![]() To produce light, it converts hydrogen into helium through fusion reactions, and that energy pushes back against the crushing weight of its outer layers. Like all stars, our Sun is a giant nuclear reactor, made up of hydrogen and helium gas. Yes, it's a literal "Death Star," announced on the eve of Star Wars Day (May 4). Astronomers have spotted a white-hot flash from a distant star in our Milky Way galaxy and concluded that it came from the final stage of this process, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature. ![]() But no star has ever been caught in the act of gulping down a planet this way- until now. That's when it finally burns through all the fuel in its core and puffs outward into a red giant, swallowing all the inner planets of our Solar System in the process, including Earth. ![]() Roughly 5 billion years from now, our Sun will end, not with a bang but with a whimper. An aging star dubbed ZTF SLRN-2020 has been caught in the act of swallowing a planet. ![]()
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