# Astronomers find white dwarf J1328−1450 with two separate debris rings, 1,600 light years away

- Published: 2026-11-14 20:14 UTC
- Section: Sky & Space › Astronomy
- Tags: white dwarf J1328−1450, two debris rings, planetary debris disk, Very Large Telescope, European Southern Observatory, constellation Virgo, rocky bodies survive red giant, Felipe Lagos-Vilches
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-189c1adfb8fb8ce4d5ebf079_astronomers_find_white/

**Observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile show two separate rings of debris, possibly from rocky bodies. In 21 earlier cases only a single disk was seen.**

![Astronomers find white dwarf J1328−1450 with two separate debris rings, 1,600 light years away](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/974744cc35c587cc.webp)
*tsn.ua*

Astronomers have found a white dwarf, named J1328−1450, surrounded by an unusual system of planetary debris, tsn.ua reports. The star is located in the Milky Way about 1,600 light years from Earth, in the constellation Virgo. It was found with the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. [1] Around the star there are two separate rings that may have formed from the remains of rocky bodies. [1]

## Debris around the white dwarf

Before this discovery, astronomers had identified 21 white dwarfs surrounded by planetary debris. In all of those cases only one disk was observed, not two separate rings. [1] The mass of J1328−1450 is about 47% of the Sun's mass, and its diameter is almost equal to that of Earth. [1]

According to Felipe Lagos-Vilches of Federico Santa María Technical University in Chile, one of the study's authors, the nearest planets were engulfed after the star became a red giant, while some more distant objects survived. [1] The surviving rocky bodies may be remnants of larger planets that were heavily destroyed. [1]

## How two rings could form

Lagos-Vilches said the planetary system did not vanish completely. Under gravity, some rocky bodies moved onto elongated orbits that brought them closer to the white dwarf. [1] Objects that came too close were torn apart by the star's gravity, and their material formed a disk of dust and gas. [1]

Two larger rocky bodies probably survived inside this disk, and their presence may explain the two concentric rings around the white dwarf. [1] In his words, the finding also supports the idea that rocky planetary bodies can survive the transformation of a star into a white dwarf. [1]

## Sources

1. [tsn.ua](https://tsn.ua/nauka_it/ucheni-vyiavyly-biloho-karlyka-iakyy-moze-rozkryty-maybutnye-soniachnoyi-systemy-3216607.html)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-189c1adfb8fb8ce4d5ebf079_astronomers_find_white/