Astronomers identify Death Star that ‘eats its own planets’

Astronomers have made the rare discovery of a planetary system with a host star similar to Earth's sun - and found it has a disturbing secret.

The star's unusual composition baffled researchers - until they realised it had eaten some of its planets.

They say the real life Death Star could provide clues about how planetary systems evolve over time, the Daily Mail reports.

“This doesn't mean that the sun will 'eat' the Earth any time soon,” said Jacob Bean, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, and co-author of an Astronomy & Astrophysics article on the research.

“But our discovery provides an indication that violent histories may be common for planetary systems, including our own.”

Bean and his colleagues studied star HIP68468, which is 300 light years away, as part of a multi-year project to discover planets that orbit solar twins. 

Megan Bedell, a UChicago doctoral student who is co-author of the research and the lead planet finder for the collaboration, said the team plans “to study more stars like this to see whether this is a common outcome of the planet formation process.”

Computer simulations show that billions of years from now, the accumulated gravitational tugs and pulls between planets will eventually cause Mercury to fall into the sun, said Debra Fischer, a professor of astronomy at Yale University who was not involved in the research.