Astronomers Discover a Sun-Like Star That Has Gobbled up 15 Earth-Mass PlanetsThe study of the star Kronos has provided a fascinating body of research and discoveries for a Princeton University research team, who at the same time are hoping to disprove some popular theories about chemical abundances in the universe. By Mario L. Major
October, 28th 2017 A team of Princeton University astronomers has uncovered evidence of a planet-devouring star. Named Kronos, it has been slowly carving its path of gastronomic destruction through the universe, absorbing 15 planetary objects during its lifetime of 4 billion years.
The astronomical name a reference to the mythological hero Titan, who devoured his own children, Poseidon, Heides, and his three daughters. The names of the first two, of course, are references to Neptune and Pluto, respectively. This is all to say that the name of Kronos seems well deserved.
Let’s start with the facts. The “solar-type stars” —Kronos and Krios—form a binary pair and are given the designations of HD 240430 and HD 240429. To put it all into perspective, they are roughly 350 light years away. The more the team delved into studying them, the more important questions emerged and discoveries occurred.
The findings appeared last month in a paper draft form, titled “KRONOS & KRIOS: EVIDENCE FOR ACCRETION OF A MASSIVE, ROCKY PLANETARY SYSTEM IN A COMOVING PAIR OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS.” In the initial stages of the research, the team, led by study author Semyeong Oh, was simply interested in compiling data about the formation and movement of the star pair that had been collected from Gaia, the European Space Agency’s spacecraft. They were encouraged by a colleague to push their research a step further and study the chemical compositions.
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https://interestingengineering.com/astronomers-discover-a-sun-like-star-that-has-gobbled-up-15-earth-mass-planets
