Ep. 789: What Happens When a Planet's Star Dies
From Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay
April 6, 2026 · 29 min · Season 19 · Episode 789
About this episode
The episode discusses the fate of planets when their star dies, focusing on the transition from red giant to white dwarf.
Astronomy Cast Ep. 789: What Happens When a Planet's Star Dies By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Mar 30, 2026. A star like the Sun only lasts about 10 billion years and it becomes a red giant and finally a white dwarf. This is catastrophic for some of the planets, consumed by the expanding red giant star. But most survive. What happens next in the long, slow cooling to the background temperature of the Universe? This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero
People in this episode
Hosts: Fraser Cain, Dr. Pamela Gay
Topics covered
- stellar evolution
- red giant
- white dwarf
- planetary survival
- cosmic background temperature
Keywords
- star death
- planetary systems
- red giant phase
- white dwarf
- cosmic cooling
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