• A small rocky planet named BD+05 4868 Ab is disintegrating near its host star.
• The planet's mass is shedding dust equivalent to the mass of Mount Everest with each orbit.
• It is located about 140 light years away in the constellation Pegasus.
• The planet is expected to disintegrate completely within a million years.
• The research could provide insights into the geology of exoplanets.

Astronomers have reported the observation of a small rocky planet, known as BD+05 4868 Ab, disintegrating while orbiting its host star, trailing a comet-like tail of mineral dust up to approximately 5.6 million miles (9 million km) long. This phenomenon is notably rare, as only four such exoplanets have been observed disintegrating since the 1990s, with BD+05 4868 Ab being the closest to our solar system, thus providing a unique opportunity for scientific assessment, according to Channel News Asia, Reuters, and Dawn.

The planet is estimated to be in size between Mercury and Earth's moon, located about 140 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Its host star, categorized as an orange dwarf, is smaller, cooler, and dimmer than the sun, having about 70% of its mass and diameter and approximately 20% of its luminosity. The planet orbits its star every 30.5 hours, at a distance about 20 times closer than Mercury is to the sun, according to Channel News Asia, Reuters, and Dawn.

The surface temperature of BD+05 4868 Ab is estimated at nearly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,600 degrees Celsius), likely resulting in its surface being turned into magma. Marc Hon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, stated, “We expect the planet to disintegrate into dust within the next million years or so,” highlighting the rapid nature of this disintegration process as a “runaway process,” where disintegration accelerates as material transforms into dust. This insight was conveyed via Channel News Asia, Reuters, and Dawn.

The researchers employed the "transit method" to detect the planet, observing a dip in the brightness of the host star when BD+05 4868 Ab passed in front of it from Earth's perspective. The discovery was facilitated through NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Additionally, the composition of materials shedding from the planet has not yet been determined, as noted by Hon, who also explained that dust grains in the tail could range from large soot particles to fine grains of sand, according to Channel News Asia, Reuters, and Dawn.

The origin of the planet's close orbit remains uncertain. Hon indicated that the planet might initially have formed at a greater distance and had its orbital path altered through gravitational interactions with another celestial body. The details of this transformation remain a subject for further research, which may incorporate observations using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. This research could enhance understanding of rocky exoplanets, as the tail is expected to contain minerals evaporated from the planet’s crust or core, essential for comprehending the geological dynamics of distant worlds, according to Channel News Asia, Reuters, and Dawn.