 Red Giant star consuming its planets. Chandra Images the Bright Side of the Moon. Sep 16, 2003 Although it's usually peering into deep space, Chandra looked a little closer to home and inspected the Moon in the X-ray spectrum. Although the Moon doesn't produce X-rays of its own, it does reflect the radiation of the Sun; various atoms such as oxygen, magnesium, aluminum and silicon fluoresce when the Sun's X-rays bombard the Moon's surface. Measuring the quantity and location of these elements will help test the theory that the Moon was formed when a Mars-sized object slammed into the Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Red Giant Spotted Swallowing its Planets. Sep 16, 2003 A team of Astronomers believe they've figured out the explanation for an unusual object V838 Monocerotis - it's a red giant star consuming its planets as it nears the end of its life. The object recently flared up to become the brightest cool supergiant in the Milky Way - 600,000 times more luminous than our own Sun. Detailed observations showed that the object flared up three times with similar peaks; they believe this is when the star consumed three Gas giants in tight orbits - one after the other. This research could help Astronomers find more subtle evidence of this happening to smaller planets in other star systems. Go To Print Article
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