Astronomers Discover Hot Water-Rich Exoplanet Doomed to Be Consumed by Its Star

In the vast choreography of stellar systems, astronomers have found a world that defies expectation: a water-rich exoplanet locked in a slow, inevitable fall toward its own star. Its existence challenges long-held assumptions about where water can survive in the cosmos, while its fate — to be torn apart and consumed — offers science a rare and unrepeatable window into the final chapter of a planet's life. In studying its destruction, researchers hope to better understand how worlds are born, how they wander, and what conditions might allow life to take hold elsewhere.