Jan Budaj, first-author of the study and investigator of the Slovak Academy of
Sciences, adds: "The
evolution of the central star and its interaction with its companion
destroyed planets close to the central star and expelled others, some of
which wandered towards the cooler companion. Collisions and destruction of these planets produced dust
debris, and it is eclipses of the companion by clouds of this dust which
lead to the observed variability".
About the Isaac Newton Telescope
The Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The ING is funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC-UKRI) of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of the Netherlands, and the IAC in Spain. IAC's contribution to the ING is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
Research paper
J. Budaj, K. Bernhard, D. Jones, J. Munday, 2025, "A swarm of dusty objects in orbit around the central star of planetary nebula WeSb 1", Nature Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02446-x [ Paper ].
Related releases
"The IAC discovers a planetary nebula that destroyed its solar system", IAC Press Release, 8th January 2025.
Contacts
David Jones
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Spain
Email: djones
iac.es
Javier Méndez
ING PR Officer
Email: outreach
ing.iac.es