Sun destroyed planet 10 times larger than Earth: How did it happen
Scientists found chemical traces of an ancient catastrophe (photo: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
The young Sun may have swallowed a super-Earth-sized planet — scientists have found possible traces of the catastrophe inside the star. The chemical changes left behind by such a process may have survived to this day, according to a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2026).
Solving two solar anomalies
Astronomers explain that for many years, standard physical models of stellar evolution could not fully account for observations of seismic oscillations on the Sun.
In particular, scientists recorded discrepancies in the speed of sound beneath the Sun’s convective zone and in the depth of the convective zone itself. At the same time, the mystery of the severe depletion of lithium on the star’s surface remained unresolved.
Researchers suggested that both problems have a common origin in the Sun’s early chemical history.
Since planets form from material that is chemically different from the gas in the protoplanetary disk, the absorption of a solid body should have left a noticeable trace.
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Exact parameters of the swallowed super-Earth
Using the MESA computer model for stellar evolution, scientists tested different scenarios of matter accretion and compared them with real observations.
Key results of the calculations:
The young Sun swallowed a planet whose mass was 5–10 times greater than Earth’s.
The planet managed to pass through the star’s outer layers, losing only a small portion of its mass before completely dissolving in the star’s interior.
Scientists noted that this scenario simultaneously explains both the features of the Sun’s internal structure and the abnormally low concentration of lithium.
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Why is there no super-Earth in our solar system?
Astronomers have long wondered why large super-Earths have been discovered in many other planetary systems, while they are absent from the Solar System.
Previous hypotheses suggested that one or more such planets could have formed inside Mercury’s orbit and then migrated inward through the gas disk toward the Sun.
The new study by Turkish scientists goes further: it shows that the Sun may still preserve the physical fingerprints of this catastrophe.
At the same time, the new study not only supports this theoretical scenario but also points to the presence of direct physical evidence of such an event that can now be tested using helioseismic measurements.
