Artist’s animation of the WDJ0914+1914 system

This animation shows the white dwarf WDJ0914+1914 and its Neptune-like exoplanet. Since the icy giant orbits the hot white dwarf at close range, the extreme ultraviolet radiation from the star strips away the planet’s atmosphere. While most of this stripped gas escapes, giving the planet a comet-like tail, some of it swirls into a disc, itself accreting onto the white dwarf.

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Credit:
ESO/M. Kornmesser

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