Astronomy Cast Ep. 789: What Happens When a Planet's Star Dies
Published: April 6, 2026
Duration: 29:51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me0MNCIuLs8
Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)
Streamed live on Mar 30, 2026.
A star like the Sun only lasts about 10 billion years and it becomes a red giant and finally a white dwarf. This is catastrophic for some of the planets, consumed by the expanding red giant star. But most survive. What happens next in the long, slow cooling to the background temperature of the Universe?
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