Cosmic planet smash around Gaia20ehk hints at exomoon birth
Astronomers found evidence that two planets orbiting Gaia20ehk collided, creating a debris cloud that caused unusual dips in the star’s light since 2016. Infrared observations show heat in the debris, consistent with a violent planetary smash. The event, likened to Earth’s Moon-forming impact, could eventually lead to an exomoon and offers new insights into planet formation; findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.