Studying the archival data of the star system Gaia20ehk, located 11,000 light-years away from us, scientists noticed an unusual phenomenon. Between 2016 and 2021, its spectrum behaved extremely strangely: three significant brightness decreases were observed, followed by chaotic jumps. Analysis of these changes indicated that such an effect could have been caused by huge clouds of dust, gas, and rocky debris rotating around the star and scattering its light. Their appearance is linked to a cosmic catastrophe – the collision of two planets.

Calculations show that currently, the fragments of the destroyed exoplanets are situated at a distance of about 1 astronomical unit from the parent star. It is believed that our Earth experienced a similar cataclysm approximately 4.5 billion years ago – resulting in the formation of the Moon.