Planet found to be evaporating because of heat from its star

Scientists believe they have found an exoplanet, 1500 light years from earth, that is evaporating.

It is believed that the planet's star, KIC 12557548, may be burning away the planet at a rate that would see it vaporized within 100 to 200 million years.

The researchers at MIT and NASA believe that images obtained from the Kepler space observatory are of a small planet with smoke or dust trailing behind it as it roasts under the rays of its parent star, said Sci News.

"I’m not sure how we came to this epiphany," said MIT professor emeritus of physics Saul Rappaport, reported TG Daily.

"But it had to be something that was fundamentally changing. It was not a solid body, but rather, dust coming off the planet."

The planet is said to have one of the fastest orbits around its star ever recorded at 15 hours.

The heat is believed to be up to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit on the planet.

"This might be another way in which planets are eventually doomed," said Dan Fabrycky, of the Kepler Observatory, reported TG Daily.

"A lot of research has come to the conclusion that planets are not eternal objects, they can die extraordinary deaths, and this might be a case where the planet might evaporate entirely in the future."

The research can be found in the Astrophysical Journal.