Reconfiguration of the Orbit (IMAGE)

York University

Reconfiguration of the Orbit

Caption

Reconfiguration of the orbit of planet (green) initially orbiting the binary at Mercury's distance (black dotted). If the binary was instead a single, solar-type star, it would expand to the yellow dashed circle during the red giant stage, engulfing Mercury, Venus, and even potentially Earth itself.

Credit

NASA/York University

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