An artist's impression of a massive asteroid belt in orbit around a star. The new work with SDSS data shows that similar rubble around many white dwarfs contaminates these stars with rocky material and water.
At 150 light-years from Earth, the Hyades cluster is the nearest star cluster to Earth's solar system and scientists have long wondered if some of those stars are home to alien planets.
Now, that particular mystery might be solved.
Astronomer Ben Zuckerman, a physics and astronomy professor at UCLA,
and his team have discovered evidence that the atmosphere of a white
dwarf star in the Hyades cluster is "polluted" with rocky material from
pulverized asteroids pulled into orbit around the dying, super-dense
star.
For the rest of the story: http://www.livescience.com/26650-exoplanets-solar-system-white-dwarf-star.html
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