NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has observed the first confirmed death of a planet — and it happened differently than scientists expected. Instead of being swallowed by an expanding star, the Jupiter-sized planet spiraled into its host star over millions of years. The system lies about 12,000 light-years away in the Milky Way.

BulletsIn

• Planet didn’t die by star expanding; orbit shrank slowly over time
• JWST used infrared tools MIRI and NIRSpec to study system
• Star didn’t brighten like a red giant, disproving earlier theory
• Planet spiraled inward due to gravity, not sudden engulfment
• Planet skimmed star’s surface before final crash
• Collision released gas, which cooled into dust
• Webb found hot gas disk, not just cool dust cloud
• Molecules like carbon monoxide showed violent mixing
• Scientists surprised by hints of a planet-forming region
• Event reshapes ideas about planetary system fates