Frigid alien planet may offer a glimpse at Earth's distant future
Voice of America
An artist's impression shows a rocky planet orbiting a stellar remnant called a white dwarf roughly 4,200 light years from Earth in this undated illustration. (WM Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko/Handout via Reuters)
The first rocky planet ever spotted orbiting a burned out star called a white dwarf offers a glimpse of what may be in store for Earth billions of years from now -- showing it is possible our planet might survive the death of the sun, albeit as a cold and desolate outpost in space.
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship lifts off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, March 6, 2025.
Callum Ganz, 17, center, gives a pre-show pep talk to castmates in 'Crazy for You' on opening night as the Theatre Palisades Youth group returns to the stage after losing their theater in the Palisades fire, in Los Angeles, Feb. 28, 2025. A Theatre Palisades stands next to the theater destroyed by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 25, 2025.
This March 3, 2025, image courtesy of Intuitive Machines, LLC shows the company's IM-2 mission Nova-C class lunar lander, Athena, in circular orbit around the moon.
FILE - Cars drive along a highway photographed through a glass window during a dust storm amid heavy pollution in Beijing, March 10, 2023.
FILE - Open AI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman speaks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 23, 2024. A U.S. judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk's request to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business.
Trent, left, and Victoria Warmerdam, winners of the award for best live action short film for "I'm Not a Robot," attend the Governors Ball after the Oscars on March 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
Trent, left, and Victoria Warmerdam, winners of the award for best live action short film for "I'm Not a Robot," attend the Governors Ball after the Oscars on March 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Workers carry an Oscar statue as Hollywood Boulevard continues to be transformed into the red carpet arrival area for the 97th Academy Awards, in Los Angeles, California, Feb. 28, 2025.
Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)
FILE- Washington Attorney General Nick Brown walks down the steps of a federal court in Seattle after a hearing over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth, Feb. 28, 2025. FILE -Washington Attorney General Nick Brown listens to a question during a news conference after a hearing in federal court in Seattle, Feb. 28, 2025, over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth. FILE - Supporters listen as Washington Attorney General Nick Brown responds to questions at a news conference after a hearing in a federal court in Seattle over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth, Feb. 28, 2025.
The moon passes by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 spaceship on Feb. 24, 2025, in this image taken from a video. The craft is expected to land on the moon on March 2, 2025. (Firefly Aerospace on X via Reuters) Intuitive Machines' Athena lander, atop a SpaceX rocket, lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2025. Athena is expected to land on the moon on March 6, 2025.
In this undated image released by NASA, Intuitive Machines’ newest lunar lander is seen attached to a SpaceX Falcon rocket.