<ul><li>MIT, Harvard &amp; Caltech scientists observed the first-ever event of a dying star consuming a gas giant planet the size of Jupiter.</li><li>The process saw the star grow a million times its original size, causing a white-hot flash and a colder signal that resulted from the planet being engulfed.</li><li>The event happened in the Aquila constellation, 12,000 light-years away and was first observed by MIT postdoctoral researcher Kishalay De in 2020.</li><li>The discovery will help astronomers better understand the fate of the Earth when the Sun becomes a red giant and consumes the inner planets.</li></ul>

Scientists witness a star swallowing a planet for the first time

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