Winking Star May Be Devouring Wrecked Planets

Astronomers studying the star RZ Piscium have found evidence suggesting its strange, unpredictable dimming episodes may be caused by vast orbiting clouds of gas and dust, the remains of one or more destroyed planets. Young stars are often prodigious Xray sources. Observations using the European Space Agency s XMMNewton satellite, show that RZ Piscium is, too. Its total Xray output is roughly 1, 000 times greater than our Sun s. Groundbased observations show the star s surface temperature to be about 9,