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Dusty old star offers window to our future --- GD 362. Department of Physics National Tsing Hua University G.T. Chen 2005/10/20. GD 362. White Dwarf star R.A. 17h 31m 34.33s Dec. +37° 05' 20.6" Distance: 22~26 pc. It represents the end state of stellar evolution of stars like the Sun
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Dusty old star offers window to our future--- GD 362 Department of Physics National Tsing Hua University G.T. Chen 2005/10/20
GD 362 • White Dwarf star • R.A. 17h 31m 34.33s • Dec. +37° 05' 20.6" • Distance: 22~26 pc
It represents the end state of stellar evolution of stars like the Sun • Its progenitor had an original mass about seven times the Sun’s • From the death of GD362,it passed two to five billion years based on the cooling rate
This long time frame would explain why there is no sign of planetary nebula from the exclusion of material as the star died • This star is as rich calcium, magnesium and iron elements as the Sun’s
From the observation, there is a dust disk around the white dwarf • Why the disk can survive ? something similar to the asteroid or possibly even a planet around the star is being ground up and broken to feed the star with dust
In the future , our solar system may have the same conditions like this case GD 362
Reference • http://spaceflightnow.com/news/ GEMINI OBSERVATORY NEWS RELEASEPosted: September 26, 2005 • http://www.gemini.edu/home.php • ApJ 632,119-122 , 2005 A dusty disk around GD 362, a white dwarf with uniquely high photospheric metal abundance