Free Astronomy Magazine

STELLAR EVOLUTION 34 MAY-JUNE 2014 The presence of metals in the atmo- spheres of white dwarfs has for decades been a tricky issue for researchers, who could not find an explanation for the observed abundances. The solution stood in envisaging an external origin of these metals, which, according to a recent study, should be linked with the destruction of an untold number of planets. Planetary d found on w dwarfs