In a cosmic first, astronomers have observed a planet being engulfed by its host star — a dramatic and rare event that sheds light on the ultimate fate of some planetary systems, including possibly our own.

As per reports, the doomed planet met its fiery end as its parent star reached the final stages of its life cycle, expanding into a red giant. The event was detected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which provided new insights into the process.

Contrary to earlier theories that suggested the star expanded outward to consume the planet, recent observations revealed a different scenario: the planet spiralled inward over time due to orbital decay, ultimately plunging into the star in a catastrophic death dive. Researchers described the event as the culmination of long-term orbital erosion — a slow but inevitable inward drift of the planet toward its stellar host. 

The aftermath was just as dramatic. The JWST, which was launched in 2021 and became fully operational in 2022, captured a glowing ring of hot gas forming around the star, along with expanding clouds of dust that enveloped the scene — clear indicators of the cosmic destruction that had occurred.

The star is located in our Milky Way galaxy, approximately 12,000 light-years from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Aquila. The ill-fated planet is believed to have been a "hot Jupiter" — a massive gas giant with extremely high temperatures and a tight orbit close to its star.