An infrared transient from a star engulfing a planet

Kishalay De (), Morgan MacLeod, Viraj Karambelkar, Jacob E. Jencson, Deepto Chakrabarty, Charlie Conroy, Richard Dekany, Anna-Christina Eilers, Matthew J. Graham, Lynne A. Hillenbrand, Erin Kara, Mansi M. Kasliwal, S. R. Kulkarni, Ryan M. Lau, Abraham Loeb, Frank Masci, Michael S. Medford, Aaron M. Meisner, Nimesh Patel, Luis Henry Quiroga-Nuñez, Reed L. Riddle, Ben Rusholme, Robert Simcoe, Loránt O. Sjouwerman, Richard Teague and Andrew Vanderburg
Additional contact information
Kishalay De: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Morgan MacLeod: Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Viraj Karambelkar: California Institute of Technology
Jacob E. Jencson: Johns Hopkins University
Deepto Chakrabarty: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charlie Conroy: Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Richard Dekany: California Institute of Technology
Anna-Christina Eilers: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Matthew J. Graham: California Institute of Technology
Lynne A. Hillenbrand: California Institute of Technology
Erin Kara: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mansi M. Kasliwal: California Institute of Technology
S. R. Kulkarni: California Institute of Technology
Ryan M. Lau: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Abraham Loeb: Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Frank Masci: IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Michael S. Medford: University of California, Berkeley
Aaron M. Meisner: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Nimesh Patel: Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Luis Henry Quiroga-Nuñez: Florida Institute of Technology
Reed L. Riddle: California Institute of Technology
Ben Rusholme: IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Robert Simcoe: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Loránt O. Sjouwerman: Array Operations Center
Richard Teague: Center for Astrophysics/Harvard & Smithsonian
Andrew Vanderburg: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature, 2023, vol. 617, issue 7959, 55-60

Abstract: Abstract Planets with short orbital periods (roughly under 10 days) are common around stars like the Sun1,2. Stars expand as they evolve and thus we expect their close planetary companions to be engulfed, possibly powering luminous mass ejections from the host star3–5. However, this phase has never been directly observed. Here we report observations of ZTF SLRN-2020, a short-lived optical outburst in the Galactic disk accompanied by bright and long-lived infrared emission. The resulting light curve and spectra share striking similarities with those of red novae6,7—a class of eruptions now confirmed8 to arise from mergers of binary stars. Its exceptionally low optical luminosity (approximately 1035 erg s−1) and radiated energy (approximately 6.5 × 1041 erg) point to the engulfment of a planet of fewer than roughly ten Jupiter masses by its Sun-like host star. We estimate the Galactic rate of such subluminous red novae to be roughly between 0.1 and several per year. Future Galactic plane surveys should routinely identify these, showing the demographics of planetary engulfment and the ultimate fate of planets in the inner Solar System.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05842-x

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