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'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

ras.ac.uk

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Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#11

Post by hydrogen7800 »

A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #2

> Their results favour a scenario in which the young Sun engulfed a super-Earth around 5–10 times the mass of Earth Given the state of the early solar system, it would be surprising if the Sun didn't swallow a lot of metallic and carbonaceous rocks and pebbles. But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? Chemically I feel the two would be largely…

>But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks?

I have a similar feeling when life on earth is suggested to be "alien", arriving via debris in the solar system as the earth formed. Isn't everything in the solar system coalesced from the same debris?

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#12

Post by jojobas »

hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #2

> Their results favour a scenario in which the young Sun engulfed a super-Earth around 5–10 times the mass of Earth Given the state of the early solar system, it would be surprising if the Sun didn't swallow a lot of metallic and carbonaceous rocks and pebbles. But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? Chemically I feel the two would be largely…

>But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? I have a similar feeling when life on earth is suggested to be "alien", arriving via debris in the solar system as the earth formed. Isn't everything in the solar system coalesced from the same debris?

The life-bearing debris would have to arrive quite some time after formation of Earth, as it was molten. Surviving atmospheric entry is hard, surviving after landing in lava is impossible.

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#13

Post by mturk »

MESA, a piece of software referenced in this article, is a pretty incredible system. (Even referring to it as software underplays the extent of its community and impact.)

Many people are involved in MESA and Bill Paxton was always quick to point out the many new folks that worked on it, but this article does a great job of celebrating his impact:

https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/news/an-accidental-astrophysicist

It's amazing to me that he went from being the voice on the other end of the Mother Of All Demos to having such a major impact on stellar astrophysics during his "retirement." He passed away in 2025.

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#14

Post by gohomeloser »

jojobas wrote: post #12
hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? I have a similar feeling when life on earth is suggested to be "alien", arriving via debris in the solar system as the earth formed. Isn't everything in the solar system coalesced from the same debris?

The life-bearing debris would have to arrive quite some time after formation of Earth, as it was molten. Surviving atmospheric entry is hard, surviving after landing in lava is impossible.

[dead]

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#15

Post by monster_truck »

omnicognate wrote: post #5
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #2

> Their results favour a scenario in which the young Sun engulfed a super-Earth around 5–10 times the mass of Earth Given the state of the early solar system, it would be surprising if the Sun didn't swallow a lot of metallic and carbonaceous rocks and pebbles. But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? Chemically I feel the two would be largely…

> Researchers also found that such a world could survive its passage through the Sun's outer layers while losing very little mass, which suggests that planets may leave detectable fingerprints inside their host stars long after they have disappeared. So I guess the large size would have permitted it to smuggle stuff into the core that would have just vaporised in the corona if carried by many smaller objects?

Sounds reasonable to me.

But also what the fuck happens to the core of such a planet when that happens?

We aren't actually sure what gave our core the spin it has, right? I'm not fully awake yet but I think it's plain where I'm going with this.

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#16

Post by hydrogen7800 »

jojobas wrote: post #12
hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But it seems unclear to me how the researchers would distinguish between one super-Earth and >10^10 smaller rocks? I have a similar feeling when life on earth is suggested to be "alien", arriving via debris in the solar system as the earth formed. Isn't everything in the solar system coalesced from the same debris?

The life-bearing debris would have to arrive quite some time after formation of Earth, as it was molten. Surviving atmospheric entry is hard, surviving after landing in lava is impossible.

I was going to expand on my comment about the difference between alien and non-alien being a difference only in time. It's all from the same stuff.

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#18

Post by post-it »

hydrogen7800 wrote: post #16
jojobas wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The life-bearing debris would have to arrive quite some time after formation of Earth, as it was molten. Surviving atmospheric entry is hard, surviving after landing in lava is impossible.

I was going to expand on my comment about the difference between alien and non-alien being a difference only in time. It's all from the same stuff.

It makes a difference to our understanding of the conditions under which life can form.

Re: 'Fingerprints' inside the Sun could reveal if it once swallowed a planet

#20

Post by snovv_crash »

amelius wrote: post #10
cfiggers wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's easy, they'll check whether there's one big fingerprint vs >10^10 little tiny fingerprints and conclude accordingly \j

[flagged]

You sound bitter about this.
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