"Planet-Eating 'Twin' Stars: New Study Reveals Surprising Findings"

A study of 91 pairs of "twin" stars suggests that Earth is fortunate to be in a stable planetary system, as many stars showed signs of having absorbed a planet after it was pushed out of a stable orbit. The research, published in Nature, used the European Space Agency’s Gaia space observatory and telescopes in Chile and Hawaii to identify chemical elements present in the stars. The findings indicate that instability in planetary systems might be more common than previously thought, with about eight percent of the twin stars studied likely having absorbed a planet. This suggests that there may be more planets traveling in exile without a star to orbit than previously believed.