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Star Ate Its Planet, Left Lithium Clue | Science News
Scientists may have caught a star in the act of devouring one of its own planets—thanks to a lithium overdose that reveals the cosmic snack. Astronomers detected unusually high lithium levels in TOI-5882, a Sun-like star 1,000 light-years away, a chemical fingerprint left behind when a planet was swallowed. Since planetary engulfment is rare and fast, researchers had to hunt for clues like this lithium signature. The star’s small size rules out natural expansion, so a nearby brown dwarf may have nudged the planet into its doom. The doomed world was likely Earth-to-Neptune sized, and the…
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