NASA’s Webb Studies How Planet Survived Death of its Star

Exoplanet WD 1856 b is a world that shouldn’t exist. It orbits a white dwarf star at a separation of less than 2 million miles – well within the “danger zone” where it should have been engulfed when its host star went through a red giant phase earlier in its life. To understand how it survived and learn more about it, astronomers studied this planet with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Their findings could have implications for the future of our own solar system in 5 billion years.