Scientists have detected an unusual indication that a deceased star devoured a fragment of a planet in its orbit: a metal scar on the star’s surface.

This discovery provides insights into the dynamic nature of planetary systems even during the final stages of a star’s life cycle and may offer clues about the future of our own solar system.

Planets originate from swirling masses of gas and dust known as a protoplanetary disk surrounding a newly formed star.

However, as the star ages and reaches the end of its life, it can consume the very planets and asteroids it contributed to creating.

Astronomers observed a dead star, specifically a white dwarf, located approximately 63 light-years away from Earth, CNN reported.

Utilizing the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, they identified a metallic feature on the star’s surface, linked to a change detected in the star’s magnetic field.

Details of this observation were published in a study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Monday.

Written by B.C. Begley