Astronomers have observed for the first time how a star swallows a planet, a fate that will suffer the Earth within 5,000 million years. The planetary disappearance appears to have taken place in our own galaxy, about 12,000 light-years away, near the constellation Aquila.
Scientists estimate that the planet that disappeared was likely a hot world the size of Jupiter that spiraled closer, was swept away by the dying star's atmosphere and eventually by its core. The Sun is expected to burn and burn the inner planets of the Solar System.