Particle.news
Download on the App Store
10 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Study Finds Young Sun May Have Engulfed a 5–10 Earth‑Mass Super‑Earth

MESA models published Sept. 10 predict buried chemical and structural fingerprints that could resolve key mismatches between solar models and observations.

Image
Shutterstock / Futurism
An artist's impression of a star engulfing a planet. The blue line traces the path of the planet as it spirals toward the star and ultimately collides with it. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Overview

  • The paper by Mutlu Yıldız, published Sept. 10, 2026 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, uses the MESA stellar‑evolution code to test scenarios in which the young Sun swallowed a planet of roughly 5–10 Earth masses.
  • Those models bring the Sun into closer agreement with helioseismic constraints by changing the sound‑speed profile just below the convection zone and by altering the inferred depth of the convection zone.
  • The study also offers a joint explanation for the Sun’s unusually low surface lithium by showing that a lithium‑poor, heavy‑element deposit from a swallowed super‑Earth could draw lithium down below the visible surface.
  • Separate simulations in the paper indicate a dense, compact planet could survive passage through the Sun’s outer layers long enough to deliver material near the base of the convection zone, which is where the models need the change to occur.
  • The result is model‑based not definitive proof, and the authors call for independent observational tests—especially targeted helioseismic analyses—to search for the predicted buried chemical and structural fingerprints that would confirm the engulfment hypothesis.