New simulations zoom into planets being swallowed up by their stars
It’s likely that you have heard this story before: The Sun will grow old and swell into a giant red star. As it grows, it is certain to swallow Mercury and Venus – and possibly Earth and Mars – along the way.
The process of planetary engulfment is probably common throughout the galaxy as old stars devour their planets and even brown dwarfs or companion stars. Astronomers don’t know what happens to a planet that is suddenly engulfed by its star. Hydrodynamical simulations, complex models, shed some light on this phenomenon. They show that factors like a planet’s age and mass when it is engulfed have a profound effect on what happens.
Source:
https://astronomy.com/news/2022/06/simulations-zoom-in-on-planets-swallowed-by-their-stars
