Asteroid bites the dust PIA11735 NASA infrared Tie

Asteroid bites the dust PIA11735 NASA Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes upon the dusty remains of shredded asteroids around several dead stars. Asteroids are leftover scraps of planetary material. They form early on in a star's history when planets are forming out of collisions between rocky bodies. When a star like our sun dies, shrinking down to a skeleton of its former self called a white dwarf, its asteroids get jostled about. If one of these asteroids gets too close to the white dwarf, the white dwarf's gravity will chew the asteroid up, leaving a cloud of dust.