but it is seven times smaller. The debris of the asteroid was very similar to the rings of Saturn. Compared to the rings surrounding Saturn, the scale of the white dwarf called SDSS1228+1040 is larger and its debris are way bigger.
