Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have found a rare disc of debris around a dead star that offers a glimpse of what may happen to our Solar System. Unlike in similar systems found so far, the leftovers of the planets that once orbited the star are organised in a double disc, the two parts separated by a clear gap.

The disc appears to have been shaped by two planetary bodies, one possibly as big as Pluto, that survived the violent death of the star. The observed structure suggests that, even after a star’s final stages, some planets or dwarf planets can persist and continue to shape the remaining material around them.

The discovery provides a concrete benchmark for models describing the long-term evolution of planetary systems. Our Sun will follow a similar path billions of years from now, and observing how debris is reorganised around a white dwarf allows astronomers to project, more realistically, the fate of the planets and the remnants of the Solar System.