Study: Sun may have swallowed a super-Earth billions of years ago
New research suggests the sun consumed a planet several times Earth's mass early in its history, leaving chemical evidence in its interior.
What to know
- Researchers propose the young sun may have consumed a super-Earth planet (5–10 times Earth's mass) billions of years ago, leaving a chemical signature detectable in the star's interior.
- The theory would explain why our solar system lacks a super-Earth despite their abundance in other planetary systems, and resolves decades-old discrepancies between solar observations and stellar evolution models.
- The hypothesis is based on computer modeling of stellar evolution; researchers acknowledge other explanations for the sun's unusual characteristics remain possible.
The theory elegantly solves multiple solar mysteries at once.
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“Other star systems have shown to be full of Super-Earths but where are ours, why are we so unique? Because our Sun ate ours, lucky for us on Earth really, the inner Solar System would be very different.”
Lazarou · Mastodon ↗
Mutlu Yildiz Researcher, Ege University
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Theory addresses solar model discrepancies and missing super-Earths
The research explains why the solar system lacks a super-Earth despite their prevalence in other planetary systems, and reconciles long-standing differences between observations of the sun's interior (including its convection zone depth and depleted lithium content) and predictions from standard stellar evolution models.
“By modelling the sun's evolution and comparing the results with precise observations of its interior, we find that the ingestion of a super-Earth could help explain long-standing differences between standard solar models and observations.”
— Mutlu Yildiz -
first by Astrobiology Web, 12d ago · also Space, NewsNation, Eurasia Review, HN Frontpage, The Royal Astronomical Society, Futura, le média qui explore le monde +1
5 more headlines
- The sun may once have swallowed a super-Earth planet and could still be hiding the evidence Space · 12d ago
- The sun may have swallowed a planet — and left behind a fingerprint: Study NewsNation · 12d ago
- ‘Fingerprints’ Inside The Sun Could Reveal If It Once Swallowed A Planet Eurasia Review · 10d ago
- Did the Sun swallow a planet? Two long-standing solar mysteries explained Futura, le média qui explore le monde · 9d ago
- The Sun May Have Swallowed a Planet Universe Today · 9d ago
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first by Mashable, 12d ago · also The Brighter Side of News, Inshorts, Mashable India
4 more headlines
- The Sun May Have Swallowed a Super-Earth Billions of Years Ago, Astronomers Say finance.biggo.com · 11d ago
- A missing super-Earth may have been swallowed up by the Sun billions of years ago tech.yahoo.com · 9d ago
- Sun may have swallowed a super-Earth billions of years ago: Study | The team used advanced computer simulations | Inshorts Inshorts · 9d ago
- Our Sun May Have Swallowed A Super-Earth Billion Years Ago; That May Explain Its Lithium Deficiency Mashable India · 9d ago
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Thank you, that definitely was an interesting read. Sad to learn of Bill Paxton's passing. Clearly his legacy and impact however live on, like this research demonstrates.It seems he preferred the term "software instrument" to refer to MESA:> Bildsten and Paxton have taken to calling programs like MESA "software instruments,” according to the…
2 more of the top 3 · 11 posts in this stretch
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Other star systems have shown to be full of Super-Earths (worlds bigger than our Earth but smaller than a gas giant) but where are ours, why are we so unique? Because our Sun ate ours, lucky for us on Earth really, the inner Solar System would be very different... https://www. space.com/astronomy/sun/the-su…
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MESA, a piece of software referenced in this article, is a pretty incredible system. (Even referring to it as software underplays the extent of its community and impact.)Many people are involved in MESA and Bill Paxton was always quick to point out the many new folks that worked on it, but this article does a great job of celebrating his…
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background
Yildiz team publishes research on sun's possible planetary consumption — Researchers at Ege University release a study modeling the sun's evolution and proposing that it may have swallowed a super-Earth planet billions of years ago. The research suggests a planet between five and ten times Earth's mass fell into the young sun and left a chemical imprint that could explain discrepancies between observations and stellar evolution models.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by earthsky.org, 12d ago · also WTHR, The News International
2 more headlines
- Did our sun swallow a planet? New research suggests it may have consumed a super-Earth WTHR · 11d ago
- Did Sun swallow a super-Earth? Scientists search for its ‘fingerprints’ The News International · 10d ago
What people are saying 8 voices from 2 sites · best of 11 · verbatim
- Sep 14
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https://www. europesays.com/us/1062385/ The sun may have eaten a missing super-Earth, new study suggests # Science # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US
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On a similar note, the Large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) are structures in Earth's lower mantle that are hyothized to be remnants of Theia (the planetary-scale body that collied with, resulting in the formation of the Moon):
- Sep 13
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About that artist's impression with the blue spiral: wouldn't any planet or other object do one of these things:- approach and hit directly, without spiraling- approach, make a close fly-by and fly off into deep space again- be in a steady, eliptical orbitMy knowledge is basically that of a Kerbal.
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This might just be me, but I find metaphors like ''Fingerprints' inside the Sun' harder to read than the title of the original paper, which is probably what should be linked here per HN submission guidelines:> Planetary engulfment as a solution to solar-model discrepancies and its implications for planetary systems…
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Has someone got a quick explainer for why adding a planet would result in less lithium? Is it just that a super-earth would be big enough and have so little lithium that it would measurably water down the other elements?
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You have to get nearly halfway from the surface of the sun (photospere) to its core before the density of the sun’s material is equivalent to that of the earth.
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> Their results favour a scenario in which the young Sun engulfed a super-Earth around 5–10 times the mass of EarthGiven the state of the early solar system, it would be surprising if the Sun didn't swallow a lot of metallic and carbonaceous rocks and pebbles. But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth…
- Sep 11
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https://www. europesays.com/us/1057783/ The sun may once have swallowed a super-Earth planet and could still be hiding the evidence # Science # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US