Stellar Palimpsests: How We Read the History of Swallowed Planets ✦
A star swallowed a planet — and forever preserved its chemical portrait in its light. The spectra of three solar analogs, decoded by a Bayesian algorithm, tell of catastrophes that happened millions of years ago. We read stellar palimpsests, where beneath the layer of galactic evolution the lines of devoured worlds emerge. Someday, we'll likewise read the story of our Sun.
🎯 If the Sun swallowed Earth, the iron content in its photosphere would increase by just 0.004% — almost imperceptible to most methods, but high-precision spectroscopy can catch such traces in other stars where the events were more massive.
🎬 In Stanisław Lem's 'Solaris,' the sentient ocean consumes people, but on a cosmic scale, entire planets become food for their suns, leaving behind only spectral shadows — chemical memories of perished worlds.