Astronomy Cast Ep. 789: What Happens When a Planet's Star Dies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me0MNCIuLs8

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Mar 30, 2026.

A star like the Sun only lasts about 10 billion years and it becomes a red giant and finally a white dwarf. This is catastrophic for some of the planets, consumed by the expanding red giant star. But most survive. What happens next in the long, slow cooling to the background temperature of the Universe?

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In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero

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