Space: Star swallowing a planet seen by astronomers for the first time

An artist's impression of a star eating a planet

Astronomers have for the first time caught a star swallowing a planet!

The event happened around 12,000 light years from Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy near the Aquila constellation.

Researchers have watched stars just before or after they've eaten planets, but had never caught one in the act of being consumed before.

Most planets are believed to meet their end when their host star runs out of energy - the same fate is expected to happen to Earth, but not for billions of years.

Another artist's impression showing a doomed planet skimming the surface of its star before it gets eaten

In the new study, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology made the accidental discovery.

They first spotted a star that had suddenly increased in brightness by more than 100 times over a 10-day period.

Further observations by the scientists established that the swallowed planet was a gas giant with a similar mass to Jupiter, but was so close to its star that it completed an orbit in just one day.

The star, which is quite similar to the Sun, swallowed the planet over a period of around 100 days, starting off by nibbling at its edges, which ejected dust.

A bright explosion then occurred in the final 10 days as the planet was totally destroyed when it plunged inside the star.

A similar fate is expected to happen to Earth - but not for around 5 billion years

Experts suggest that Earth will meet a similar end - but not for another five billion years, when the sun is expected to burn out, and burn up the solar system's inner planets.

However experts say the event will be much "less dramatic" because rocky planets such as Earth, Mercury and Venus are much smaller than gas giants.