Overview
- A peer-reviewed study published 15 June 2026 in The Astrophysical Journal reports that spectroscopy of TOI-5882 reveals an unusually high lithium level compared with 62 matched control stars.
- The team ranked TOI-5882 at or above the 97th percentile for lithium abundance among similar stars, a signal they say is most consistent with recent planetary material added to the star.
- From the amount of lithium observed, researchers estimate the devoured body had a mass between a few Earths and roughly that of Neptune.
- TOI-5882 also hosts a brown dwarf of more than 20 Jupiter masses that the authors propose could have perturbed the planet into the star, but that dynamical link remains a working hypothesis that needs follow-up observations.
- The result highlights how astronomers reconstruct fast engulfment events from chemical fingerprints and it informs models of long-term planetary system evolution while noting some control stars show elevated lithium, so alternative enrichment paths remain under study.