Astronomers think they've glimpsed one of the rarest sights in space: two planets smashing into each other around a distant star.
The collision appears to have unfolded roughly 11,000 light-years from Earth, around a sunlike star called Gaia20ehk, near the constellation Puppis (the "poop deck"). The researchers say the crash may echo the giant impact thought to have formed Earth and the moon billions of years ago, giving scientists a rare window into how celestial bodies take shape. The findings were published March 11 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
